Francis, Duke of Anjou

François was born on 18 March 1555, the last child of King Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici. As the youngest son in a royal house already crowded with heirs, his path to power was never straightforward. He carried the titles Duke of Anjou and Alençon but spent much of his short life reaching for crowns that stayed just out of grasp. He died on 10 June 1584, at twenty-nine.