HENRY II OF FRANCE: (1519-1559)

HENRY II OF FRANCE: (1519-1559) King of France 1547-59. Rare D.S., Henry, one page, 4to, Paris, 17th May 1559, in old French. The King states `... Au Capitaine de quarante lances fournies de nos ordonnances, La somme de onze cent dix-huit livres tournois à quoi se montent ses états de capitaine et place d’homme d’armes en ladite compagnie des quartiers d’octobre et dudit janvier dernier passés, encores que les montres d’iceux n’en aient été faites. Dont nous vous avons et ledit sieur d’Aubigny relevé et relevons par la présente signée de notre main. Rapportant laquelle et quittance dudit sieur d’Aubigny vous en sera expédiée acquitté pour servir à la reddition de vos comptes partout où il appartiendra sans difficulté. Car tel est notre plaisir. Donné à Paris le xviie jour de mai 1559´ (Translation: "To the Captain of forty lances supplied by our orders, the sum of eleven hundred and eighteen livres tournois, amounting to his rank as captain and man-at-arms in the said company for the quarters of October and January last, although musters thereof have not yet been taken. From which we have released you and the said Sieur d'Aubigny, and do hereby release you, signed by our hand. Acknowledgement of which receipt from the said Sieur d'Aubigny will be sent to you, duly discharged, to serve for the rendering of your accounts wherever it may concern, without difficulty. For such is our pleasure. Given at Paris the 17th day of May 1559") Countersigned by the King´s secretary with a large and attractive signature at the base. Letter clipped to the upper edge, missing the few first lines of the letter. Overall age wear and creasing, with few repairs to the verso, otherwise about G

The present letter is signed only two months before his death. Only several weeks after the persent letter was written, in June 1559, King Henry was injured in a jousting tournament held to celebrate the treaty of Peace of Cateau-Cambresis which ended the Italian Wars. Henry II died ten days later after his surgeon, Ambroise Paré, was unable to cure the wound inflicted by Gabriel de Montgomery, the captain of his Scottish Guard.

In 1559 the title of Sieur of d´Aubigny was held by John Stuart (1519-1767) as 5th Lord of Aubigny. He served as captain of the Scottish archers in the French royal guard and was naturalized as a French subject. John Stuart´s brother was Henry Stuart, known as Lord Darnley (1546-1567) King of Scotland as the second husband of Mary Queen of Scots, from July 1565 until his murder. . Darnley had one child with Mary, James VI of Scotland and I of England. Less than a year after the birth of his son, Darnley was murdered at the very early age of 20.

When Henry II of France died in July 1559, John Stuart, 5th Sieur d´Aubigny was elevated in the French court as a relative of the new French queen, Mary, already Queen of Scots. Aubigny arranged for Darnley to be dispatched to the French court to congratulate Mary and Francis II of France on Francis's accession and seek restoration for Lennox. Mary did not restore Lennox to his Scottish earldom. Still, she did give 1.000 crowns to Darnley and invited him to her coronation