Page "Catherine de' Medici" Paragraph 17

After becoming pregnant once, Catherine had no trouble doing so again.

She may have owed her change of luck to the physician Jean Fernel, who had noticed slight abnormalities in the couple's sexual organs and advised them how to solve the problem.

Catherine quickly conceived again and on 2 April 1545 she bore a daughter, Elisabeth.

She went on to bear Henry a further eight children, six of whom survived infancy, including the future Charles IX ( born 27 June 1550 ); the future Henry III ( born 19 September 1551 ); and Francis, Duke of Anjou ( born 18 March 1555 ).

The long-term future of the Valois dynasty, which had ruled France since the 14th century, seemed assured.