Dexter: Quarterly: 1st and 4th, Azure three fleurs de lis Or, 2nd and 3rd Or a dolphin Azure hauriant, finned and tailed Gules (Francis de Valois, Le Dauphin de Viennois ).
Sinister: Or a lion rampant within a double tressure flory counter flory Gules.(Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots).
What we have here are the arms of alliance of a dynastic couple married, 461 years ago today, on 24 April 1558 in the Cathedral de Notre Dame in Paris. Francis, was the eldest son of King Henry II of France and Catherine de Medici and Mary was the daughter and only legitimate child of King James V of Scotland and Mary de Guise. At the time of their marriage Francis was the Dauphin and Mary, the Queen of Scotland.
This marriage perpetuated the Auld Alliance between Scotland and France. Unfortunately, the future for both Mary and Francis was not good. King Henry II died of a wound received in a jousting accident in July of 1559. Francis now King Francis II of France was of verra fragile health and lasted just over a year as king, dying of an ear infection in December 1560. Mary grieved for him sorely and returned nine months later to face her unhappy life in a Scotland divided by religion.
The artwork is a rendering by John Hamilton Gaylor.
2019 0424
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