Marie de Medici

Marie de Medici (1573-1642) became the second wife of King Henry IV, in 1600. After his assassination, she was regent for her son Louis XIII. She reversed the policies set by her husband and nearly bankrupted France with her extravagance. Her son Louis XIII eventually forced her into exile, where she lived with the artist Peter Paul Rubens. Her lifestyle deteriorated as an exile and she died in abject poverty in Germany. Her son later repented his treatment of his mother.