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Henry was born in a place near Paris, France. He was the son of Francis I.
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His father was captured at the Battle of Pavia in 1525 by the forces of his sworn enemy, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, and held prisoner in Spain. To obtain his release, it was agreed that Henry and his older brother be sent to Spain in his place. They remained in captivity for three years.
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Henry married Catherine de' Medici, a member of the ruling family of Florence, when they were both fourteen years old.
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When his elder brother Francis, the Dauphin and Duke of Brittany, died in 1536 after a game of tennis, Henry became heir apparent to the throne. He succeeded his father on his 28th birthday and was crowned King of France
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The Eighth Italian War, began when Henry declared war against Holy Roman Emperor Charles V with the intent of recapturing Italy and ensuring French,
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The attempted French invasion of Tuscany in 1553 was defeated at the Battle of Marciano.
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Henry captured the three episcopal cities of Metz, Toul, and Verdun, and secured them by defeating the Habsburg army at the Battle of Renty in 1554.
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Henry II introduced the concept of publishing the description of an invention in the form of a patent. The idea was to require an inventor to disclose his invention in exchange for monopoly rights to the patent.
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Henry II was an avid hunter and a participant in jousts and tournaments. On June 30th at the Place des Vosges at the Hôtel des Tournelles, Henry entered a jousting tournament
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Henry was mortally wounded by the lance of Gabriel Montgomery, captain of the King's Scottish Guard. King Henry suffered a mortal head wound from a lance fragment, and died of infection 10 days later
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Henry was succeeded by his sick fifteen-year-old son, Francis II. He was married to sixteen-year old Mary Queen of Scots, who had been his childhood friend and fiancée since her arrival at the French court when she was five.
