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Germaine de Foix

Germaine of Foix (1488-18 October 1538) was a French princess of the house of Foix, whom King Ferdinand II of Aragon, Spain, married in 1505 after the death of his first wife, Queen Isabella I of Castile.

She was a daughter of Jean de Foix, Viscount of Narbonne and Marie d'Orléans. Her paternal grandparents were Gaston IV of Foix-Grailly and Queen regnant Eleanor of Navarre. Her maternal grandparents were Charles, duc d'Orléans and Marie of Cleves. Her only maternal uncle was Louis XII of France.

Following the death of Isabella, Ferdinand had to yield the government of Castile to his son-in-law Philip of Habsburg (1478-1506), who assumed power in the name of his wife Joanna (Juana la Loca, 1479-1555), Isabella's heir. Ferdinand objected to Philip's policies and to prevent Philip from gaining Aragon through Joanna, he married Germaine of Foix in the hope of having a son, who would take precedence over Joanna for the Crown of Aragon. This included Aragon, Valencia and Catalonia in Spain, and the Kingdom of Naples, Kingdom of Sicily and Sardinia in the Italian peninsula and the Tyrrhenian Sea.

Germaine was bright but not attractive. Being however a niece of Louis XII, King of France (reigned 1498-1515), did gain a short truce and brief alliance between the two kings, who were most often at war. In 1506 Philip of Habsburg died and Ferdinand became regent of Castile for his mentally unstable daughter Joanna. Ferdinand and Germaine did have a son, Juan, Prince of Aragon (3 May 1509) but he died almost at once. Despite the use of love potions, they did not have another.

Ferdinand's diplomatic deviousness and off and on alliances with France infuriated Henry VIII of England (born 1491, reigned 1509-1547), married to Ferdinand and Isabella's youngest daughter, Catherine of Aragon (1485-1536). To spite Ferdinand and for his own advantage, Henry in 1514 forced his sister Mary (1496-1533) into a loveless marriage with Louis XII, who died the next year.

In 1516, Ferdinand died, leaving Germaine a widow. Ferdinand's successor was the later Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, elder son of Philip and Joanna. Charles arranged for Germaine to marry in 1519, at Barcelona, Johann of Brandenburg, a cousin of Joachim I, Elector of Brandenburg. In 1523 Charles appointed the couple viceroys of Valencia.

On Johann's death in 1526, Germaine married Ferdinand of Aragón, Duke of Calabria and son of King Frederick IV of Naples (1496-1501) and his second wife Isabella del Balzo. The two continued as viceroys of Valencia and were patrons of the arts and music. Germaine died in 1538. The Duke of Calabria continued in office until his death in 1550.