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or you can get all of History Daily plus other fantastic history podcasts at IntoHistory.com. It's May 14th, 1643 at a royal residence near Paris, France.

Queen Anne snaps awake at the sound of church bells in the distance.

Takes a moment for the 43-year-old to remember where she is, sitting in a chair next to the

bed of her husband, King Louis XIII of France.

Although Louis is two years younger than Anne, his health is failing, and doctors have predicted

that his death is imminent.

Anne has sat in vigil by Louis' bed for days, but she's so exhausted she must have

drifted off to sleep. Anne has more to worry about than just her husband's illness. Their eldest child,

who is also named Louis, is next in line to the throne, but he's only four years old. And this is not a

time for a boy king. France is nearly out of money, and the country's nobles have spent the last few decades

either fighting among themselves or quarreling with the king.

It's such an unstable situation that Anne fears an ambitious noble will attempt to seize the throne

after her husband is gone.

She dips a cloth in a bowl of water and holds it to

King Louis' forehead. Seems to revive him a little. He mutters weakly and lifts his head off the

bed as though grasping for something. Anne puts her ear close to his mouth to make out his words.

He's asking for his sword. Anne smiles sadly and strokes Louis's forehead.

Her husband has no need for a weapon now, but Anne fears her son might soon.

Later that day, King Louis XIII takes his final breath. Anne has little time to grieve.

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