of France The marriage of Henry IV with Maria de' Medici represented above all, for France, a solution to dynastic and financial concerns: it was said that the French king "owed the bride's father, Francesco de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, who had helped support his war effort, a whopping 1,174,000 écus and this was the only means Henry could find to pay back the debt..." In addition, the Medici familybanking creditors of the Kings of Francepromised a dowry of 600,000 écus d'or (2 million livres including 1 million paid in cash to cancel the debt contracted by France with the Medici bank), which earned the future Queen the nickname "the big banker" (la grosse banquière) from her jealous rival, Catherine Henriette de Balzac d'Entragues, Henry IV's current maîtresse-en-titre. Moreover, Maria de' Medici was the granddaughter of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor (in office: 1556-1564), thereby ensuring and reinforcing a legitimate royal descent for prospective future members of the House of Bourbon (the Catholic League and Habsburg Spain had questioned Bourbon legitimacy during the previous French Succession War of 1589 - 1593). After having obtained the annulment of his union to Margaret of Valois in December 1599, Henry IV officially started negotiations for his new marriage with Maria de' Medici. The marriage contract was signed in Paris in March 1600 and official ceremonies took place in Tuscany and France from October to December of the same year: the marriage by proxy took place at the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore (now Florence Cathedral) on 5 October 1600 with Henry IV's favorite the Duc de Bellegarde representing the French sovereign. The celebrations were attended by 4,000 guests with lavish entertainment, including examples of the newly invented musical genre of opera, such as Jacopo Peri's Euridice.Maria (now known by the French usage of her name, Marie de Médicis) left Florence for Livorno on 23 October, accompanied by 2,000 people who made up her suite, and set off for Marseille, which she reached on November 3. Antoinette de Pons, Marquise de Guercheville and Première dame d'honneur of the new Queen, was responsible for welcoming her to Marseille. After her disembarkation, Marie continued her trip, arriving at Lyon on 3 December. She and Henry IV finally met on 9 December and spent their wedding night together. On 17 December, the Papal legate finally arrived, and gave his blessing to the religious wedding ceremony