 In 1573, John III negotiated for a marriage with Grand Duke of Tuscany, while she herself, assisted by Charles and her sister Catherine, negotiated in secret for a marriage among the Protestant German princes, such as the dukes of Pomerania and Cleves.In 1574, arrangements were made between her brother John III and the French queen dowager Catherine de' Medici to marry her to Henry III of France.Catherine de' Medici regarded Elizabeth as suitable, because she wished for her son to marry a royal princess; because the match was seen as beneficial to maintaining French influence in Poland, and also because it would gain France an ally outside of the Habsburg lands which surrounded France.