[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":117},["ShallowReactive",2],{"hreflang:/en/p/p7-renaissance/ch/p7ch7-charles-ix-the-regency-of-catherine-de-medici-and-the-first-wars-of-religion-1560-1574":3,"chapter:p7ch7:en":7,"chapters:p7:en":58},{"fr":4,"en":5,"es":6},"/p/p7-la-renaissance/ch/p7ch7-charles-ix-la-regence-de-catherine-de-medicis-et-les-premieres-guerres-de-religion-1560-1574","/en/p/p7-renaissance/ch/p7ch7-charles-ix-the-regency-of-catherine-de-medici-and-the-first-wars-of-religion-1560-1574","/es/p/p7-renacimiento/ch/p7ch7-carlos-ix-la-regencia-de-catalina-de-medici-y-las-primeras-guerras-de-religion-1560-1574",{"period":8,"chapter":30},{"id":9,"title":10,"titleEn":10,"titleEs":11,"range":12,"rangeEn":12,"rangeEs":12,"covers":13,"coverArtworkId":26,"cover":27},"p7","Renaissance","Renacimiento","1461 → 1610",[14,17,20,23],{"filename":15,"url":16},"British_-_Field_of_the_Cloth_of_Gold_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg","https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/British_-_Field_of_the_Cloth_of_Gold_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg?width=1600",{"filename":18,"url":19},"Marignan-1515-francois1er.jpg","https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Marignan-1515-francois1er.jpg?width=1600",{"filename":21,"url":22},"ChateauDeChambord.jpg","https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/ChateauDeChambord.jpg?width=1600",{"filename":24,"url":25},"Henri_IV_Toschi_(format_original).jpg","https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Henri_IV_Toschi_(format_original).jpg?width=1600","",{"fileName":24,"imageUrl":25,"filePageUrl":28,"sourceLabel":29},"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Henri_IV_Toschi_(format_original).jpg","Wikimedia Commons",{"id":31,"title":32,"periodId":9,"html":33,"zooms":34,"thumbnailArtworkId":26,"hasEn":53,"isFallback":54,"coverFit":26,"coverPosition":26,"chronicle":55,"realm":26,"seoDescription":56,"thumbnailUrl":57},"p7ch7","Charles IX: the Regency of Catherine de' Medici and the First Wars of Religion (1560-1574)","\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Charles IX\u003C/strong> was only ten years old when the death of his brother Francis II, on 5 December 1560, brought him to the throne of France. Too young to rule on his own, he left real power to his mother, \u003Cstrong>Catherine de’ Medici\u003C/strong>, proclaimed “governess of France” from the very first days of the new reign — a reign that would stretch over fourteen years, until his premature death in 1574, and that was to see France sink into the longest and deadliest internal conflict of its modern history.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>The inheritance was heavy: a kingdom already worn down, under Henry II and then Francis II, by a religious repression unable to stem the advance of Protestantism, and by a nobility divided between the great rival houses of Guise, Montmorency, and Bourbon. Catherine de’ Medici and her chancellor Michel de l’Hôpital first attempted the path of conciliation — a theological colloquy, an edict of tolerance —, but this policy failed as early as 1562, plunging the kingdom into a cycle of civil wars interspersed with fragile peaces, never honoured for more than a few years.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>The dominant trait of this reign was thus an endless alternation between war and negotiation: three Wars of Religion followed one another within barely a decade, each ended by a pacification edict increasingly generous toward Protestants, and each carrying off one of the kingdom’s great leaders — Antoine de Bourbon, Francis of Guise, Anne de Montmorency, Louis de Condé all perished within ten years, in a bloodbath that literally decapitated the French aristocracy. This chronic instability culminated in the darkest episode of the reign, and one of the most tragic in French history: the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, on the night of 23-24 August 1572, which saw several thousand Protestants perish in Paris and then in the kingdom’s provinces.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>Beyond the wars alone, the reign also saw other notable episodes: Charles IX’s majority proclaimed at Rouen in 1563, the grand tour of France undertaken by Catherine de’ Medici to reassert royal authority, the meeting at Bayonne with Spain from which the Huguenots drew the darkest omens, and, in its final months, a court conspiracy that revealed just how fragile the monarchy remained. The death of Charles IX, on 30 May 1574, at only twenty-three years of age, closed this reign on a kingdom still torn apart, leaving to his brother Henry III, urgently recalled from his Polish throne, the task of pursuing — without immediate further success — the search for a lasting religious peace. This chapter retraces this troubled reign in six parts: the attempt at conciliation, the first War of Religion, the armed peace, the second and third wars, the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, and then the fourth war and the king’s death.\u003C/p>\n\u003Chr>\n\u003Ch2>I. 1560–1562: the regency and the attempt at conciliation\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cp>The opening of the Estates-General of \u003Cstrong>Orléans\u003C/strong>, on \u003Cstrong>13 December 1560\u003C/strong>, gave the new chancellor \u003Cstrong>Michel de l’Hôpital\u003C/strong> the occasion for a speech that remains famous, in which he called on both religious camps for moderation: “Let us set aside these diabolical words, names of parties, factions, and seditions, Lutherans, Huguenots, papists, let us not change the name of Christians!” This line of conciliation, carried jointly by the chancellor and by the regent \u003Cstrong>Catherine de’ Medici\u003C/strong>, was not confined to religious matters alone: at the closing of the Estates, on \u003Cstrong>31 January 1561\u003C/strong>, the \u003Cstrong>ordinance of Orléans\u003C/strong> was promulgated, a text of one hundred fifty articles drafted by L’Hôpital himself, which undertook to thoroughly reform royal justice — abolishing judicial offices created in excess, ending the “spices” that litigants had to pay judges, and combating the venality of offices. Beyond religious appeasement, this amounted to an entire programme of institutional refoundation that the regency was then attempting to impose.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>The legitimation of the young reign continued through traditional channels: on \u003Cstrong>15 May 1561\u003C/strong>, \u003Cstrong>Charles IX\u003C/strong> was crowned at Reims cathedral, a ceremony during which the ritual fiction of the “sleeping king,” symbolically awakened by the bishops during the anointing, was introduced for the first time. That same year, 1561, also saw the court discover, in a lighter vein, a curiosity from the New World: back from his embassy in Lisbon, \u003Cstrong>Jean Nicot\u003C/strong> presented the tobacco plant to Catherine de’ Medici, extolling its supposed medicinal virtues — an anecdotal episode that would leave his name attached to “nicotine.”\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>\u003Ca class=\"kb-art-link\" href=\"/en/art/jean-nicot-presente-tabac-catherine-medicis\" data-art-id=\"jean-nicot-presente-tabac-catherine-medicis\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/55/Jean_Nicot_presenting_the_tobacco_plant_to_Queen_Catherine_de_Medicis_and_the_Grand_Prior_of_the_House_of_Lorraine_1655_%28i.e.%2C_1561%29_LCCN96505790.jpg/960px-Jean_Nicot_presenting_the_tobacco_plant_to_Queen_Catherine_de_Medicis_and_the_Grand_Prior_of_the_House_of_Lorraine_1655_%28i.e.%2C_1561%29_LCCN96505790.jpg\" alt=\"Jean Nicot presenting tobacco to Catherine de' Medici\" class=\"kb-img-contain\" >\u003Cspan class=\"kb-art-badge\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\u003Ci class=\"pi pi-image\">\u003C/i>\u003C/span>\u003C/a>\n\u003Cem>Jean Nicot presenting tobacco to Catherine de’ Medici: Anonymous (Library of Congress), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons\u003C/em>\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>The Estates-General resumed at \u003Cstrong>Pontoise\u003C/strong>, from \u003Cstrong>1 to 27 August 1561\u003C/strong>, this time with the Third Estate, mainly devoted to seeking subsidies to pay off the royal debt inherited from previous reigns.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>It was on theological ground that the regent then attempted her most ambitious effort at reconciliation: the \u003Cstrong>Colloquy of Poissy\u003C/strong>, held at the Priory of Saint-Louis in Poissy from \u003Cstrong>9 September to 14 October 1561\u003C/strong>, brought face to face the Cardinal of Lorraine, surrounded by six cardinals and thirty-eight archbishops and bishops, and a reformed delegation led by \u003Cstrong>Théodore de Bèze\u003C/strong>, accompanied by Nicolas Des Gallars and Peter Martyr Vermigli. The debate centred on the nature of the Eucharist and the real presence of Christ in the sacrament — a question on which Catholics and Protestants reached no compromise. The colloquy broke up on 14 October without agreement, sealing the failure of the theological path.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>\u003Ca class=\"kb-art-link\" href=\"/en/art/colloque-de-poissy-robert-fleury\" data-art-id=\"colloque-de-poissy-robert-fleury\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/Colloquy_of_Poissy_by_Robert-Fleury.jpg\" alt=\"The Colloquy of Poissy\" class=\"kb-img-contain\" >\u003Cspan class=\"kb-art-badge\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\u003Ci class=\"pi pi-image\">\u003C/i>\u003C/span>\u003C/a>\n\u003Cem>The Colloquy of Poissy: Joseph-Nicolas Robert-Fleury, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons\u003C/em>\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>The theological failure did not prevent a financial rapprochement: on \u003Cstrong>21 October 1561\u003C/strong>, at Poissy itself, the \u003Cstrong>Contract of Poissy\u003C/strong> was signed, by which the clergy of France undertook to pay the crown 1.6 million livres a year for six years — 9.6 million in total — to pay off part of the public debt, in exchange for a royal guarantee over church property. But while prelates and theologians were thus negotiating at Poissy, confessional violence was already breaking out in the provinces, and flowing in both directions: on \u003Cstrong>20 October 1561\u003C/strong> at \u003Cstrong>Montpellier\u003C/strong>, Protestants stormed Notre-Dame-des-Tables cathedral and ransacked some sixty churches and chapels in the town, partly massacring those besieged inside; a month later, on \u003Cstrong>19 November\u003C/strong>, it was Catholics who killed about thirty Protestants gathered for worship at \u003Cstrong>Cahors\u003C/strong>, run through with swords or shot with arquebuses before the building was set on fire. These two episodes, occurring several months before Wassy, show that the kingdom no longer needed more than a spark to tip over into open war.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>The legal path remained. Prepared by Catherine de’ Medici and Michel de l’Hôpital, the \u003Cstrong>edict of January\u003C/strong> — also called the edict of Saint-Germain — was signed on \u003Cstrong>17 January 1562\u003C/strong> by the young Charles IX, barely eleven years old. The text granted Protestants the right to hold their worship outside fortified towns and to hold private assemblies within them, in exchange for restoring the places of worship they still occupied. The Parlement of Paris, fiercely Catholic, at first refused to register this text of tolerance, delaying its application in an already electric climate.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>This tension exploded six weeks later. On \u003Cstrong>1 March 1562\u003C/strong>, Duke \u003Cstrong>Francis of Guise\u003C/strong>, passing through with his armed escort near his estate of Joinville, discovered at \u003Cstrong>Wassy\u003C/strong>, in Haute-Marne, an assembly of about two hundred Protestants gathered in a barn inside the town — in violation of the restrictions of the edict of January, which confined worship to outside the walls. The clash that followed quickly degenerated: about fifty dead and between one hundred fifty and two hundred wounded were counted among the worshippers, including women and children. Only five days later, on \u003Cstrong>6 March\u003C/strong>, the Parlement of Paris, under compulsion of royal lettres de jussion, finally resolved to register the edict of January — but the damage was done: the \u003Cstrong>Massacre of Wassy\u003C/strong>, interpreted by Protestants as a deliberate act of aggression by the Guises, immediately brought the kingdom to the brink of open war.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>\u003Ca class=\"kb-art-link\" href=\"/en/art/massacre-de-wassy-tortorel-perrissin\" data-art-id=\"massacre-de-wassy-tortorel-perrissin\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Massacredewassytortorel.jpeg\" alt=\"Massacre of Wassy, 1 March 1562\" class=\"kb-img-contain\" >\u003Cspan class=\"kb-art-badge\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\u003Ci class=\"pi pi-image\">\u003C/i>\u003C/span>\u003C/a>\n\u003Cem>Massacre of Wassy, 1 March 1562: Jacques Tortorel and Jean Perrissin, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons\u003C/em>\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>🔍 \u003Cstrong>\u003Ca href=\"/en/zoom/p7ch7z0\">Zoom – Catherine de’ Medici Before the Regency\u003C/a>\u003C/strong>\u003C/p>\n\u003Chr>\n\u003Ch2>II. 1562–1563: the first War of Religion\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cp>On \u003Cstrong>2 April 1562\u003C/strong>, \u003Cstrong>Louis de Condé\u003C/strong> took up arms and gathered his army at \u003Cstrong>Orléans\u003C/strong>, which at once became the base of the Huguenot insurrection. Entire towns swung into the Protestant camp — Lyon, Rouen, Poitiers among others —, while the Catholic \u003Cstrong>Triumvirate\u003C/strong>, formed as early as 1561 around Francis of Guise, constable \u003Cstrong>Anne de Montmorency\u003C/strong>, and marshal \u003Cstrong>Saint-André\u003C/strong>, organised the royal response on several fronts at once: Normandy, the Loire valley, Languedoc, and the Southwest. Seeking outside support, Condé and admiral \u003Cstrong>Coligny\u003C/strong> signed the \u003Cstrong>Treaty of Hampton Court\u003C/strong> with \u003Cstrong>Elizabeth I\u003C/strong> of England on \u003Cstrong>20 September 1562\u003C/strong>, who promised them three thousand men stationed at Le Havre and a hundred thousand écus, in exchange for ceding that same town to the English — who would later refuse to evacuate it, invoking the old loss of Calais to justify staying.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>Well before the great pitched battles, the war first expressed itself through an explosion of reciprocal urban violence. Barely ten days after Condé took up arms, on \u003Cstrong>12 April 1562\u003C/strong>, more than a hundred Huguenots were massacred at \u003Cstrong>Sens\u003C/strong> — the riot, encouraged by the Catholic mayor Hémard and by more than three hundred canons who came from neighbouring villages to “lend a hand,” left the victims’ bodies floating in the Yonne. A month later, from \u003Cstrong>12 to 17 May\u003C/strong>, a Protestant uprising at \u003Cstrong>Toulouse\u003C/strong> degenerated into a week of street fighting: about two hundred Protestants were killed in the clashes, as many executed after the repression, and the whole episode — including the complete expulsion of Protestants from the town — caused, by some estimates, between three and five thousand deaths. In the Dauphiné, conversely, it was a Huguenot leader, \u003Cstrong>François de Beaumont, baron des Adrets\u003C/strong>, master of the province from June 1562, who became notorious for the practice of “sauterie” — hurling Catholic prisoners from the tops of ramparts, towers, or bell-towers onto pikes planted below, as at Montbrison where eighteen of them were executed at once in this way —, a cycle of reciprocal reprisals that the Protestant poet Agrippa d’Aubigné would later immortalise in his \u003Cem>Tragiques\u003C/em>.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>The conflict saw its first bloody turning point at the \u003Cstrong>siege of Rouen\u003C/strong>, conducted by the Catholics from \u003Cstrong>28 September to 26 October 1562\u003C/strong> and ending in their victory. On \u003Cstrong>16 October\u003C/strong>, \u003Cstrong>Antoine de Bourbon\u003C/strong>, king of Navarre and father of the future Henry IV, was wounded by an arquebus shot while inspecting the ramparts; his own surgeon, \u003Cstrong>Ambroise Paré\u003C/strong>, sensed from the outset a fatal outcome despite the apparent mildness of the wound. The king of Navarre died of his wound on \u003Cstrong>17 November 1562\u003C/strong>. A month later, on \u003Cstrong>19 December\u003C/strong>, the \u003Cstrong>Battle of Dreux\u003C/strong> saw both camps simultaneously lose their leaders: Condé was captured by the Catholics, while constable Montmorency fell into Protestant hands, and marshal Saint-André perished on the battlefield — a strategic bloodbath that left both parties without command.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>\u003Ca class=\"kb-art-link\" href=\"/en/art/bataille-de-dreux-conde-fait-prisonnier-auguste-trichon\" data-art-id=\"bataille-de-dreux-conde-fait-prisonnier-auguste-trichon\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8e/Dictionnaire_D%C3%A9cembre_Alonnier-I-185.jpg/960px-Dictionnaire_D%C3%A9cembre_Alonnier-I-185.jpg\" alt=\"Battle of Dreux (Condé taken prisoner)\" class=\"kb-img-contain\" >\u003Cspan class=\"kb-art-badge\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\u003Ci class=\"pi pi-image\">\u003C/i>\u003C/span>\u003C/a>\n\u003Cem>Battle of Dreux (Condé taken prisoner): Auguste Trichon, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons\u003C/em>\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>This void was tragically filled a few weeks later. While besieging Orléans, \u003Cstrong>Francis of Guise\u003C/strong> was mortally wounded on \u003Cstrong>18 February 1563\u003C/strong> by a pistol shot fired by \u003Cstrong>Poltrot de Méré\u003C/strong>, near Saint-Mesmin; he died on \u003Cstrong>24 February\u003C/strong>. Arrested and tortured at length, Poltrot first accused Coligny and the theologian Théodore de Bèze of having ordered the attack, before retracting — without Coligny’s responsibility ever being formally established. He was drawn and quartered in Paris on \u003Cstrong>18 March 1563\u003C/strong>. Guise’s death, the last military leader still in a position to impose his will, opened the way to peace: the very next day, \u003Cstrong>19 March 1563\u003C/strong>, the \u003Cstrong>Peace of Amboise\u003C/strong> ended the conflict. The edict confirmed the freedom of conscience already granted by the edict of January 1562, but restricted collective Protestant worship to the suburbs of a single town per bailiwick and to the residences of noble high justiciars — Paris remaining closed to all reformed worship —, all accompanied by a general amnesty that closed, for the time being, the first War of Religion.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>\u003Ca class=\"kb-art-link\" href=\"/en/art/assassinat-francois-de-guise-1563-tortorel-perrissin\" data-art-id=\"assassinat-francois-de-guise-1563-tortorel-perrissin\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/Assassinat_du_duc_Fran%C3%A7ois_de_Guise%2C_18_f%C3%A9vrier_1563.jpg\" alt=\"Assassination of Duke Francis of Guise, 18 February 1563\" class=\"kb-img-contain\" >\u003Cspan class=\"kb-art-badge\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\u003Ci class=\"pi pi-image\">\u003C/i>\u003C/span>\u003C/a>\n\u003Cem>Assassination of Duke Francis of Guise, 18 February 1563: Jacques Tortorel and Jean Perrissin, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons\u003C/em>\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>His widow, \u003Cstrong>Anne d’Este\u003C/strong>, made their son \u003Cstrong>Henri de Guise\u003C/strong>, then barely thirteen years old, swear to one day avenge this death — an oath of vengeance that would durably shape the uncompromising character of the future leader of the Catholic League.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>\u003Ca class=\"kb-art-link\" href=\"/en/art/serment-henri-de-guise-anne-este-1563\" data-art-id=\"serment-henri-de-guise-anne-este-1563\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0f/Le_Serment_de_Henri_de_Guise_-_Pierre-Charles_Comte_-_MBA_Lyon_2014.jpg/960px-Le_Serment_de_Henri_de_Guise_-_Pierre-Charles_Comte_-_MBA_Lyon_2014.jpg\" alt=\"The Oath of Henri de Guise\" class=\"kb-img-contain\" >\u003Cspan class=\"kb-art-badge\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\u003Ci class=\"pi pi-image\">\u003C/i>\u003C/span>\u003C/a>\n\u003Cem>The Oath of Henri de Guise: Pierre-Charles Comte, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons\u003C/em>\u003C/p>\n\u003Chr>\n\u003Ch2>III. 1563–1567: the armed peace\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cp>The Peace of Amboise had barely been signed when Catholics and Protestants found themselves united against a common enemy: the English, still entrenched at Le Havre since the Treaty of Hampton Court. A royal army bringing together former adversaries — constable \u003Cstrong>Montmorency\u003C/strong> and the prince of \u003Cstrong>Condé\u003C/strong> fighting side by side — retook the town on \u003Cstrong>29 July 1563\u003C/strong>, forcing the English troops to evacuate and allowing the king of France to order the destruction of the fort built by the occupiers. This circumstantial reconciliation was sealed by the \u003Cstrong>Treaty of Troyes\u003C/strong>, signed in April 1564, which officially restored peace with England.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>The monarchy then sought to strengthen its domestic authority. On \u003Cstrong>17 August 1563\u003C/strong>, a lit de justice held at \u003Cstrong>Rouen\u003C/strong> proclaimed the majority of \u003Cstrong>Charles IX\u003C/strong>, aged thirteen, theoretically ending the regency — though Catherine de’ Medici lost none of her real power for it. To reassert royal presence in a kingdom still convalescent, the queen mother organised the longest journey ever undertaken by the French court: the \u003Cstrong>grand tour of France\u003C/strong>, which left Paris on \u003Cstrong>24 January 1564\u003C/strong> and ended on \u003Cstrong>1 May 1566\u003C/strong>, took Charles IX through Champagne, Burgundy, the Lyonnais, the Dauphiné, Provence, Languedoc, and Guyenne, before returning by way of Brittany and Anjou — two years and three months of travel intended to enforce the Peace of Amboise everywhere and to let a king, finally visible to his subjects, be seen in every major town along the way. The journey was also the occasion, for chancellor \u003Cstrong>Michel de l’Hôpital\u003C/strong>, to continue his reform work begun with the ordinance of Orléans: at the stop in Roussillon, in the Dauphiné, the \u003Cstrong>edict of Roussillon\u003C/strong> of \u003Cstrong>9 August 1564\u003C/strong> fixed for the first time the start of the civil year on 1 January — until then counted from Easter —, a rule that would remain in force to this day; and at the tour’s final stop, in February 1566, the \u003Cstrong>ordinance of Moulins\u003C/strong> reaffirmed the principle of the inalienability of the royal domain and specified the conditions for exceptions, notably for the constitution of princely appanages.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cimg src=\"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/Charles_IX_grand_tour_de_France_map.svg\" alt=\"Map of Charles IX's grand tour of France (1564-1566)\" class=\"kb-img-contain\">\n\u003Cem>Map of Charles IX’s grand tour of France (1564-1566): Yug and Walké (base map), route by Flappiefh, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons\u003C/em>\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>The stage with the heaviest consequences of the grand tour was, however, the \u003Cstrong>meeting at Bayonne\u003C/strong>, in June-July 1565: Catherine de’ Medici and Charles IX there met \u003Cstrong>Elisabeth of Valois\u003C/strong>, the king’s sister who had become queen of Spain, accompanied by the \u003Cstrong>Duke of Alba\u003C/strong>, sent by Philip II, who himself stayed away. During these talks, the Duke of Alba strongly urged France to take a firmer stance against Protestant “heretics.” Although the exact content of the exchanges remains debated by historians, the meeting was enough to give rise, in the Huguenot camp, to a lasting suspicion of a secret Franco-Spanish agreement to coordinate religious repression — a distrust that would weigh heavily on the following years and feed, in Condé and Coligny, the fear of an imminent royal crackdown.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>\u003Ca class=\"kb-art-link\" href=\"/en/art/portrait-catherine-de-medicis-1565-atelier-clouet\" data-art-id=\"portrait-catherine-de-medicis-1565-atelier-clouet\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Anonymous_-_Portrait_de_Catherine_de_M%C3%A9dicis_%281519-1589%29%2C_reine_de_France_-_P2127_-_Mus%C3%A9e_Carnavalet.jpg\" alt=\"Portrait of Catherine de' Medici, c. 1565\" class=\"kb-img-contain\" >\u003Cspan class=\"kb-art-badge\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\u003Ci class=\"pi pi-image\">\u003C/i>\u003C/span>\u003C/a>\n\u003Cem>Portrait of Catherine de’ Medici, c. 1565: Workshop of François Clouet, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons\u003C/em>\u003C/p>\n\u003Chr>\n\u003Ch2>IV. 1567–1570: the second and third Wars of Religion\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cp>This distrust turned into a coup on \u003Cstrong>28 September 1567\u003C/strong>: Condé attempted to seize the king and the court at the château of Montceaux, near Meaux — the “\u003Cstrong>surprise of Meaux\u003C/strong>.” Warned in time, Catherine de’ Medici called on Colonel Pfyffer and his six thousand Swiss soldiers, who extracted the royal family in a square formation under Huguenot cavalry charges and brought them safely to Paris. Condé pursued the court and laid siege to the capital, until the decisive clash of the \u003Cstrong>Battle of Saint-Denis\u003C/strong>, on \u003Cstrong>10 November 1567\u003C/strong>, where the old constable \u003Cstrong>Anne de Montmorency\u003C/strong>, then seventy-four years old, was mortally wounded; he died two days later, on \u003Cstrong>12 November\u003C/strong>. The \u003Cstrong>Peace of Longjumeau\u003C/strong>, signed on \u003Cstrong>23 March 1568\u003C/strong>, restored the terms of the Peace of Amboise and closed this second war, shorter than the first.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>\u003Ca class=\"kb-art-link\" href=\"/en/art/bataille-de-saint-denis-1567-tortorel-perrissin\" data-art-id=\"bataille-de-saint-denis-1567-tortorel-perrissin\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Battle_of_Saint_Denis_1567.jpg\" alt=\"Battle of Saint-Denis, 10 November 1567\" class=\"kb-img-contain\" >\u003Cspan class=\"kb-art-badge\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\u003Ci class=\"pi pi-image\">\u003C/i>\u003C/span>\u003C/a>\n\u003Cem>Battle of Saint-Denis, 10 November 1567: Jacques Tortorel and Jean Perrissin, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons\u003C/em>\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>The peace lasted only a few months. As soon as the Cardinal of Lorraine returned to favour on the royal council, the Catholic party regained the upper hand: a first attempt to arrest Condé and Coligny failed on \u003Cstrong>25 July 1568\u003C/strong>, and the edicts of \u003Cstrong>Saint-Maur\u003C/strong>, the following September, purely and simply revoked the Peace of Longjumeau, once again banning all reformed worship and branding the Huguenots as criminals of lèse-majesté. Fearing extermination, Condé and Coligny fled Burgundy on \u003Cstrong>23 August 1568\u003C/strong> to reach \u003Cstrong>La Rochelle\u003C/strong>, which became the stronghold and headquarters of the Protestant party for the rest of the conflict — opening the \u003Cstrong>third War of Religion\u003C/strong>. \u003Cstrong>Jeanne d’Albret\u003C/strong>, queen of Navarre, joined them there on 28 September with her son \u003Cstrong>Henri de Navarre\u003C/strong>, barely fifteen years old, and took charge of the civil administration of the Protestant movement, leaving Coligny military command and herself maintaining diplomatic contacts with the Protestant princes of Germany and the Netherlands.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>The first great clash turned to catastrophe for the Huguenots: at the \u003Cstrong>Battle of Jarnac\u003C/strong>, on \u003Cstrong>13 March 1569\u003C/strong>, Condé, his leg broken after his horse fell, was surrounded and captured; he was then executed with a pistol shot to the back of the neck by \u003Cstrong>Montesquiou\u003C/strong>, captain of the guards of the Duke of Anjou — the king’s brother and future Henry III —, even though he had surrendered.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>\u003Ca class=\"kb-art-link\" href=\"/en/art/mort-conde-jarnac-1569-bayard\" data-art-id=\"mort-conde-jarnac-1569-bayard\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b2/Assassination_of_Louis_I%2C_Prince_of_Cond%C3%A9_in_the_battle_of_Jarnac%2C_1569.png/960px-Assassination_of_Louis_I%2C_Prince_of_Cond%C3%A9_in_the_battle_of_Jarnac%2C_1569.png\" alt=\"The Death of the Prince of Condé at the Battle of Jarnac\" class=\"kb-img-contain\" >\u003Cspan class=\"kb-art-badge\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\u003Ci class=\"pi pi-image\">\u003C/i>\u003C/span>\u003C/a>\n\u003Cem>The Death of the Prince of Condé at the Battle of Jarnac: Émile Bayard, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons\u003C/em>\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>Coligny nonetheless managed to save most of the Protestant army and withdraw in good order. The following summer, from \u003Cstrong>24 July to 7 September 1569\u003C/strong>, Coligny laid \u003Cstrong>siege to Poitiers\u003C/strong> with a considerable army — about ten thousand infantry and eight to nine thousand cavalry, reinforced by German reiters and landsknechts under Wolfgang of Zweibrücken and William of Nassau —, but the town, defended by a nineteen-year-old nobleman, \u003Cstrong>Henri de Guise\u003C/strong>, son of the assassinated duke, held firm for seven weeks and finally forced the besiegers to lift the siege: the first appearance on the public stage of the man who would become, a generation later, the leader of the Catholic League. Seven months after Jarnac, on \u003Cstrong>3 October 1569\u003C/strong>, a second defeat struck the Protestants at the \u003Cstrong>Battle of Moncontour\u003C/strong>, won by Catholic troops still led by the Duke of Anjou.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>\u003Ca class=\"kb-art-link\" href=\"/en/art/bataille-de-moncontour-1569-estampe\" data-art-id=\"bataille-de-moncontour-1569-estampe\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/40/Bataille_de_Moncontour_-_estampe_-_btv1b8400651f.jpg/960px-Bataille_de_Moncontour_-_estampe_-_btv1b8400651f.jpg\" alt=\"Battle of Moncontour\" class=\"kb-img-contain\" >\u003Cspan class=\"kb-art-badge\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\u003Ci class=\"pi pi-image\">\u003C/i>\u003C/span>\u003C/a>\n\u003Cem>Battle of Moncontour: Anonymous, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons\u003C/em>\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>Despite these two major military setbacks, Coligny managed to preserve enough forces to compel the crown to negotiate: the \u003Cstrong>Peace of Saint-Germain-en-Laye\u003C/strong>, signed on \u003Cstrong>8 August 1570\u003C/strong>, proved markedly more favourable to Protestants than previous ones, granting them, for two years, four safe towns — \u003Cstrong>La Rochelle, Montauban, Cognac, and La Charité\u003C/strong> — as well as freedom of worship in the suburbs of two towns per governorship.\u003C/p>\n\u003Chr>\n\u003Ch2>V. 1570–1572: Coligny’s return and the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cp>The Peace of Saint-Germain allowed \u003Cstrong>Gaspard de Coligny\u003C/strong> to regain his place on the royal council, where he soon exercised such profound influence over the young Charles IX — fatherless since childhood — that the king came to call him “my father.” Strengthened by this ascendancy, the admiral pushed Charles IX to secretly support, without Catherine de’ Medici being fully informed, the Protestant uprising in the Netherlands against Spain: after \u003Cstrong>Louis of Nassau\u003C/strong> seized \u003Cstrong>Mons\u003C/strong> on 23 May 1572, the king let Coligny raise four thousand Huguenots under the command of \u003Cstrong>Genlis\u003C/strong> to bring aid to the rebels. But in mid-July, this expeditionary force was wiped out by Spanish troops at the Battle of Saint-Ghislain, exposing the king’s duplicity in broad daylight; fearing the diplomatic consequences of this defeat, Charles IX immediately distanced himself from the Huguenots and drew away from Coligny, whose hitherto triumphant influence was suddenly weakened.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>At the same time, a marriage was negotiated to seal the reconciliation of the two faiths: that of \u003Cstrong>Marguerite de Valois\u003C/strong>, the king’s sister, with \u003Cstrong>Henri de Navarre\u003C/strong>, the young Protestant leader. The contract was signed on 11 April 1572, but the death of Henri’s mother, \u003Cstrong>Jeanne d’Albret\u003C/strong>, which occurred in Paris on \u003Cstrong>9 June 1572\u003C/strong>, delayed the ceremony until \u003Cstrong>18 August 1572\u003C/strong>, celebrated at Notre-Dame — Henri, having remained Protestant, having to content himself with the forecourt, without entering the cathedral for the mass. This unexpected death almost immediately fed a black legend, spread by the Protestant pamphleteer Agrippa d’Aubigné, according to which Jeanne d’Albret had been poisoned by scented gloves supplied by René, Catherine de’ Medici’s Florentine perfumer — an accusation never substantiated by any reliable contemporary source, but one that was to enjoy a long literary and artistic afterlife.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>\u003Ca class=\"kb-art-link\" href=\"/en/art/jeanne-albret-gants-empoisonnes-comte\" data-art-id=\"jeanne-albret-gants-empoisonnes-comte\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3c/Pierre-Charles_Comte_-_Jeanne_III_of_Navarre_Buying_Poisoned_Gloves_from_Catherine_de_Medici%27s_Parfumeur%2C_Rene.jpg/960px-Pierre-Charles_Comte_-_Jeanne_III_of_Navarre_Buying_Poisoned_Gloves_from_Catherine_de_Medici%27s_Parfumeur%2C_Rene.jpg\" alt=\"Jeanne d'Albret buying poisoned gloves from the perfumer René\" class=\"kb-img-contain\" >\u003Cspan class=\"kb-art-badge\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\u003Ci class=\"pi pi-image\">\u003C/i>\u003C/span>\u003C/a>\n\u003Cem>Jeanne d’Albret buying poisoned gloves from the perfumer René: Pierre-Charles Comte, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons\u003C/em>\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>\u003Ca class=\"kb-art-link\" href=\"/en/art/mariage-henri-navarre-marguerite-valois-caryatides-1572\" data-art-id=\"mariage-henri-navarre-marguerite-valois-caryatides-1572\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/Mariage_d%27Henri_IV_dans_la_salle_des_Caryatides.jpg\" alt=\"The Wedding of Henri de Navarre in the Salle des Caryatides\" class=\"kb-img-contain\" >\u003Cspan class=\"kb-art-badge\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\u003Ci class=\"pi pi-image\">\u003C/i>\u003C/span>\u003C/a>\n\u003Cem>The Wedding of Henri de Navarre in the Salle des Caryatides: Anonymous, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons\u003C/em>\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>Four days later, on \u003Cstrong>22 August\u003C/strong>, while Paris still swarmed with Protestant nobility come for the wedding, Coligny was targeted by an arquebus shot fired from a house belonging to the Guises by \u003Cstrong>Charles de Louviers, seigneur de Maurevert\u003C/strong>; wounded in the arm and hand, the admiral survived, and the king visited him in person to promise him justice.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>\u003Ca class=\"kb-art-link\" href=\"/en/art/charles-ix-catherine-medicis-coligny-volkhart\" data-art-id=\"charles-ix-catherine-medicis-coligny-volkhart\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2b/Volkhart%2C_Catherine_di_Medici_and_Admiral_de_Coligny.jpg/960px-Volkhart%2C_Catherine_di_Medici_and_Admiral_de_Coligny.jpg\" alt=\"Charles IX and Catherine de' Medici inquiring after Coligny\" class=\"kb-img-contain\" >\u003Cspan class=\"kb-art-badge\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\u003Ci class=\"pi pi-image\">\u003C/i>\u003C/span>\u003C/a>\n\u003Cem>Charles IX and Catherine de’ Medici inquiring after Coligny: Georg Wilhelm Volkhart, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons\u003C/em>\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>But on the night of \u003Cstrong>23-24 August\u003C/strong>, a small council gathered around Charles IX and his mother resolved, fearing an armed Protestant reprisal, to have the principal Huguenot leaders present in the capital executed. On the morning of \u003Cstrong>24 August 1572\u003C/strong>, St. Bartholomew’s Day, Coligny was assassinated in his lodgings and then thrown out of the window; among the first victims were also his son-in-law \u003Cstrong>Téligny\u003C/strong>, shot dead with a musket on a rooftop, and \u003Cstrong>La Rochefoucauld\u003C/strong>, with whom the king had nonetheless joked until eleven o’clock the previous evening, stabbed by a masked valet sent for that purpose. The killing, at first directed against the Protestant leaders, degenerated within a few hours into a general massacre in the streets of Paris.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>\u003Ca class=\"kb-art-link\" href=\"/en/art/massacre-saint-barthelemy-francois-dubois\" data-art-id=\"massacre-saint-barthelemy-francois-dubois\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Francois_Dubois_001.jpg\" alt=\"The St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre\" class=\"kb-img-contain\" >\u003Cspan class=\"kb-art-badge\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\u003Ci class=\"pi pi-image\">\u003C/i>\u003C/span>\u003C/a>\n\u003Cem>The St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre: François Dubois, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons\u003C/em>\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>It then spread to the provinces in the following weeks — Orléans and Meaux as early as 25 August, Lyon on the 31st, then Bordeaux and Toulouse in early October — for a toll estimated between ten thousand and thirty thousand dead across the kingdom, about three thousand of them in the capital alone. Henri de Navarre and the young prince of Condé escaped the massacre by resigning themselves to abjure, at least outwardly, the reformed religion.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>🔍 \u003Cstrong>\u003Ca href=\"/en/zoom/p7ch7z1\">Zoom – The Marriage of Charles IX and Elisabeth of Austria\u003C/a>\u003C/strong>\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>🔍 \u003Cstrong>\u003Ca href=\"/en/zoom/p7ch7z2\">Zoom – The Weakening of France in the Mediterranean\u003C/a>\u003C/strong>\u003C/p>\n\u003Chr>\n\u003Ch2>VI. 1572–1574: the fourth War of Religion and the death of Charles IX\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cp>Far from annihilating the Protestant party, the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre radicalised it: the survivors entrenched themselves at \u003Cstrong>La Rochelle\u003C/strong>, which refused as early as November 1572 to receive the new royal governor, opening the \u003Cstrong>fourth War of Religion\u003C/strong>. The siege of the town, begun on \u003Cstrong>11 February 1573\u003C/strong> under the command of the Duke of Anjou — the king’s brother and future Henry III —, dragged on for several months against stubborn resistance.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>\u003Ca class=\"kb-art-link\" href=\"/en/art/siege-de-la-rochelle-1573-duc-anjou-tapisserie\" data-art-id=\"siege-de-la-rochelle-1573-duc-anjou-tapisserie\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Le_Siege_de_La_Rochelle_par_le_Duc_d_Anjou_en_1573.jpg\" alt=\"The Siege of La Rochelle by the Duke of Anjou in 1573\" class=\"kb-img-contain\" >\u003Cspan class=\"kb-art-badge\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\u003Ci class=\"pi pi-image\">\u003C/i>\u003C/span>\u003C/a>\n\u003Cem>The Siege of La Rochelle by the Duke of Anjou in 1573: Anonymous, 1623 tapestry, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons\u003C/em>\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>🔍 \u003Cstrong>\u003Ca href=\"/en/zoom/p7ch7z3\">Zoom – The Siege of La Rochelle: The Ambiguous Role of François de La Noue\u003C/a>\u003C/strong>\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>At the same time, at some distance, an even more deadly siege was closing in on \u003Cstrong>Sancerre\u003C/strong>: invested from \u003Cstrong>3 August 1572\u003C/strong>, the town blockaded from 7 February 1573 endured nearly six thousand cannonballs before famine finished off its defenders — more than five hundred inhabitants died of hunger, reduced to eating grass, roots, and shoe leather, before capitulating on \u003Cstrong>24 August 1573\u003C/strong>; the pastor \u003Cstrong>Jean de Léry\u003C/strong>, already a survivor of the France Antarctique colony a decade earlier, lived through this second siege and left a harrowing account of it, the \u003Cem>Histoire mémorable du siège de Sancerre\u003C/em>. The Duke of Anjou’s unexpected election to the Polish throne, in \u003Cstrong>May 1573\u003C/strong>, hastened the end of hostilities at La Rochelle: pressed to take up his new kingdom, he agreed to lift the siege on \u003Cstrong>6 July\u003C/strong>, ratified a few days later by the \u003Cstrong>edict of Boulogne\u003C/strong> (\u003Cstrong>11 July 1573\u003C/strong>), which granted freedom of conscience but restricted the exercise of reformed worship to the towns of La Rochelle, Montauban, and Nîmes alone.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>Anjou’s departure for Poland, in the autumn of 1573, left the kingdom at the mercy of a new court intrigue: the \u003Cstrong>conspiracy of the Malcontents\u003C/strong>, hatched during the winter of 1573-1574 around the king’s youngest brother, \u003Cstrong>François d’Alençon\u003C/strong>, and \u003Cstrong>Henri de Navarre\u003C/strong>, both held virtually under house arrest. The plot aimed to help them escape in order to overturn Catherine de’ Medici’s ascendancy and substitute Alençon for the absent Anjou in the order of succession; discovered and foiled twice, at the end of February and the start of April 1574, the conspiracy earned its instigators, \u003Cstrong>La Mole\u003C/strong> and \u003Cstrong>Coconnas\u003C/strong>, beheading on the Place de Grève on \u003Cstrong>30 April 1574\u003C/strong>, despite pleas for clemency from Alençon and Marguerite de Valois, while Alençon and Navarre remained under close watch at court.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>It was in this climate of permanent suspicion that the health of \u003Cstrong>Charles IX\u003C/strong>, already fragile and which many said was undermined by remorse over St. Bartholomew’s Day, deteriorated rapidly in the spring of 1574. Carried off by tuberculosis, he died at the château of \u003Cstrong>Vincennes\u003C/strong> on \u003Cstrong>30 May 1574\u003C/strong>, at only twenty-three years of age, without a legitimate male heir. In the absence of his elder brother \u003Cstrong>Henri\u003C/strong>, crowned king of Poland the previous year and still in Kraków, the provisional regency of the kingdom fell a second time to \u003Cstrong>Catherine de’ Medici\u003C/strong>, until the new king could hastily return to France to become Henry III — the final act of a reign begun fourteen years earlier in the hope of religious conciliation, and which ended on a kingdom torn by three civil wars and haunted by the memory of St. Bartholomew’s Day.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>\u003Ca class=\"kb-art-link\" href=\"/en/art/mort-de-charles-ix-monvoisin\" data-art-id=\"mort-de-charles-ix-monvoisin\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/17/MonvoisinCharlesIX.jpg/960px-MonvoisinCharlesIX.jpg\" alt=\"The Death of Charles IX\" class=\"kb-img-contain\" >\u003Cspan class=\"kb-art-badge\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\u003Ci class=\"pi pi-image\">\u003C/i>\u003C/span>\u003C/a>\n\u003Cem>The Death of Charles IX: Raymond Auguste Quinsac Monvoisin, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons\u003C/em>\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>🔍 \u003Cstrong>\u003Ca href=\"/en/zoom/p7ch7z4\">Zoom – The Death of Charles IX: Autopsy and Aftermath\u003C/a>\u003C/strong>\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>🔍 \u003Cstrong>\u003Ca href=\"/en/zoom/p7ch7z5\">Zoom – Culture and the Arts under Charles IX\u003C/a>\u003C/strong>\u003C/p>\n\u003Chr>\n\u003Ch2>🧠 Key Takeaways\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cul>\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>5 December 1560\u003C/strong>: death of Francis II, accession of Charles IX (age 10) under the regency of Catherine de’ Medici\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>31 January 1561\u003C/strong>: ordinance of Orléans, judicial reform by Michel de l’Hôpital; \u003Cstrong>15 May 1561\u003C/strong>: coronation of Charles IX at Reims\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>Autumn 1561: failure of the Colloquy of Poissy, financial contract with the clergy (1.6 million livres/year), and first bilateral massacres in the provinces (Montpellier, Cahors), harbingers of civil war\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>17 January 1562\u003C/strong>: edict of January, attempt at religious conciliation by Catherine de’ Medici and Michel de l’Hôpital; \u003Cstrong>1 March 1562\u003C/strong>: massacre of Wassy, triggering the first War of Religion\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>April-May 1562: reciprocal urban massacres (Sens, Toulouse) and the “sauteries” of the baron des Adrets in the Dauphiné, from the very first weeks of the conflict\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>19 December 1562 – 19 March 1563\u003C/strong>: Battle of Dreux, assassination of Francis of Guise, Peace of Amboise ending the first war\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>29 July 1563\u003C/strong>: recapture of Le Havre from the English, Catholics and Protestants united in a single army; Treaty of Troyes (April 1564)\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>1564-1566\u003C/strong>: grand tour of France by Charles IX and Catherine de’ Medici, punctuated by the edict of Roussillon (1 January as the start of the year) and the ordinance of Moulins; \u003Cstrong>June 1565\u003C/strong>: meeting at Bayonne with Spain\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>1567-1570\u003C/strong>: second and third Wars of Religion — surprise of Meaux, death of Montmorency at Saint-Denis, edicts of Saint-Maur revoking Longjumeau, death of Condé at Jarnac, Peace of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (Protestant safe towns)\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>September 1568: Jeanne d’Albret and Henri de Navarre (age 15) reach La Rochelle; July-September 1569: siege of Poitiers, first appearance of Henri de Guise, future leader of the League\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>May-July 1572: failure of Coligny’s secret expedition to the Netherlands (capture of Mons, defeat of Genlis at Saint-Ghislain), weakening his influence over Charles IX\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>23-24 August 1572\u003C/strong>: St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, following the marriage of Marguerite de Valois and Henri de Navarre — several thousand dead in Paris and the provinces\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>1572-1573\u003C/strong>: fourth War of Religion, simultaneous sieges of La Rochelle and Sancerre (famine, testimony of Jean de Léry), edict of Boulogne\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>30 April 1574\u003C/strong>: execution of La Mole and Coconnas, instigators of the conspiracy of the Malcontents\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>30 May 1574\u003C/strong>: death of Charles IX at 23, succession of his brother Henry III, then king of Poland\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>A reign marked by the endless alternation between civil war and fragile peace, and by the violent disappearance of nearly all the kingdom’s great leaders within a decade\u003C/li>\n\u003C/ul>\n\u003Chr>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Next chapter\u003C/strong>: Henry III, the final crisis of the Valois, and the Wars of the League.\u003C/p>\n\u003Chr>\n",[35,38,41,44,47,50],{"id":36,"title":37},"p7ch7z0","Catherine de' Medici Before the Regency",{"id":39,"title":40},"p7ch7z1","The Marriage of Charles IX and Elisabeth of Austria",{"id":42,"title":43},"p7ch7z2","The Weakening of France in the Mediterranean",{"id":45,"title":46},"p7ch7z3","The Siege of La Rochelle: The Ambiguous Role of François de La Noue",{"id":48,"title":49},"p7ch7z4","The Death of Charles IX: Autopsy and Aftermath",{"id":51,"title":52},"p7ch7z5","Culture and the Arts under Charles IX",true,false,"1560 à 1574","Charles IX was only ten years old when the death of his brother Francis II, on 5 December 1560, brought him to the throne of France. Too young to rule on his","/assets/covers/cover-p7ch7.jpg",{"period":59,"chapters":66},{"id":9,"title":10,"titleEn":10,"titleEs":11,"range":12,"rangeEn":12,"rangeEs":12,"covers":60,"coverArtworkId":26,"cover":65},[61,62,63,64],{"filename":15,"url":16},{"filename":18,"url":19},{"filename":21,"url":22},{"filename":24,"url":25},{"fileName":24,"imageUrl":25,"filePageUrl":28,"sourceLabel":29},[67,73,79,85,91,97,103,105,111],{"id":68,"title":69,"periodId":9,"thumbnailUrl":70,"thumbnailArtworkId":26,"hasEn":53,"isFallback":54,"teaser":71,"coverFit":26,"coverPosition":26,"chronicle":72,"realm":26,"ready":53},"p7ch1","Louis XI: the spider and the construction of the modern state (1461-1483)","/assets/covers/cover-p7ch1.png","The accession of Louis XI , in 1461 , opened a decisive phase in the history of the French monarchy. Son of Charles VII , from whom he inherited a kingdom alrea","1461 à 1483",{"id":74,"title":75,"periodId":9,"thumbnailUrl":76,"thumbnailArtworkId":26,"hasEn":53,"isFallback":54,"teaser":77,"coverFit":26,"coverPosition":26,"chronicle":78,"realm":26,"ready":53},"p7ch2","Charles VIII: the Italian adventure and the end of the direct dynasty (1483–1498)","/assets/covers/cover-p7ch2.png","The reign of Charles VIII opened under paradoxical conditions. At the death of Louis XI , on 30 August 1483 , the crown passed to a ruler who was still a minor,","1483 à 1498",{"id":80,"title":81,"periodId":9,"thumbnailUrl":82,"thumbnailArtworkId":26,"hasEn":53,"isFallback":54,"teaser":83,"coverFit":26,"coverPosition":26,"chronicle":84,"realm":26,"ready":53},"p7ch3","Louis XII: The Father of the People and the Italian Wars (1498–1515)","/assets/covers/cover-p7ch3.jpg","On 7 April 1498, the accidental death of Charles VIII placed on the throne of France his cousin Louis d’Orléans, crowned as Louis XII. This reign of nearly seve","1498 à 1515",{"id":86,"title":87,"periodId":9,"thumbnailUrl":88,"thumbnailArtworkId":26,"hasEn":53,"isFallback":54,"teaser":89,"coverFit":26,"coverPosition":26,"chronicle":90,"realm":26,"ready":53},"p7ch4","Francis I: The Knight King and the French Renaissance (1515–1547)","/assets/covers/cover-p7ch4.jpg","The reign of Francis I opened with a brilliance few French sovereigns had known at their outset. Crowned at Reims three weeks after the death of Louis XII , the","1515 à 1547",{"id":92,"title":93,"periodId":9,"thumbnailUrl":94,"thumbnailArtworkId":26,"hasEn":53,"isFallback":54,"teaser":95,"coverFit":26,"coverPosition":26,"chronicle":96,"realm":26,"ready":53},"p7ch5","Henry II: The Chivalrous King and the Wars of Religion (1547-1559)","/assets/covers/cover-p7ch5.jpg","The death of Francis I , on 31 March 1547 , brought to the throne a man whom nothing, in the imagination of the court, destined to resemble his father. Crowned ","1547 à 1559",{"id":98,"title":99,"periodId":9,"thumbnailUrl":100,"thumbnailArtworkId":26,"hasEn":53,"isFallback":54,"teaser":101,"coverFit":26,"coverPosition":26,"chronicle":102,"realm":26,"ready":53},"p7ch6","Francis II: the ephemeral king and the beginnings of the Wars of Religion (1559-1560)","/assets/covers/cover-p7ch6.jpg","Francis II became king on 10 July 1559 , barely fifteen years old, the day after the accidental death of his father Henry II, wounded in a tournament three mont","1559 à 1560",{"id":31,"title":32,"periodId":9,"thumbnailUrl":57,"thumbnailArtworkId":26,"hasEn":53,"isFallback":54,"teaser":104,"coverFit":26,"coverPosition":26,"chronicle":55,"realm":26,"ready":53},"Charles IX was only ten years old when the death of his brother Francis II, on 5 December 1560, brought him to the throne of France. Too young to rule on his ow",{"id":106,"title":107,"periodId":9,"thumbnailUrl":108,"thumbnailArtworkId":26,"hasEn":53,"isFallback":54,"teaser":109,"coverFit":26,"coverPosition":26,"chronicle":110,"realm":26,"ready":53},"p7ch8","Henri III: The Final Crisis of the Valois and the Wars of the League (1574-1589)","/assets/covers/cover-p7ch8.jpg","On 14 June 1574 , news of the death of his brother Charles IX reached Henri III in Poland, where he had barely been elected king a few months earlier. Forced to","1574 à 1589",{"id":112,"title":113,"periodId":9,"thumbnailUrl":114,"thumbnailArtworkId":26,"hasEn":53,"isFallback":54,"teaser":115,"coverFit":26,"coverPosition":26,"chronicle":116,"realm":26,"ready":53},"p7ch9","Henry IV, King of France and Navarre: the pacification of the kingdom and the Edict of Nantes (1589-1610)","/assets/covers/cover-p7ch9.jpg","On 2 August 1589 , at the bedside of the dying Henry III, Henri de Bourbon, King of Navarre , became King of France under the name Henry IV — the first sovereig","1589 à 1610",1786625628746]