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{{Short description|French soldier and politician (1519–1563)}}
]]]
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox noble
| name = François de Lorraine
| title = ] <br> ] <br> ]
| image = Portrait of Francis de Lorraine, 2nd Duke of Guise (1519–1563), by Workshop of François Clouet.jpg
| caption = Portrait by ], {{circa|1550-60}}
| succession = ]
| CoA =
| reign = 12 April 1550 – 24 February 1563
| tenure =
| predecessor = ]
| successor = ]
| birth_date = 17 February 1519
| birth_place = ], ], ]
| death_date = {{dda|24 February 1563|17 February 1519|df=y}}
| death_place = near ], France
| noble family = ]
| father = ]
| mother = ]
| spouse = {{marriage|]|1548}}
| issue = ]<br>]<br>]<br>]<br>François
}}
'''François de Lorraine, 2nd Duke of Guise, 1st Prince of Joinville, and 1st Duke of Aumale''' (17 February 1519 – 24 February 1563), was a French general and statesman. A prominent leader during the ] and ], he was assassinated during the ] in 1563.


==Early life==
'''Francis II, Prince of Joinville, Duke of Guise, Duke of Aumale''' (], ] &ndash; ], ]), called ''Balafré'' ("the scarred"), was a ] soldier and politician.
Born in ] (]), François was the son of ] (created Duke of Guise in 1527), and his wife ].{{sfn|Carroll|2011|p=311}} His sister, ], was the wife of ] and mother of ].{{sfn|Carroll|2011|p=311}} His younger brother was ].{{sfn|Carroll|2011|p=311}} He was the youthful cousin of ], with whom he was raised, and by birth a prominent individual in France, though his detractors emphasised his "foreign" origin (he was a '']''), namely the ].


In 1545, Guise (he is henceforth referred to by his title) was seriously wounded at the ], but recovered.{{sfn|Johnson|Bongard|1992|pp=301–302}} He was struck with a lance through the bars of his helmet. The steel head pierced both cheeks, and {{convert|15|cm|in|0|abbr=on}} of the shaft were snapped off by the violence of the blow. He sat firm in his saddle, and rode back unassisted to his tent; and when the surgeon thought he would die of pain, when the iron was extracted, 'he bore it as easily as if it had been but the plucking of a hair out of his head.' The scar would earn him the nickname "''Le Balafré''" ("The Scarred One").{{sfn|Johnson|Bongard|1992|pp=301–302}}
==Biography==
Born at ] (]), Guise was the son of ] and his wife ]. His sister ] was wife of ] and mother of ]. His younger brother was ].


In 1548 he was magnificently wedded to ],{{sfn|Knecht|2016|p=11}} daughter of Duke ] of Ferrara and Princess ], daughter of King ].{{sfn|Sutherland|1981|p=280}}
In ], he gained his nickname through a wound sustained at the siege of ]. In ], he was created ]. He won international renown in ] when he successfully defended the city of ] from the forces of ], and defeated the imperial troops again at the ] in ]. The siege of Metz is detailed well in ]'s "Journey in Diverse Places" (written around ]). He was created ] in ], but the ] temporarily curtailed his military activity.


==Military career==
He led an army into ] in ] to aid ] (and probably to further ]'s pretensions to the ] inheritance), but was recalled to France and made ] of ] after the defeat of the ] at the ]. Taking the field, he captured ] from the ] on January 7th ], ] and ] that summer, and was preparing to advance into ] when the ] was signed.
]
]]]


In 1551, he was created ]. He won international renown in 1552 when he ] from the forces of ], and defeated the imperial troops again at the ] in 1554. but the ] temporarily curtailed his military activity.
The accession of ] (], ]), however, and his consort, ], niece of François de Guise, was a triumph for the Guise family, and the ] de Montmorency was disgraced. François de Guise was supreme in the royal council. "My advice", he would say, "is so-and-so; we must act thus." Occasionally he signed public acts in the royal manner, with his baptismal name only.


He led an army into Italy in 1557 to aid ], operating in conjunction with ] to capture ]. There they parted ways. Guise continued
At the instigation of ] and the Prince de Condé, La Renaudie, a Protestant gentlemen of ], organized a plot to seize the person of François de Guise and ], the second cardinal of Lorraine. The plot was discovered (], 1560) and violently suppressed. Condé was obliged to flee the court, and the power of the Guises was increased. The discourse which ], leader of the ]s, pronounced against them in the ] at ] (August, 1560), did not influence Francis II in the least, but resulted rather in the imprisonment of Condé.
east along the ] with 16,000 men.{{sfn|Shaw|2014|p=266}} Instructed to take Parma, he assessed that as unviable, and instead proposed attacking ] to secure lines south. ], fearing such a possibility, diplomatically reached out to Henri II and Guise was informed of the negotiations.{{sfn|Shaw|2014|p=267}} Advancing into Naples in April, his troops became restless from lack of pay. Hearing reports Alba was marching along the Adriatic coast with an army of 18,000 aiming to cut his supply, Guise sought battle, but Alba was evasive. Guise was now instructed by Henri to break off his Naples campaign and return to campaign in ]. This order in turn was superseded by the disastrous defeat of ] at the ].{{sfn|Shaw|2014|pp=268–269}}


Guise was recalled to France, and hurriedly made ]. Taking the field, he ] from the ] on 7 January 1558{{sfn|Carroll|2011|pp=80–81}}—an enormous propaganda victory for France—then ] and ] that summer, and was preparing to advance into ] when the ] was signed. Throughout the reign of Henry II, Guise was one of the premier military figures of France, courteous, affable, and frank, and largely popular, the "grand duc de Guise" as his contemporary ] called him.{{efn|who distinguishes the ''personal'' admiration for François, shared by Catherine, from the detestation of ''les Guises'' as a faction, led by the brilliant and devious cardinal, whom even the Spanish mistrusted.{{sfn|Sutherland|1981|p=281}}}}{{sfn|Sutherland|1981|p=281}}
The king, however, died, ], ]—a year full of calamity for the Guises both in Scotland and France. Within a few months their influence waxed great and waned. After the accession of ], François de Guise lived in retirement on his estates. The regent, ], at first inclined to favour the Protestants, and to save the Catholic party, François de Guise formed with his old enemy, the Constable de Montmorency and the Maréchal de Saint-André the so-called triumvirate (April, 1561), hostile to the policy of concession which Catherine de' Medici attempted to inaugurate in favour of the Protestants.


The accession of ] (10 July 1559), husband of Guise's niece ], was a triumph for the Guise family. Montmorency, conscious there was no place for him in the new order, withdrew from court. The Duke of Guise and his brother, ] were supreme in the royal council.{{efn|"It is impossible to distinguish the duke's political role from that of his brother, the cardinal."{{sfn|Sutherland|1981|p=280}}}}{{sfn|Sutherland|1981|p=280}} Occasionally he signed public acts in the royal manner, with his baptismal name only.
]


==The Wars of Religion==
The plan of the Triumvirate was to treat with Spain and the ], and also to come to an understanding with the Lutheran princes of Germany to induce them to abandon the idea of relieving the French Protestants. About July, 1561, Guise wrote to this effect to the ]. The ] (September and October, 1561) between theologians of the two confessions was fruitless, and the conciliation policy of Catherine de' Medici was defeated. From 15 to 18 February, 1562, Guise visited the Duke of Württemberg at ], and convinced him that if the conference at Poissy had failed, the fault was that of the Calvinists. As Guise passed through ] on his way to Paris (], ]), a massacre of Protestants took place. It is not known to what extent he was responsible for this, but it kindled the religious war. Rouen was retaken from the Protestants by Guise after a month's siege (October); the ], at which Montmorency was taken prisoner and Saint-André slain, was in the end turned by Guise to the advantage of the Catholic cause (19 December), and Condé, leader of the Huguenots, taken prisoner. Guise was about to take ] from the Huguenots on ], ] when he was wounded by the Huguenot ], and died six days later, at Château Corney.
].]]
]
In reaction to the dominating power at court of the ultra-Catholic Guises, La Renaudie, a Protestant gentleman of ], perhaps with the indirect encouragement of ], organized a ], the ], to seize the person of the Duke of Guise and his brother ], the Cardinal of Lorraine.{{sfn|Carroll|2011|pp=115-116}}{{sfn|Knecht|2010|p=25}} When the ill-organized plot was put off for six days, it was discovered by the court well ahead of time. On 12 March 1560, the Huguenots stormed the ], to which the Guises had moved the young king and queen for safety. The uprising was violently suppressed, with 1,200 executed, many within sight of the castle. In the immediate aftermath Condé was obliged to flee the court, and the power of the Guises was supreme. The discourse which ], leader of the ]s, pronounced against ''les Guises'' in the ] at ] (August 1560), did not influence King Francis II in the least, but resulted rather in the imprisonment of Condé, at Charles's behest.


However, the king died on 5 December 1560—making Mary, Queen of Scots a widow, and of little political importance. The Guises lost status alongside her, thus making a year full of calamity for the Guises both in Scotland and France. Within a year and a half, their influence waxed great and waned. After the accession of ], the Duke of Guise lived in retirement on his estates.
==Ancestors==

{| class="wikitable"
The regent, ], was at first inclined to favour the Protestants. To defend the Catholic cause, the Duke of Guise, together with his old enemy, the Constable de Montmorency and the Maréchal de Saint-André formed the so-called triumvirate opposed to the policy of concessions which Catherine de' Medici attempted to inaugurate in favour of the Protestants. His former military hero's public image was changing: "he could not serve for long as the military executive of this extreme political, ], pro-Spanish junta without attracting his share of odium," N. M. Sutherland has observed in describing the lead-up to his assassination.{{sfn|Sutherland|1981|p=282}}
|+'''Francis, Duke of Guise's ancestors in three generations'''

|-
The plan of the Triumvirate was to treat with ] and the ], and also to come to an understanding with the Lutheran princes of Germany to induce them to abandon the idea of covertly backing the French Protestants. About July 1561, Guise wrote to this effect to the ]. The ] (September and October 1561) between theologians of the two confessions was fruitless, and the conciliation policy of Catherine de' Medici was defeated. From 15 to 18 February 1562, Guise visited the Duke of Württemberg at ], and convinced him that if the conference at Poissy had failed, the fault was that of the Calvinists.
|-

| rowspan="8" align="center"| '''Francis, Duke of Guise'''
As Guise passed through ] on his way to Paris (1 March 1562), a massacre of Protestants took place.{{sfn|Knecht|1989|pp=35–36}} It is not known to what extent he was responsible for this, but the ] kindled open military conflict in the ]. The siege of Bourges in September was the opening episode, then Rouen was retaken from the Protestants by Guise after a month's siege (October);{{sfn|Knecht|1989|p=37}} the ] (19 December), at which Montmorency was taken prisoner and Saint-André slain,{{sfn|Knecht|1989|p=37}} was in the end turned by Guise to the advantage of the Catholic cause, and Condé, leader of the Huguenots, was taken prisoner.{{sfn|Knecht|1989|p=37}}
| rowspan="4" align="center"| '''Father:'''<br />]

| rowspan="2" align="center"| '''Paternal Grandfather:'''<br />]
==Assassination==
| align="center"| '''Paternal Great-grandfather:'''<br />]
{{Main|Assassination of the Duke of Guise (1563)}}
|-

| align="center"| '''Paternal Great-grandmother:'''<br />]
In the fourth encounter, Guise was about to take ] from the Huguenot supporters of Condé when he was wounded on 18 February 1563 by the Huguenot assassin, ], and died six days later, bled to death by his surgeons, at Château Corney.{{sfn|Sutherland|1981|p=279}}
|-

| rowspan="2" align="center"| '''Paternal Grandmother:'''<br />]
It was not the first plot against his life. A hunting accident—Guise had been appointed ] in 1556—had been planned, as Sir ] informed Queen ] in May 1560, but the plot was divulged by one of the conspirators who lost their nerve and his five co-conspirators fled.{{sfn|Sutherland|1981|p=280}}
| align="center"| '''Paternal Great-grandfather:'''<br />]

|-
Guise's unexpected death temporarily interrupted open hostilities. In his testimony, Poltrot implicated ] and the Protestant pastor ]. Though the assassin later retracted his statement and Coligny denied responsibility for Guise's death, a bitter feud arose between ] and Coligny, which culminated in the ].
| align="center"| '''Paternal Great-grandmother:'''<br />]
|-
| rowspan="4" align="center"| '''Mother:'''<br />]
| rowspan="2" align="center"| '''Maternal Grandfather:'''<br />]
| align="center"| '''Maternal Great-grandfather:'''<br />]
|-
| align="center"| '''Maternal Great-grandmother:'''<br />]
|-
| rowspan="2" align="center"| '''Maternal Grandmother:'''<br />]
| align="center"| '''Maternal Great-grandfather:'''<br />
|-
| align="center"| '''Maternal Great-grandmother:'''<br />
|}


==Family== ==Family==
Guise married in ] on ], ] Anna d'Este, daughter of ], ], and ]. They had seven children: Guise married Anna d'Este,{{sfn|Knecht|2016|p=11}} daughter of ], ], and ], in ] on 29 April 1548. They had seven children:
# ] (]&ndash;]), who succeeded him as ]. # ] (1550–1588), who succeeded him as ].{{sfn|Carroll|2011|p=311}}
# Catherine (], ], ] &ndash; ], ], ]), married on ], ] ] # ] (18 July 1551, ] – 6 May 1596, Paris), married on 4 February 1570 ]{{sfn|Carroll|2011|p=311}}
# ] (]&ndash;]) # ] (1554–1611){{sfn|Carroll|2011|p=311}}
# ] (]&ndash;]), ] # ] (1555–1588), ]{{sfn|Carroll|2011|p=311}}
# Antoine (], ] &ndash; ], ]) # Antoine (25 April 1557 – 16 January 1560) died in early childhood.
# François (], ], ] &ndash; ], ], ]) # François (31 December 1559, ] – 24 October 1573, ]) died young without issue.
# Maximilien (], ] &ndash; ]) # Maximilien (25 October 1562) died at birth.


<gallery>
{{start box}}
File:Anne d'Este - Limosin - Musée Condé.jpg|Anne d'Este
{{succession box | before=''elevated from County by courtesy'' | title=] | years=]&ndash;] | after=]}}
File:Guise.jpg|Duke Henry I of Guise
{{succession box two to one | before1=] | title1=] | years1=1550&ndash;] | before2=''elevated from Barony'' | title2=] | years2=1552&ndash;1563 | after=]}}
File:Mayenne-charles.jpg|Duke Charles of Mayenne
{{end box}}
File:Guise-Louis-cardinal.jpg|Cardinal Louis of Guise
</gallery>

==Ancestry==
{{unref|section|date=February 2022}}
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|boxstyle_5=background-color: #9fe;
|1= 1. '''François, Duke of Guise'''
|2= 2. ]
|3= 3. ]
|4= 4. ]
|5= 5. Philippine of Guelders
|6= 6. ]
|7= 7. ]
|8= 8. ]
|9= 9. ]
|10= 10. ]
|11= 11. Catherine de Bourbon
|12= 12. ]
|13= 13. Isabelle de Beauveau
|14= 14. ]
|15= 15. ]
}}


==See also== ==See also==
*]
*] *]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}


==References== ==References==
*{{catholic}} {{reflist|20em}}


==Sources==
]
*{{cite book |title=Martyrs and Murderers: The Guise Family and the Making of Europe |first=Stuart |last=Carroll |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2011 }}{{ISBN?}}
]
*{{cite journal |first=Éric |last=Durot |title=François de Lorraine (1520–1563), duc de Guise et nouveau Roi Mage |journal=Histoire, Économie & Société |volume=54 |page=3–16 |year=2008 |issue=3 |doi=10.3917/hes.083.0003 |doi-access=free }} .
]
* {{cite book |title=François de Lorraine, duc de Guise, entre Dieu et le roi |first=Éric |last=Durot |publisher=Classiques Garnier |year=2012 }} {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170813153213/https://crm.revues.org/12884 |date=13 August 2017 }}
]
*{{cite book |title=The French Wars of Religion, 1559–1598 |first=R.J. |last=Knecht |publisher=Longman Group |year=1989 }}{{ISBN?}}
]
* {{cite book |last=Knecht |first=Robert |title=The French Wars of Religion, 1559-1598 |publisher=Routledge |year=2010 }}
]
*{{cite book |title=Hero or Tyrant? Henry III, King of France, 1574–89 |first=R.J. |last=Knecht |publisher=Routledge |year=2016 }}{{ISBN?}}
]
*{{cite book |title=The Italian Wars 1494–1559: War, State and Society in Early Modern Europe |first=Christine |last=Shaw |publisher=Routledge |year=2014 }}{{ISBN?}}
]
*{{cite journal |first=N. M. |last=Sutherland |title=The Assassination of François Duc de Guise, February 1563 |journal=The Historical Journal |volume=24, June |pages=279–295 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1981 |issue=2 |doi=10.1017/S0018246X00005471 |s2cid=159857086 }}
]
*{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=The Harper Encyclopedia of Military Biography |editor-first1=Trevor N. |editor-last1=Dupuy |editor-first2=Curt |editor-last2=Johnson |editor-first3=David L. |editor-last3=Bongard |title=Francois de Lorraine, 2nd Duke of Guise |first1=C. Curtiss |last1=Johnson |first2=David L. |last2=Bongard |publisher=Castle Books |year=1992 }}{{ISBN?}}
]


{{s-start}}
]
{{s-reg|fr}}
]
{{succession box | before=''elevated from County by courtesy'' | title=] | years=1547–1550 | after=]}}
]

]
{{s-bef| before = ] }}
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] {{s-ttl| title = ]
| years = 1550–1563 }}
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{{s-aft| rows = 2 | after = ] }}
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{{s-bef| before = ''elevated from Barony'' }}
]
{{s-ttl| title = ]
]
| years = 1552–1563 }}
]
{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guise, François de Lorraine, duke of}}
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Latest revision as of 17:20, 29 October 2024

French soldier and politician (1519–1563)

François de Lorraine
Duke of Guise
Duke of Aumale
Prince de Joinville
Portrait by François Clouet, c. 1550-60
Duke of Guise
Reign12 April 1550 – 24 February 1563
PredecessorClaude
SuccessorHenri I
Born17 February 1519
Bar-le-Duc, Lorraine, Holy Roman Empire
Died24 February 1563(1563-02-24) (aged 44)
near Orléans, France
Noble familyGuise
Spouse(s) Anna d'Este ​(m. 1548)​
IssueHenri I, Duke of Guise
Catherine
Charles, Duke of Mayenne
Louis II, Cardinal of Guise
François
FatherClaude, Duke of Guise
MotherAntoinette de Bourbon

François de Lorraine, 2nd Duke of Guise, 1st Prince of Joinville, and 1st Duke of Aumale (17 February 1519 – 24 February 1563), was a French general and statesman. A prominent leader during the Italian War of 1551–1559 and French Wars of Religion, he was assassinated during the siege of Orleans in 1563.

Early life

Born in Bar-le-Duc (Lorraine), François was the son of Claude de Lorraine (created Duke of Guise in 1527), and his wife Antoinette de Bourbon. His sister, Mary of Guise, was the wife of James V of Scotland and mother of Mary, Queen of Scots. His younger brother was Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine. He was the youthful cousin of Henry II of France, with whom he was raised, and by birth a prominent individual in France, though his detractors emphasised his "foreign" origin (he was a prince étranger), namely the Duchy of Lorraine.

In 1545, Guise (he is henceforth referred to by his title) was seriously wounded at the Second Siege of Boulogne, but recovered. He was struck with a lance through the bars of his helmet. The steel head pierced both cheeks, and 15 cm (6 in) of the shaft were snapped off by the violence of the blow. He sat firm in his saddle, and rode back unassisted to his tent; and when the surgeon thought he would die of pain, when the iron was extracted, 'he bore it as easily as if it had been but the plucking of a hair out of his head.' The scar would earn him the nickname "Le Balafré" ("The Scarred One").

In 1548 he was magnificently wedded to Anna d'Este, daughter of Duke Ercole II d'Este of Ferrara and Princess Renée de France, daughter of King Louis XII.

Military career

An engraving of the Duke of Guise
The duke of Guise at the Siege of Calais

In 1551, he was created Grand Chamberlain of France. He won international renown in 1552 when he successfully defended the city of Metz from the forces of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, and defeated the imperial troops again at the Battle of Renty in 1554. but the Truce of Vaucelles temporarily curtailed his military activity.

He led an army into Italy in 1557 to aid Pope Paul IV, operating in conjunction with Brissac to capture Valenza. There they parted ways. Guise continued east along the Po Valley with 16,000 men. Instructed to take Parma, he assessed that as unviable, and instead proposed attacking Florence to secure lines south. The duke of Tuscany, fearing such a possibility, diplomatically reached out to Henri II and Guise was informed of the negotiations. Advancing into Naples in April, his troops became restless from lack of pay. Hearing reports Alba was marching along the Adriatic coast with an army of 18,000 aiming to cut his supply, Guise sought battle, but Alba was evasive. Guise was now instructed by Henri to break off his Naples campaign and return to campaign in Lombardy. This order in turn was superseded by the disastrous defeat of Montmorency at the Battle of St. Quentin.

Guise was recalled to France, and hurriedly made Lieutenant-General. Taking the field, he captured Calais from the English on 7 January 1558—an enormous propaganda victory for France—then Thionville and Arlon that summer, and was preparing to advance into Luxembourg when the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis was signed. Throughout the reign of Henry II, Guise was one of the premier military figures of France, courteous, affable, and frank, and largely popular, the "grand duc de Guise" as his contemporary Brantôme called him.

The accession of Francis II of France (10 July 1559), husband of Guise's niece Mary, Queen of Scots, was a triumph for the Guise family. Montmorency, conscious there was no place for him in the new order, withdrew from court. The Duke of Guise and his brother, Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine were supreme in the royal council. Occasionally he signed public acts in the royal manner, with his baptismal name only.

The Wars of Religion

François I de Lorraine, Duc de Guise by Marc Duval.
Plan of the siege of Civitella del Tronto

In reaction to the dominating power at court of the ultra-Catholic Guises, La Renaudie, a Protestant gentleman of Périgord, perhaps with the indirect encouragement of Louis of Bourbon, Prince of Condé, organized a palace coup, the conspiracy of Amboise, to seize the person of the Duke of Guise and his brother Charles, the Cardinal of Lorraine. When the ill-organized plot was put off for six days, it was discovered by the court well ahead of time. On 12 March 1560, the Huguenots stormed the Château d'Amboise, to which the Guises had moved the young king and queen for safety. The uprising was violently suppressed, with 1,200 executed, many within sight of the castle. In the immediate aftermath Condé was obliged to flee the court, and the power of the Guises was supreme. The discourse which Coligny, leader of the Huguenots, pronounced against les Guises in the Assembly of Notables at Fontainebleau (August 1560), did not influence King Francis II in the least, but resulted rather in the imprisonment of Condé, at Charles's behest.

However, the king died on 5 December 1560—making Mary, Queen of Scots a widow, and of little political importance. The Guises lost status alongside her, thus making a year full of calamity for the Guises both in Scotland and France. Within a year and a half, their influence waxed great and waned. After the accession of Charles IX, the Duke of Guise lived in retirement on his estates.

The regent, Catherine de' Medici, was at first inclined to favour the Protestants. To defend the Catholic cause, the Duke of Guise, together with his old enemy, the Constable de Montmorency and the Maréchal de Saint-André formed the so-called triumvirate opposed to the policy of concessions which Catherine de' Medici attempted to inaugurate in favour of the Protestants. His former military hero's public image was changing: "he could not serve for long as the military executive of this extreme political, ultra-montane, pro-Spanish junta without attracting his share of odium," N. M. Sutherland has observed in describing the lead-up to his assassination.

The plan of the Triumvirate was to treat with Habsburg Spain and the Holy See, and also to come to an understanding with the Lutheran princes of Germany to induce them to abandon the idea of covertly backing the French Protestants. About July 1561, Guise wrote to this effect to the Duke of Württemberg. The Colloquy at Poissy (September and October 1561) between theologians of the two confessions was fruitless, and the conciliation policy of Catherine de' Medici was defeated. From 15 to 18 February 1562, Guise visited the Duke of Württemberg at Saverne, and convinced him that if the conference at Poissy had failed, the fault was that of the Calvinists.

As Guise passed through Wassy-sur-Blaise on his way to Paris (1 March 1562), a massacre of Protestants took place. It is not known to what extent he was responsible for this, but the Massacre of Vassy kindled open military conflict in the French Wars of Religion. The siege of Bourges in September was the opening episode, then Rouen was retaken from the Protestants by Guise after a month's siege (October); the Battle of Dreux (19 December), at which Montmorency was taken prisoner and Saint-André slain, was in the end turned by Guise to the advantage of the Catholic cause, and Condé, leader of the Huguenots, was taken prisoner.

Assassination

Main article: Assassination of the Duke of Guise (1563)

In the fourth encounter, Guise was about to take Orléans from the Huguenot supporters of Condé when he was wounded on 18 February 1563 by the Huguenot assassin, Jean de Poltrot de Méré, and died six days later, bled to death by his surgeons, at Château Corney.

It was not the first plot against his life. A hunting accident—Guise had been appointed Grand Veneur of France in 1556—had been planned, as Sir Nicholas Throckmorton informed Queen Elizabeth I of England in May 1560, but the plot was divulged by one of the conspirators who lost their nerve and his five co-conspirators fled.

Guise's unexpected death temporarily interrupted open hostilities. In his testimony, Poltrot implicated Coligny and the Protestant pastor Théodore de Bèze. Though the assassin later retracted his statement and Coligny denied responsibility for Guise's death, a bitter feud arose between Guise's son Henry and Coligny, which culminated in the St Bartholomew's Day massacre.

Family

Guise married Anna d'Este, daughter of Ercole II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, and Renée of France, in Saint-Germain-en-Laye on 29 April 1548. They had seven children:

  1. Henri (1550–1588), who succeeded him as Duke of Guise.
  2. Catherine (18 July 1551, Joinville – 6 May 1596, Paris), married on 4 February 1570 Louis, Duke of Montpensier
  3. Charles, Duke of Mayenne (1554–1611)
  4. Louis II, Cardinal of Guise (1555–1588), Archbishop of Reims
  5. Antoine (25 April 1557 – 16 January 1560) died in early childhood.
  6. François (31 December 1559, Blois – 24 October 1573, Reims) died young without issue.
  7. Maximilien (25 October 1562) died at birth.
  • Anne d'Este Anne d'Este
  • Duke Henry I of Guise Duke Henry I of Guise
  • Duke Charles of Mayenne Duke Charles of Mayenne
  • Cardinal Louis of Guise Cardinal Louis of Guise

Ancestry

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Ancestors of François, Duke of Guise
8. Frederick VI, Count of Vaudémont
4. René II, Duke of Lorraine
9. Yolande of Anjou
2. Claude, Duke of Guise
10. Adolf, Duke of Guelders
5. Philippine of Guelders
11. Catherine de Bourbon
1. François, Duke of Guise
12. Jean VIII, Count of Vendôme
6. François, Count of Vendôme
13. Isabelle de Beauveau
3. Antoinette de Bourbon
14. Peter II de Luxembourg, Count of St. Pol
7. Marie de Luxembourg
15. Marguerite of Savoy

See also

Notes

  1. who distinguishes the personal admiration for François, shared by Catherine, from the detestation of les Guises as a faction, led by the brilliant and devious cardinal, whom even the Spanish mistrusted.
  2. "It is impossible to distinguish the duke's political role from that of his brother, the cardinal."

References

  1. ^ Carroll 2011, p. 311.
  2. ^ Johnson & Bongard 1992, pp. 301–302.
  3. ^ Knecht 2016, p. 11.
  4. ^ Sutherland 1981, p. 280.
  5. Shaw 2014, p. 266.
  6. Shaw 2014, p. 267.
  7. Shaw 2014, pp. 268–269.
  8. Carroll 2011, pp. 80–81.
  9. ^ Sutherland 1981, p. 281.
  10. Carroll 2011, pp. 115–116.
  11. Knecht 2010, p. 25.
  12. Sutherland 1981, p. 282.
  13. Knecht 1989, pp. 35–36.
  14. ^ Knecht 1989, p. 37.
  15. Sutherland 1981, p. 279.

Sources

French nobility
Preceded byelevated from County by courtesy Duke of Aumale
1547–1550 		Succeeded byClaude
Preceded byClaude Duke of Guise
1550–1563 		Succeeded byHenry I
Preceded byelevated from Barony Prince of Joinville
1552–1563
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