Cause: Henry II died and was succeeded by his sons, who were weak and neurotic
Effect: Civil Wars caused by confusion
Religious forces
French kings tried to oppress Huguenots (French Calvinists) with little luck (40-50% of French Nobility were Huguenots)
Valois monarchy=Catholics
Catherine de' Medici (regent for sons) looked to religious compromise as a way to defuse tension
Guise family= Ultra-Catholic; strict opposition to Huguenots
Towns and provinces revotled against monarchy
Politiques--politics before religion; no religion was worth civil war
Cause of Wars: Duke of Guise massacred a peaceful congregation of Huguenots at Vassey
St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre: Guise family persuaded King Charles IX and his mother that the Huguenots posed a threat; 3000 killed
Holy League: formed by Ultra-Catholics; wished to place a true Catholic on the French throne (Henry, Duke of Guise) in place of Henry III
War of the Three Henrys: Henry Duke of Guise (Ultra Catholic), King Henry III, and Henry of Navarre
Henry, duke of Guise seized Paris and forced King Henry III to make him chief minister.
Heny III assassinated the duke of Guise and then joined with Henry of Navarre.
Henry III assassinated by a monk who was appalled by a Catholic king cooperating with a Protestant.
Henry of Navarre claimed throne, and converted back to Catholicism. French Wars of Religion came to end with his coronation.
Edict of Nantes--acknowledge Catholicism as the official religion of France but guaranteed Huguenots the right to worship, allowed to hold political office
French Wars of Religion (1562-1598)