To What Extent Did The Aims Of The Guise Family Change During The French Wars Of Religion?

At the outbreak of the French Wars of Religion in the mid-sixteenth century, the Guise were one of the most powerful families not just in France but in Europe. Their influence ranged from the French Court due to the military success of Francis, Duke of Guise, to the Papacy thanks to success of Charles, Cardinal of Guise (and latter Cardinal of Lorraine) as well as Scotland through the marriage of Mary of Guise to King James V, upon who's death Mary became regent for her daughter, Mary "Queen of Scots" Stuart, effectively granting the throne of Scotland (and a claim to England) to the Guise family. As the wars progressed through two generations of Guise, so did the aims and actions of the family. Central themes such as their dedication to the protection of the Catholic faith remained constant throughout the wars while others such as monarchical ambition only developed later on in the wars. By looking at the Guise's dynastic and religious aims through three major time periods (1559-1563, 1564-1573 and 1574-1588) I intend to demonstrate the way in which their ambitions changed. Immediately prior to the outbreak of the first of the French Wars of Religion the Guise family took control of France thanks to their relationship with the young king, Francis II who was married to their niece, Mary Stuart. As such they held a key position in the French Court effectively alienating other noble families such as the Bourbons (creating a factional rivalry over the crown) and were able to ".Take over control of governmental administration within days of Henry II's death - including [.] the Church, the military as well as the royal treasury."1. Clearly then the Guise family's intentions in this early period of 1559-62 were based around the continuation of a strong Catholic monarchy. One could argue that at this point the Guise's dynastic ambition was satiated due to their control of the King through Mary. The unexpected death of Francis II on 5 December 1560 resulted in a rapid decline in the Guise's power. It allowed the Queen Mother, Catherine de Medici to wrest control of the Crown from the Guise's hands, "Her [Catherine de Medici] main wish was to preserve the independence of the crown [...] she strove to maintain a fine, if uneasy balance between the two families [Bourbon and Guise], favouring each in turn"2 This demise in Guise power saw a shift in the religious policy of the crown, moving away from the persecution that had existed since the 1534 "Affair of the Placards" towards the notion of toleration in the 1562 "Edict of St-Germain". Ironically Catherine's intention of maintaining a balance between the two major political factions ultimately resulted in further polarisation of power at Court. As the Politiques (tolerant Catholics such as Catherine) gained more influence in the Court, the hard-line Catholics, Guise, Anne de Montmorency and Jacques d'Albon, Marshall Saint-André formed the Catholic "Triumvirate", unifying Catholic power under the Guise once again. The Guise reaction to the 1562 "Edict of St-Germain" clearly demonstrates their strong belief in the custom and tradition of the French monarchy. "Even though Charles IX [.] had not yet taken his [.] oath to safeguard the Catholic Church [.] the edict of St-Germain was a radical departure from the past."3. The subsequent reaction of Guise was the "massacre" of unarmed Protestants worshipping within the town of Vassy on the 1st March 1562, sparking the First War of Religion. Here then is an example of the Guise's commitment to the Catholic Church, content to plunge the country into civil war in order to defend their religion against the encroaching tide of Protestantism. In this early period prior to the outbreak of the French Wars of Religion it seems that the Guise's aims remained constant despite their position shifting. The formation of the Triumvirate and the Duke's massacre at Vassy were events that clearly highlight this fact. Dynastically these early years see little shift in policy due to the favourable position in which the Guise find themselves. However, upon the death of the young King Francis II the Guise's hold on power is shattered, necessitating the creation of the Triumvirate. Francis, Duke of Guise's death in 1563 at the hands of a protestant assassin during the siege of Orléans, temporary halted the bloodshed due to the loss of both side's leaders (Condé, the Protestant commander having been captured earlier that year) but had a lasting influence of the Guise's aims. The period of 1564-1572 saw the accession of Francis' son, Henry, Duke of Guise and the continual militarisation of the Guise's policy. This period saw multiple sporadic outbreaks of violence between Protestants and Catholics with the monarchy continuing a policy of impartiality right up to the 1572 St. Bartholomew's Day massacre. It also saw a shift in religious focus due to Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine's staunch defence of "pure Roman Catholicism" in preference of the new "third-way" Gallican religion emerging in the French Court, "His role in the making of the Council of Trent [.] turned Lorraine from a model Gallican into a defender of Roman Catholicism [.] placed him and his family on a collision course with the monarchy".4 This shift served as the precedent of a major shift in Guise policy both religiously and dynastically. With regards to their religion the implications are clear; the Guise now served a force greater than the impartial Crown. As a result of this combined with the death of the family patriarch at Orléans the Guise family found itself with minimal influence within the court with only Cardinal Louis regularly attending court. As such it saw the Guise looking towards foreign aid to help them defeat the Protestants in France. Their disdain for the Lutheran influenced "Anglican" approach of the Gallican church under the Queen Mother led them to enter discussion with Phillip II of Spain as well as the Papacy (who ultimately allowed the King to take 150,000 crowns per year from Church revenue which could only be used to "suppress the uprisings of heretical and rebellious Huguenots"5 Catherine recalled the cardinal [Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine] partly to appease Spain, but also [.] his financial acumen was unsurpassed."6 as a result the Guise found themselves inducted back into French Court by September 1568, with a King now prepared to deal with the spread of heretical Protestants within his nation. However, Protestant fortunes in the war were good and the Queen Mother and Charles IX were forced to enter peace talks resulting in the pro-Calvinist "Edict of Saint-Germain-en-Laye". It is clear that this peace didn't sit well with the Guise; it ruined the work of Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine, and moved vengeance further away from the militaristic Henry, third Duke of Guise. However, the growing dominance of the protestant faction at court reached critical levels, prompting the Queen Mother and Charles IX into action. Under the supervision of Henry, Duke of Guise the St Bartholomew's day massacres began on the 23rd August 1572 with the Duke murdering the Protestant leader, Admiral Coligny personally. While it appears that the massacre was initially intended as the simple, organised assassination of Protestant Leaders such as Coligny in Paris, they spiralled rapidly out of control with large Catholic mobs massacring the Protestant minorities, the violence even over flowing into the country. The massacre was the most significant moment of this interim period between the Guise's powerful position at Court prior to Francis, Duke of Guise's assassination and the formation of the Catholic League under Henry, Duke of Guise. Following the massacres the Guise family was able to wrest back power in the French Court, and continue its original policy of supporting the French Crown against the Protestant insurrection this time with the added benefit of Spanish troops and money to help combat the German mercenaries and English soldiers fighting for the Protestants. The final time period 1574-1588 witnesses the most radical change in Guise family aims and goals. The death of Charles IX and the accession of his brother, Henry III heralded yet another shift in the Guise family's power. Now the King, who "As Duke of Anjou, [.] had shown himself eager to spill blood in the quest for religious unity,"7 would further increase the power of the Guise by marrying Louise, daughter of Nicolas de Lorraine-Vaudémont, their cousin. The familial link as well as the shared passion for ridding the land of Protestantism violently and effectively allowed the Guise to continue in the same vein as they had previously been operating; suppression through warfare. However the horrific failure of Catholic forces during the 1575 campaign and the terms of the "Peace of Beaulieu" in the same year ended any hopes of a decisive Catholic victory over the Protestants. "Henry II realized, like his mother before him that the war was [.] unwinnable." And so began a series of humiliating ceding of land, titles and positions to previously disgraced Calvinist nobles. The backlash Henry faced from loyal Catholic supporters was immense. The formation of the "Catholic League" consisting of the main opponents of toleration in the kingdom was a serious blow to the King's authority. It is widely credited that the League was under the unofficial leadership of Guise through the Governor of the duchy of Guise, "[.] Jacques d'Applaincourt, an old family servant."8 The death of Henry II's heir apparent, his brother Duke of Anjou exasperated the situation propelling the protestant Henry of Navarre (later Henry IV of France) in the succession. With the heir to the throne a protestant Guise policy took another dramatic turn, focusing on anti-monarchical rhetoric and an alliance with Spain. In the eyes of the Guise a protestant monarch sitting on the French throne would go against all that came with the French throne. As the Florentine ambassador recounted, "The death of the Duke of Anjou was the ruin of France"9 his comments proved to be accurate as the subsequent formation of the Catholic League facilitated the longest and bloodiest of the Civil Wars, "The War of the Three Henrys". This conflict internationalised the Wars of Religion in a major way with German mercenaries rushing to the aid of the Huguenots and Spanish troops helping the Catholic League and Guise. Guise's intention of naming himself as King of France and deposing of Henry III demonstrates a clear transition in Guise policy to a much more aggressive, dynastic approach. However, it is arguable that while Guise now wished to place himself on the throne rather than simply defending the reign of Henry III, his intentions remained the same; that is he wished to protect and ensure the survival of a powerful Catholic Gallican monarchy as set out by Clovis I. However, his readiness to accept interventionist Spanish aid would ultimately allow Henry of Navarre to unify France (after renouncing his Protestantism) to fight a foreign force. When Henry, Duke of Guise met his end at the hands of Henry III's "Forty-five" the Guise family clearly possessed much the same religious and dynastic intentions as those held by Francis, Second Duke of Guise in 1559 despite the shift in execution of their policy. Ultimately then it appears that through two generations and thirty years the Guise family's aims remained constant. Their loyalty not to the monarch but to the monarchy is apparent throughout the entire course of the French Wars of Religion primarily through Francis, Duke of Guise's commencement of hostilities at Vassy, followed by his invaluable military prowess up to his death. Further demonstration of the continuation of this policy is evident in Henry, Duke of Guise's actions in orchestrating the St Bartholomew's Day massacres for the King and his attempt to wrest power from Henry II to preserve the Gallican monarchy's strong Catholic routes. Word Count: 1,960

Bibliography: Mack P. Holt. The French Wars of Religion, 1562-1629. Cambridge University Press 1995 R. J. Knecht. The French Wars of Religion 1559-1598. Longman Group UK Limited 1989 Stuart Carroll. Martyrs and Murderers: The Guise Family and the Making of Europe. Stuart Carroll 2009 Janine Garrisson. A History of Sixteenth-Century France 1483-159: Renaissance, Reformation and Rebellion. Macmillan Press 1995 Footnotes: 1 Mack P. Holt. The French Wars of Religion, 1562-1629. p42 2 R. J. Knecht. The French Wars of Religion 1559-1598 p29 3 Mack P. Holt. The French Wars of Religion, 1562-1629 p47 4 Stuart Carroll. Martyrs and Murderers: The Guise Family and the Making of Europe.p159 5 Stuart Carroll. Martyrs and Murderers: The Guise Family and the Making of Europe. P182 6 Stuart Carroll. Martyrs and Murderers: The Guise Family and the Making of Europe. P182 7 Stuart Carroll. Martyrs and Murderers: The Guise Family and the Making of Europe. P230 8 Mack P. Holt. The French Wars of Religion, 1562-1629. Cambridge University Press 1995 p120