1. Civil War
In France
( )

2. The Valois Family: The Beginning of the End
Henri II was the last powerful Valois
Three weak sons followed:
Francis II
Charles IX
Henri III

3. Catherine de’ Medici controlled the sons: Was mother to the boys
Played both sides in the civil war
Developed a reputation for cruelty

4. Francis II & His Wife, Mary Stuart

5. The Medicis and the Guises
French King Henri II died in 1559
Weakness in the monarchy occurs
Power struggle between Guises, Montmorency, and Bourbons
Catherine de Medici unsuccessfully attempts to reconcile the differences between the Protestants and the Catholic Guises (dominant radical Catholic group of Eastern France) with the edict of toleration granting religious toleration
1562--The Duke of Guise massacres Protestant worshippers in a barn causing the French wars of religion

6. The massacre of worshipping Protestants at Vassy, France (March 1, 1562), which began the French wars of religion. An engraving by an unidentified seventeenth-century artist

7. The French Civil War There were two sides:
Guise family led Catholics in North
Bourbon family led Huguenots in South
Fighting for the royal inheritance
Catherine turns to the Guises fearing Protestant leader Admiral Coligny and the Hugenots would end her son’s reign and the Valois monarchy
After about ten years of fighting, the Hugenots gained the upper hand with the death of the Duke of Guise

8. A Marriage Occurs
In hopes of maintaining her son, King Charles IX on the throne, Catherine arranges a marriage between her daughter and Henry of Navarre (a main leader of the Hugenots)
In 1572, Hugenot aristocracy gathered in Paris for the wedding

9. St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre
August 24, 1572
20,000 Huguenots were killed
Catherine convinces her son King Charles IX that a Huguenot coup was about to happen
Coligny and 3,000 Huguenots are massacred in Paris / within three days 20,000 other Protestants are also killed in France
Henri of Navarre, a Bourbon, survived due to converting back to Catholicism on the spotlater recants
in response, Protestant writers call for an active defense of religious rights

10. St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre

11. Henry III
Guise family, unhappy with the marriage of Henry of Navarre (Hug) and French king’s daughter, formed the powerful Catholic League to challenge the Valois dynasty
Henry III and Catherine turned to Henry of Navarre to defeat the Catholic League
AGREEMENT: Henry of Navarre will become the heir to the throne after defeating the Guise family

12. The French Civil War Henri of Navarre defeated Catholic League
Protestant Union
Henri of Navarre defeated Catholic League
Henry III is assassinated
Henry of Navarre becomes Henry IV King of France. Effects of Civil War:
France was left divided by religion
Royal power had weakened
Valois family now replaced by Bourbons

13. Triumphal Entry of Henry IV Into Paris – Peter Paul Reubens

14. Henry IV of France Ended Spanish interference in France
Converted to Catholicism :
Did this to compromise and make peace
This was an example of politique [the interest of the state comes first before any religious considerations]
Passed Edict of Nantes in 1598:
Granted religious rights to Huguenots
Did not grant religious freedom for all
“Paris is worth a mass”

15. The Edict of Nantes
a formal religious settlement that gave Protestants religious freedoms within their own towns and territories
the violence stops, but hostilities remain
a Catholic fanatic assassinates Henry IV in 1610

16. Politiques
intellectuals of the 1500’s criticized the religious strife between Catholics and Protestants
rulers who urged tolerance and moderation and became indifferent to religion

17. “The Henry Bunch”
King Henry III Henry, Duke of Guise King Henry IV of Navarre

18. Directions
Using what you know about the French Civil War, create a short song summarizing the events of the War of Three Henries
Write your lyrics to the theme song the Brady Bunch.
“and that’s the way we all became the Henry bunch”