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Hello and welcome to Western Siev Episode
three hundred and five, The Second War

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of Religion. In the summer of
fifteen sixty six, the Dutch Revolt broke

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out in the Netherlands. This led
to an immediate heightening of tensions between Huguenots

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and Catholics in France. Not only
was the revolt right on the Kingdom's border,

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but the Spanish were also deeply unpopular
in France at the time. Catherine

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at the time, though, couldn't
resist a dig at the failure of Philip's

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rigorous and uncompromising policies in the Low
Countries. She wrote as follows, to

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him, take us as example,
for we have sufficiently shown, at our

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own cost, how others should govern
themselves. But if Catherine believed Philip was

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about to take a page from her
toleration playbook, she was sadly mistaken,

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As we know his response was anything
but tolerant. In France, Catherine continued

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her policy of peace first, everything
else second. Her only goal was to

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ensure that at either side not antagonized
the other. That being said, by

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the summer of fifteen sixty six,
the Geese faction had yet again quit court

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as Colonni and their Protestant faction appeared
to have the King's ear, at least

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for the moment. The Huguenots naturally
took full advantage of their moment of seeming

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royal favor and began to press the
cause of their co religionists in the Netherlands,

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whose calls for aid grew ever more
urgent. Colonnie, offering Huguenot military

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assistance, argued forcefully that French interests
would be served if they helped eject Spain

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from the neighboring Low countries, even
suggesting that Charles might like to add these

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territories to France. Catherine promptly put
a stop to this discussion. The very

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last thing she wanted was to inflame
Philip. Besides, she needed help from

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him with yet another of her marriage
projects. In this case, she wished

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to marry the king to one of
the Habsburg Emperor Maximilian's daughters. She mistakenly

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imagined that Philip would feel grateful for
her stand against Cologni's plans and in return

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underwrite this project. He wouldn't,
However, a further bond between the DWO

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dynasties formed when word arrived that Elizabeth, after suffering several miscarriages, had on

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the twelfth of August fifteen sixty seven, successfully given birth in Spain to a

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daughter, the Infanta. The former
Queen Charles ultimately turned down Colony's request for

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France to intervene in the Netherlands.
As a result and part of French neutrality,

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Philip prepared to send his massive army
to suppress the rebellion, but his

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proposed route infuriated Catherine. Philip wanted
his army to disembark at Fruse in southern

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France and then march overland through French
territory to the Netherlands. Catherine gave a

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quick and blunt answer to this request. No way. Peace in her kingdom

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was precarious at best, and the
notion of twenty thousand Spanish troops marauding their

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way through the French countryside was not
something that Catherine was about to even consider,

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nor would she consider Philip's request that
France should join his quote unquote righteous

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crusade. In the end, found
a different route, though it wasn't honestly

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much better, given that it essentially
led the Spanish army through Savoy and Lorraine

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around the Rhine River and up towards
the Netherlands. The Spanish army marched toward

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Flanders, though Philip had decided not
to lead his troops himself, but put

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the Duke of Alba at their head, and then simultaneously he had decided to

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replace Margaret as regent of the Netherlands, both facts we already know. The

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Duke had orders to repress and,
if need be, exterminate the rebels without

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Mercy, a job he was good
at. Such a large Spanish force on

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her northern border hosed a critical danger
to France. So, amid a lot

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of anxiety on the royal council,
Catherine and Charles set out immediately to inspect

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their northern defenses. As an additional
precaution, Charles hired six thousand Swiss mercenaries,

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as well as reinforcing garrisons at Piedmont, Champan and what are called in

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the historical records the three bishoprics.
These are the cities of tool, Metz

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and Verdun. Philip found these security
measures outrageously insulting for some reason, and

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the Spanish ambassador protested to the Queen
Mother quote, the king has no need

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of such an army the king she's
talking about there, as Charles, Catherine,

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knowing well the reputation for ferocity of
the Spanish soldiers, felt equally incensed

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that she had not been kept fully
informed of Philip's plans. She commanded the

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French ambassador in Madrid to explain her
situation rhetorically, asking is it reasonable that,

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among all the violent turbulence which is
everywhere, we should be at the

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mercy of anyone who wishes to do
us harm. Typically, at the same

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time, to keep Philip assured of
her overall goodwill and good intentions, she

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sent his army supplies of grain.
This was also strategically a good idea.

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Catherine had good reason to feel the
predations of foreign powers. Maximilian the Holy

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Roman Emperor was enjoying a brief respite
in his war against the Turks, and

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he might also find this a good
moment to attack and enfeebled France. Meanwhile,

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Queen Elizabeth the First of England had
just sent Thomas Norris as a special

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envoy to the French court to demand
the return of Calais. Catherine wrote a

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rather uncompromising reply that Charles signed his
name to quote. Since the Queen Elizabeth

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I had broken the peace herself by
taking LaHave. She should renounce Calais and

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be content to keep the natural boundaries
of her kingdom end quote. By the

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summer fifteen sixty seven, Dutch Protestants
had become convinced that the six thousand strong

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French army those were those aforementioned Swiss
mercenaries on their border, was about to

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be used against them. There were
two reasons for this. First, King

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Charles kept the army in place even
after the Duke had moved the Spanish army

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deep into the Netherlands, and therefore
the danger had ostensibly passed. Second,

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rumors abounded with tales of Catholic atrocities
against Huguenots throughout the French countryside. There

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had been atrocities, but interestingly they
had gone the other way. Catherine quickly

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made it clear she wouldn't tolerate such
lawlessness, and the Protestants within the French

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court quickly found themselves on the outside
looking in. That was how quickly royal

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favor might change in the late sixteenth
century. Moreover, the executions, as

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we know, of several leading nobles
back in the Netherlands made Conde de Colonni

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and the other Huguenot nobles more than
a little nervous, though Catherine assured them

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that she intended to scrupulously follow the
Edict of Ambois. But the late sixteenth

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century was a tough time for trust. There were so many rumors too,

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rumors that everyone was so much on
edge. So it was that when Charles

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refused to dismiss his Swiss mercenaries,
everybody assumed the worst. Huguenots quickly began

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to plan for conflict, concocting an
elaborate plot to capture the royal family and

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then take several large towns that could
stand as Huguenot bastions in the event of

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an all out civil war. On
September the eighteenth, word finally reached Catherine,

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detailing the Protestant preparations to brush them
off. Mount Morenci, still in

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charge of protecting the royal family,
did so as well, but he was

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sadly mistaken. His spy network wasn't
what it had been years before, and

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the Huguenots had gotten a lot better
at screening their movements. So it was,

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though, while the Spanish continued to
warn Catherine of an impending attack,

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she kept enjoying an Indian summer and
her hunt. But by September twenty six,

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fifteen sixty seven, even Catherine could
no longer ignore the reality been far

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too many reports of Huguenot troops taking
up positions in and around where the court

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was situated. So Catherine recalled the
Swiss guard, which wasn't far off,

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but far enough away that it needed
to be recalled, and then she moved

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the court to the nearby fortified town
of may You. At three o'clock in

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the morning on the twenty seventh of
September, the Swiss troops arrived, and,

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taking the advice of the geeses against
that of the Constable, Catherine decided

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to make a dash for Paris,
preferring to risk flight rather than be besieged

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at Mayou. At the center of
a square troop of formation surrounded by a

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quote forest of Swiss pikes end quote, the Queen, mother and the King,

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their family and most senior nobles set
out for the capital. Terrified,

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the rest of the court joined the
exodus as best they could. Rebel cavalrymen

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harried and attacked the party several times
at the start of a hazardous journey,

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but the Swiss were able to successfully
repulse each assault. Finally, it was

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DECI decided that Catherine, the King
and her children should dash ahead in light

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carriages with a small guard to Paris, where they arrived at four o'clock in

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the morning, eventually followed by the
rest of the party. The courtier's appearance

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made a rather uninspiring spectacle as they
entered the city disheveled, terrified, and

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exhausted, many of them having made
the entire journey on foot. Throughout the

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sprint to Paris, Catherine had watched
Charles weep with rage and promise from that

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day onward quote he would never allow
anyone to frighten him again, and swore

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to pursue the culprits into their houses
and beds. He intended henceforth to lay

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down the law to everyone great and
small end quote. The Huguenots, frustrated

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at missing their opportunity to capture the
royal family, decided to make camp at

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San Denis, then outside Paris,
now within Paris, and if you're listening

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to this, really based the site
of the twenty twenty four Olympics. From

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there they would blockade the sen and
prepare to besiege the city of Paris itself,

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Catherine sent for Conde to see what
terms might bring an end to all

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of this. He responded that the
Royal Catholic faction needed to disarm entirely,

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that the Edict of Ambois had to
be fully and faithfully reinstated, and that

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as an aside, taxes needed to
be lowered. To that end, he

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demanded that the Estates General be recalled
into session. He told the King's messengers

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that the French people were suffering under
the onerous debts caused by foreigners, and

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especially the Italians, a direct attack
on Catherine and the Italian money lenders who

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propped up per regime. Exasperated,
Catherine determined that she could no longer play

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the role of peace Baker. Here's
where things were really start to change in

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our French story. Charles was now
left with no choice but to fight the

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rebels head on. Civil war was
inevitable. The king quickly raised an army,

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while Catherine reached out to Philip of
Spain as well as the Pope for

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assistance. On October the seventh,
as tradition demanded, a herald of the

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King approached. Condey and the other
rebel leaders had demanded that they disbanded their

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army. Conde replied that he was
not a rebel. He merely wanted to

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save France from its present troubles.
But the time for talk was over.

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On November the tenth, the Constable
rode out of Paris at the head of

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the King's sixteen thousand man strong army. Charles had made an impetuous attempt to

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lead the army himself, but Montmorenci
had wisely held the reigns of the king's

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horse because he need not risk himself
fighting these rebels. The seventy four year

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old Constable of Fans told the king. A sweeping and courageous cavalry charged by

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Conde nearly won the battle, but
was repulsed by the royal troops, and

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by nightfall the Huguenot army quit the
field. During the battle, the Constable

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received a mortal wound, having endured
several blows to the face and had an

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arkibus shot in the back, left
him dying in agony. Carried back to

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the city, and after much suffering, the old man died on the twelfth

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of November. Catherine and the King
ordered a funeral with such honors that it

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could almost have been mistaken for a
royal internment. Montmorency was finally laid to

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rest Assan Deni near the tomb of
Henry the Second, the king that he

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had loved and served so faithfully.
Having lost the constable, Catherine now made

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a grievous error. She appointed her
sixteen year old son, Henri of Anjou,

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lieutenant general of the army. Not
only did he have no mililitary experience

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at all, but she surrounded the
teenager with a motley crew of petty lords

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who were much more interested in fighting
amongst themselves than advancing on Conde. Meanwhile,

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Conde had withdrawn towards the east that
eventually joined his forces with those of

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a large condition of German writers,
hired troops from Protestant princes who had come

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to his aid. Just before Christmas
fifteen sixty seven, Catherine summoned the Spanish

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ambassador and asked him to join her
for a walk in the gardens of the

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Tuleery, where building had started on
a new palace. Catherine excused her son

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Ariavonjou military's incompetence by blaming his youth, but the ambassador responded rather uncompromising.

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Why blame your's son's youth, he
asked when she Catherine had chosen idiots as

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his chief commanders those men Conseil was
a nobody, Nemours was too love struck

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to think of war, and Montpensier
was an absolute fool. This man,

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whose name was Alva, strongly advocated
that the Queen mother appoint tavannas a great

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and loyal soldier who would not flinch
from doing his duty, and so in

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January fifteen sixty eight, Catherine set
out for Angu's headquarters as Charles Laman.

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The disarray of the camp was obvious. Had it not been for the arguments

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between two senior officers who preferred to
arrange a private quarrel between themselves before taking

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up arms, the German writers might
have been prevented from uniting with the rest

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of the enemy army. Furthermore,
with the army chiefs unable to agree on

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a course of action, the Queen
found her son and his commanders in a

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state of hopeless chaos. She therefore
followed the Spanish ambassador's advice and placed Tavanness

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at the head of a vanguard part
of an army, and decided that they

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should proceed to Toois to stop the
Huguenots from capturing the heartlands of France.

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Now. It was around this time
that Catherine also entered into secret talks with

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the rebels about a potential resolution to
all of this. While these talks ultimately

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came to nothing, they still cost
Catherine politically. When rumors of them leaked

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out. The Parisians, who had
suffered greatly under the blockade, were furious

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that the Queen Mother would accept anything
but the complete obliteration of the Huguenot scourge.

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There were even a few riots that
the Royal Guard had to quell as

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a result. Despite the bitterly cold
winter of fifteen sixty six sixty eight,

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the Huguenots and the German writers made
substantial advances, reaching Agerre and then racing

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onwards to take view. In the
face of the Protestant progress, Anjou was

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forced to pull back his forces in
Paris once again lay open to the enemy.

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Charles, already angry at his brother's
military command and incompetence, declared that

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he himself would lead the Royal army
to victory, but Catherine refused to allow

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the king to expose himself to such
danger. Condey managed to reach Chatras in

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late February and laid siege to the
city, but his campaign stopped there due

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to a lack of money and supplies. During the war, both sides have

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been pillaging the countryside, leaving the
land ravaged and the peasants in a precarious

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state. Now there remained nothing to
live off of, Condey sent out an

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urgent appeal to the King for talks, which he answered and resulted in the

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Peace of Longemieu, signed on the
twenty third of March fifteen sixty eight.

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As usual, of course, everyone
hated the deal, but it had the

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upshot of ending the war, and
really that's the only conclusion that matters.

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Charles paid the German mercenaries to get
them off of French soil and reinstated the

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Peace of Ambois, and the Protestants, for their part, were supposed to

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hand back all the towns that they
had taken during the very brief but very

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chaotic Second War of Religion. Unfortunately, implementing the peace proved much harder than

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negotiating it. Protestants refused to hand
over some towns. There were wanton acts

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of barbarism on both sides. Frankly
to a large extent, the quote unquote

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peace was worse than the war for
many French citizens. As the violence escalated,

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it became clear that the Peace of
Longemius could barely even be called a

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truce. One Protestant historian claimed that
more Huguenots died during the period after the

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Second Civil War than during both the
first two wars together. By late April

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fifteen sixty eight, when Catherine called
the King's Council, she no longer knew

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what to do. On April twenty
eighth, she fell desperately ill with a

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high fever, suffering from agonizing headaches, vomiting, and pains to her right

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side. By May tenth, as
Catherine started to bleed from her nose and

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mouth, the council began discussions about
what they should do in the event of

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her death. During these urgent council
meetings, Charles had been lost without his

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mother to guide him. True to
form, the Bishop of Laurent pressed for

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the most stringent measures of repression and
punishment against the Huguenots, and Catherine's chief

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counselor to help Etal, equally true
to his form, advised further conciliation.

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Just as all hope seemed lost.
Catherine's fever started to reduce, though the

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illness and sweating returned in the evening. Her bedclothes had to be changed four

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or five times each night. She
managed to do a little work during the

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day. By the twenty fourth of
May, she sat propped up in bed,

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dictating letters, one to Colon Yie
about the theft of money intended to

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pay for the departure of the German
mercenaries. Charles's almost total paralysis that his

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mother beside him had been an alarming
taste of what to expect if Catherine did

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in fact die of the rash political
assassinations that followed the Treaty of Lngeumieux.

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One commenter remarked, quote, since
France has learned Italian fashion in murder,

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and the custom has grown of hiring
assassins to cut throats as one might make

225
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a deal with a mason or a
carpenter, it would be almost a novelty

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if several days were to pass without
some crime of this sort. Whereas formerly

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a man might not hear of a
murder more than ten times in his lifetime.

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We know that it was the ancient
custom of France, and more religiously

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observed than anywhere else to attack an
enemy openly, never taking him unarmed or

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otherwise at a disadvantage, but always
warning him about giving him time to draw,

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and considering it unfair to attack him. Two to one of all this,

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I've heard the Italians make great sport
end quote. The blame for all

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this was often laid unfairly at the
door of, of course, the Italian

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Queen Catherine and the Italian habits she
had brought with her. There was a

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general sense that social order was disintegrating. What had begun as a religious struggle

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was turning into an arket depraved free
for all. Now, all this was

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going on the Dutch Republic, and
revolt continued to burn. A few weeks

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after the peace in France, a
group of French Protestants moved to join their

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religious brethren in the Netherlands. Luckily, Catherine found out about it in time,

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and had the force intercepted and turned
around, had the French army across

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the border, Philip would have been
rightly incensed then on the twenty ninth of

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July fifteen sixty eight, and ordered
Conde arrested. Clearly Throughout the course the

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preceding year, her attitude toward the
Huguenots had decisively changed. Condey with such

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a massive retinue that the Protestants dubbed
it a modern flight from Egypt of God's

245
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chosen people fled to La Rochelle.
Catherine's problem was that as the economic situation

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00:22:26.160 --> 00:22:32.440
deteriorated and the civil wars grew in
intensity and number, so grew the number

247
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of Huguenots. The people of France
were proving themselves increasingly interested in John Calvin's

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message of reform and change. Calvin's
doctrine seemed to effectively fit with calls for

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social and political reform to such an
extent that it became difficult to determine whether

250
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people were actually converting out of religious
conviction or for some other purpose. I

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am probably political. All of this
only hardened Tran's attitude. She now wrote

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openly of a desire to quote run
them the Huguenots to Earth, defeat them,

253
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and destroy them before they can do
something worse quote. And it wasn't

254
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just the religious situation that was impacting
her mood. Since August, Charles the

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ninth had been ill, and his
conditions seemed to worsen with every day.

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Catherine did not know it, but
her son was suffering from the final stages

257
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of tuberculosis. While caring for Charles, Catherine received word that Pope Pius the

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fifth had authorized a special levy on
church property to pay for what seemed like

259
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an imminent third religious war. Catherine
was inclined to do so, but her

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chancellor l'ap dal objected, arguing this
would only provoke the Huguenots further. This

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was the final break for la'apital,
who found him himself so isolated due to

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this position that he was shortly thereafter
forced to retire. His resignation was a

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signal the time for conciliation was over. By mid August, the king had

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recovered enough to attend council sessions once
more. The atmosphere, however, remained

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somber. War loomed than everyone knew
it. Henry of Anjou was positively giddy

266
00:24:26.200 --> 00:24:32.200
at the idea of leading an army
to victory. Catherine prepared what was eventually

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to be called the Declaration of Saint
Maher, in which in effect she revoked

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the Edict of Ambois and declared Catholicism
the only legal religion that could be practiced

269
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in France, but Catherine found her
work on this interrupted again when Charles's condition

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suddenly worsened. Yet somehow eventually he
recovered, But the news for Catherine's family

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wasn't perfect by any stretch of the
imagination. Spain, on October the third,

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00:25:02.079 --> 00:25:07.160
Elizabeth died, having given birth to
another child prematurely. Catherine was shocked

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at the news, and, upon
hearing it, withdrew from court without so

274
00:25:11.559 --> 00:25:15.839
much as a word. There was
little time to grieve, however. War

275
00:25:17.400 --> 00:25:23.839
was upon France, although a harsh
winter prevented any immediate military engagements. There

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was little talk now in the council
about a potential compromise, even that Catherine

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00:25:30.480 --> 00:25:37.039
would not hear. She wanted a
decisive victory this time. Interestingly, Catherine

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00:25:37.039 --> 00:25:41.839
commented around this time that she envied
Queen Elizabeth of England, whose subjects followed

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the religious policy to the tea as
set by the Crown. Elizabeth would have

280
00:25:47.400 --> 00:25:55.319
been overjoyed by this statement had it
been remotely accurate. On February the twenty

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second, Catherine visited the fortifications at
Metz, a cold, wet day.

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Shortly thereafter, she fell ill with
a fever and remained so while Anjou fought

283
00:26:07.160 --> 00:26:11.119
his first major battle, the first
of what is now, by the way,

284
00:26:11.559 --> 00:26:18.400
the Third War of Religion, the
Battle of Jarnac, situated near Cognac,

285
00:26:18.839 --> 00:26:23.039
was notable, apart from being a
Royalist victory over the Huguenots, for

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00:26:23.119 --> 00:26:30.039
the final death of the Huguenot leader
Luis de Conde. The royal army,

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00:26:30.119 --> 00:26:36.559
though nominally led by Anjou, was
de facto commanded by Catherine's trustee now Marshal

288
00:26:36.720 --> 00:26:42.000
Tavanness. On March thirteenth, fifteen
sixty nine, after the Royalists had finally

289
00:26:42.000 --> 00:26:47.920
succeeded in engaging Colonne and his men
in battle, Conde, who had injured

290
00:26:47.920 --> 00:26:52.680
his leg the night before, received
an urgent summons to bring help to Colonni.

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00:26:52.720 --> 00:26:56.920
According to the account of his death
by the Huguenot soldier and scholar Agrippa

292
00:26:56.960 --> 00:27:03.039
de Albonne, Conde mounted his horse
awkwardly and broke his injured legs so badly

293
00:27:03.480 --> 00:27:08.519
that the pone pierced the side of
his boot. Despite this, he cried

294
00:27:08.519 --> 00:27:14.759
out quote to face danger for Christ
is a blessing, brave and noble Frenchman.

295
00:27:15.079 --> 00:27:19.000
This is the moment we have waited
for. End quote He then galloped

296
00:27:19.039 --> 00:27:26.359
off at the head of a splendid
though hopeless cavalry charge. Colony, interestingly

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00:27:26.519 --> 00:27:30.319
enough, had already countermanded his request
for help, but the news did not

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reach Conde in time. When his
horse was killed from under him, he

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00:27:36.759 --> 00:27:40.640
couldn't get to his feet properly.
Weighed down by his armor and the pain

300
00:27:40.880 --> 00:27:45.400
of his broken leg, he surrendered
and lifted his visor. The two soldiers

301
00:27:45.400 --> 00:27:49.680
to whom he gave himself up,
who were interestingly named de Argens and Monsieur

302
00:27:49.759 --> 00:27:56.880
de Saint Jean, recognized him immediately. De Argens had fought at Algoume with

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00:27:56.079 --> 00:28:02.400
Conde, where the prince had,
interestingly enough, saved his life. Sonjay

304
00:28:02.759 --> 00:28:07.519
also knew him by sight. They
advised him to keep his visor down if

305
00:28:07.519 --> 00:28:11.599
he valued his safety. The approaching
guard of the Duke of Anjous spotted the

306
00:28:11.640 --> 00:28:18.440
prince and shouted kill kill. At
this, Conde turned and said, you

307
00:28:18.480 --> 00:28:23.960
cannot save me. De Argen's Anjou's
guard then rather unceremoniously shot Conde in the

308
00:28:25.000 --> 00:28:30.039
back of the neck, the bullet
exiting from his right eye. Anjou savored

309
00:28:30.039 --> 00:28:34.160
the death of his princely relative.
His men tied Conde's body to a mule

310
00:28:34.400 --> 00:28:40.319
and paraded it around to shouts and
jeers of the engaging little ditty quote.

311
00:28:40.519 --> 00:28:44.279
He who avoids the mass now is
tied to an ass. It is catchy.

312
00:28:44.279 --> 00:28:48.640
I'll give it that such behavior was
worlds away from the chivalric traditions that

313
00:28:48.680 --> 00:28:55.799
have been so highly valued by the
previous generation. In a stark contrast,

314
00:28:56.319 --> 00:29:00.160
previously, when Francois, Duke of
Guise, had taken con Day prisoner after

315
00:29:00.200 --> 00:29:03.599
the Battle of Jew, he had
invited him to stay with him and they

316
00:29:03.640 --> 00:29:11.519
dined together. Now asked what to
do with the crowd of captives nearby on

317
00:29:11.759 --> 00:29:17.599
Jeu, is alleged to have ordered
quote slay them all end quote. He

318
00:29:17.720 --> 00:29:22.960
left this task to the Swiss mercenaries. This conduct on the field of battle

319
00:29:22.279 --> 00:29:30.359
demonstrates clearly how the usual courtesies and
traditions of knightly conduct had been entirely replaced

320
00:29:30.599 --> 00:29:34.839
in these French wars of religion by
the passion for vengeance as a result of

321
00:29:34.880 --> 00:29:41.039
the appalling acts each side had now
committed against each other since the first Religious

322
00:29:41.160 --> 00:29:47.240
Civil War. I suppose it's a
truism that civil wars and wars of religion

323
00:29:47.480 --> 00:29:52.799
tend to produce the worst atrocities.
Thus we have a combination here civil war

324
00:29:52.880 --> 00:29:59.759
and war of religion. So should
we be surprised just how ghastly these French

325
00:29:59.759 --> 00:30:07.039
war were on Jue proudly announced his
victory to Charles, who was certainly jealous

326
00:30:07.119 --> 00:30:14.440
of his brother's accomplishment. Admiral de
Colonni was now the sole leader and figurehead

327
00:30:14.440 --> 00:30:19.279
of the Huguenot cause. The Catholics
knew he presented a formidable enemy. He

328
00:30:19.359 --> 00:30:26.519
inspired near veneration amongst his Huguenot followers. So it was that on April the

329
00:30:26.559 --> 00:30:32.200
seventh, fifteen sixty nine, the
Spanish ambassador went to see Catherine about how

330
00:30:32.200 --> 00:30:37.599
they might deal with the Colonni situation. Together, they agreed it would be

331
00:30:37.599 --> 00:30:45.240
best for colon Ni to well not
be alive anymore. To that end,

332
00:30:45.759 --> 00:30:51.240
they placed massive bounties on the heads
of all the remaining Huguenot leaders, Colonni

333
00:30:51.319 --> 00:30:56.200
included. So when many of these
men fell desperately ill on and around May

334
00:30:56.279 --> 00:31:00.599
the seventh, fifteen sixty nine,
everyone soon oomed Catherine had been behind it.

335
00:31:02.400 --> 00:31:06.440
And remember everyone believes Italians all know
how to poison people, so it

336
00:31:06.480 --> 00:31:10.680
wasn't much of a logical leap to
look at the events and presume ill intentions.

337
00:31:11.839 --> 00:31:15.480
This might seem like simple expediency to
us, but at the time it

338
00:31:15.519 --> 00:31:18.880
was a very dishonorable way to deal
with your enemies. You had to meet

339
00:31:18.880 --> 00:31:22.880
them face to face and win,
not poison their food and drink. Ajou

340
00:31:22.960 --> 00:31:26.920
and the war Council now desperately needed
Catherine's presence. The Huguenots had the support

341
00:31:26.920 --> 00:31:32.440
of various German Protestant princes and their
armies. The Duke of Bavaria, the

342
00:31:32.559 --> 00:31:36.359
Duke of Vabucan and I'm doing my
absolute best on that one, and the

343
00:31:36.400 --> 00:31:40.799
Flemish Prince Louis of Nassau. Were
facing a Royalist army of French Catholics,

344
00:31:40.920 --> 00:31:45.400
Swiss Mercenaries, troops financed by Spain, Italians from Rome and Tuscanyan soldiers led

345
00:31:45.400 --> 00:31:49.920
by the Margrave of Baden and the
Count Ernest de Mansfeld, besides, were

346
00:31:51.000 --> 00:31:53.839
numerically fairly evenly matched by the autumn
of fifteen sixty nine, with the Royalists

347
00:31:53.839 --> 00:31:59.000
holding a slight advantage. Despite this, the Royalist troops felt that their victory

348
00:31:59.000 --> 00:32:02.160
at Jarneck had had been wasted and
were angry that the armies of the foreign

349
00:32:02.160 --> 00:32:09.000
Protestant princes had successfully joined the forces
due to blunders by Charles commanders. Luckily

350
00:32:09.000 --> 00:32:15.759
for Charles, one of the leading
German leaders died after consuming allegedly poisoned wine.

351
00:32:15.799 --> 00:32:19.359
His forces failed to link up with
the rest, weakening the Protestant position

352
00:32:19.519 --> 00:32:23.079
at a crucial moment. In July
of fifteen sixty nine, Charles passed an

353
00:32:23.200 --> 00:32:30.119
edict confiscating all Huguenot property. Colony
was also declared a traitor and sentenced to

354
00:32:30.160 --> 00:32:34.759
death, a difficult sentence to carry
out given that the Catholic faction well didn't

355
00:32:34.759 --> 00:32:38.359
have possession of him. On July
the fourteenth, the Huguenots laid sieged to

356
00:32:38.400 --> 00:32:44.640
Poitiers. By the fifth of September, Aju had managed to lift it Already

357
00:32:44.839 --> 00:32:46.880
he was beginning to prove himself an
excellent student in the art of war.

358
00:32:47.920 --> 00:32:52.039
Then, on October the third,
fifteen sixty nine, Aju engaged his enemy

359
00:32:52.039 --> 00:32:58.279
in battle dear Montcoture. Despite a
series of brave cavalry charges by Colony,

360
00:32:58.400 --> 00:33:01.200
who was shot in the face at
one point, the Catholics held the field

361
00:33:01.200 --> 00:33:07.200
at the day's end. That night, as many as fifteen thousand French Protestant

362
00:33:07.240 --> 00:33:10.599
soldiers were put to death. Colony
still had a substantial army, however,

363
00:33:12.039 --> 00:33:15.240
in fact, nearly all of his
losses had been infantry, his cavalry totally

364
00:33:15.240 --> 00:33:20.920
intact. He withdrew to La Rochelle
and fortified the approaches as best he could.

365
00:33:21.920 --> 00:33:24.640
Tavoness wanted to pursue Colony immediately and
put an end to the war,

366
00:33:25.440 --> 00:33:29.400
but when Charles arrived on the field, he wanted a chance to win some

367
00:33:29.440 --> 00:33:34.839
glory for himself, so instead the
army decided to spend the necessary time taking

368
00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:39.799
each stronghold approaching La Rochelle, rather
than simply just setting off immediately to finish

369
00:33:39.799 --> 00:33:45.000
the job. After the battle,
though, the Protestants remained confident, and

370
00:33:45.039 --> 00:33:49.319
so both sides decided that the time
was right to open some sort of peace

371
00:33:49.359 --> 00:33:53.799
negotiations. The king seemed opposed to
anything other than total capitulation, however.

372
00:33:54.720 --> 00:34:00.240
Peace talks now centered around a proposed
marriage between Margot, Catharine's eldest remaining and

373
00:34:00.319 --> 00:34:05.839
single daughter, and Henry of Navarre. The idea was basically the same as

374
00:34:05.880 --> 00:34:07.880
the one that had ended the Wars
of the Roses, when Elizabeth of York

375
00:34:08.039 --> 00:34:13.599
married Henry Tudor At the same time, however, the Cardinal of Laurent was

376
00:34:13.599 --> 00:34:16.639
trying to arrange a marriage between Margot
and his nephew, Henry of Geese,

377
00:34:16.719 --> 00:34:22.559
for whom Margot seems to have held
a genuine in faction. Charles hated that

378
00:34:22.639 --> 00:34:25.239
idea and flew into a rage when
he found out that the two were evidently

379
00:34:25.559 --> 00:34:31.599
already romantically involved. The Queen mother
summoned Margot before herself and the King,

380
00:34:31.960 --> 00:34:37.559
who beat Margot for her temerity.
All this family drama then read to real

381
00:34:37.599 --> 00:34:43.320
consequences. The Cardinal of Laurent wisely
quit court when everyone found out he was

382
00:34:43.360 --> 00:34:47.440
behind this alleged marriage union. He
was perhaps the most hawkish of any of

383
00:34:47.440 --> 00:34:52.880
the King's advisers, so his absence
allowed peace talks to proceed in earnest.

384
00:34:52.159 --> 00:34:55.920
By the end of July, Catherine
worked tirelessly to find a solution acceptable to

385
00:34:55.960 --> 00:35:00.159
all. The result was the Treaty
of Son Germain on August eighth, fifteen

386
00:35:00.239 --> 00:35:06.639
seventy. Its main terms mirrored the
Priests of Ambois of fifteen sixty three.

387
00:35:07.039 --> 00:35:09.800
It allowed the freedom of conscience and
freedom of worship, with restrictions as to

388
00:35:09.840 --> 00:35:17.119
location. La Rochelle Cognac Montebain and
La Cherte were granted as places of worship

389
00:35:17.559 --> 00:35:22.920
where the Protestants were free. In
addition, goods and properties seized during the

390
00:35:22.920 --> 00:35:27.239
Civil War were to be restored.
There was to be no discrimination against Huguenots

391
00:35:27.280 --> 00:35:30.239
regarding universities, schools, or hospitals, to which they were to enjoy the

392
00:35:30.280 --> 00:35:36.519
same access as other citizens. Once
again, both sides greeted this enlightened treaty

393
00:35:36.559 --> 00:35:40.039
with very little enthusiasm. The Catholics
grumbled that they were giving away more than

394
00:35:40.159 --> 00:35:45.719
was needed, while the Protestants thought
they weren't being given enough. Charles solemnly

395
00:35:45.719 --> 00:35:51.280
commanded his counselors to swear adherence to
the treaty's terms, and Catherine later wrote

396
00:35:51.320 --> 00:35:53.519
quote, I am glad that my
son is now old enough to see that

397
00:35:53.559 --> 00:35:58.000
he has better obeyed than in the
past. I will help him with my

398
00:35:58.079 --> 00:36:00.639
counsels and with all my power,
and will assist him in enforcing the terms

399
00:36:00.639 --> 00:36:05.280
which he has conceded, as I
have always wanted to see this kingdom restored

400
00:36:05.320 --> 00:36:09.400
to the state it was under its
royal predecessors. Quote. In the end,

401
00:36:09.639 --> 00:36:14.880
Catherine probably just saw the Treaty of
San German as a reprieve. She

402
00:36:15.000 --> 00:36:19.679
wanted time to consolidate power. The
war had not ended because either side had

403
00:36:19.679 --> 00:36:24.320
won, but because both sides were
exhausted. Catherine realized that two religions just

404
00:36:24.320 --> 00:36:29.280
didn't work in France, at least
the France that was, and in many

405
00:36:29.440 --> 00:36:32.800
respects it was a France that was
quite medieval. The time was important.

406
00:36:34.280 --> 00:36:37.039
It was time for her to recover
and consolidate power. She would need every

407
00:36:37.159 --> 00:37:02.000
second, as we will see next
time, the men born