Hello and Welcome to Western SIEV Episode three hundred Huguenots and Catholics. Due to
a series of accidents and thanks to her skill, the forty one year old
Catherine de Medici now found herself the de facto ruler of France. Her foremost
desire was to turn back the clock to the early days of Henry the Second,
when the realm appeared to be ascendant. To that end, she set
about creating new symbols of royal authority that would harken back to an earlier,
more prosperous time, and symbols that would seek to unite a disunified realm.
She had a huge new seal crafted for herself as the Governor of France her
new title. Then she had Michel de la Habital confirmed as Chancellor in March
of fifteen sixty one. De Habital was an educated man with legal training that
would help Catherine develop intellectually some of the ideas which up to this point had
been reached by her instincts but not by her legal abilities. Her half formed
solutions based on common sense would now acquire a finished elegance, though her innate
ability to understand what a situation required had proved sound enough. Thus, far
de l'abitel translated Catherine's will into a form that could be converted into public policy
by the state apparatus. He also aided her presentation of her agendas. Through
de la habital, she acquired a polish that frequently left her listeners surprised and
impressed. Catherine then went on to make Bourband the Lieutenant General of France and
freed his brother Conde from jail in fifteen sixty one. These were overt symbols
to the people of France that this regime would be different. This regime would
not include the Geese family. But of course, the other issue was France
was essentially bankrupt due to the pressing financial nightmare that continued to bedevil the kingdom.
Catherine needed the estate's general endorsement of her position and to support her desperate
need to raise money. Despite the death of France as the second it had
been agreed that the meeting of the Assembly should proceed, and Catherine spent days
immediately beforehand reinforcing her position. Geese was still around and at the head of
a small army or Bond continued to be docile. Letters went out to the
provinces and foreign powers, announcing Catherine's new powers and the subordinate role. According
to Borbon, the arrival of the Constable with four hundred armed men suggested he
might cause difficulties, especially when Catherine confirmed that Geese remained in command of the
army. But Montmorency understood that the change in regime meant that he and his
family could expect to prosper much more than they had under Francis the Second and
the Geeses. He realized nothing could be gained by agitation at this point,
he needed the transition of power to be confirmed first. Thus Catherine managed to
present at least superficially a united front to the Estates General when they finally convened.
Now, the historic purpose of the Estates General, which is going to
take more and more center stage in this show as we move forward, was
to quote present grievances to the King and the voting of money end quote.
But historically it had only been rarely and by the monarch at least very reluctantly
called. To present the factions of Geese, Barban and Mortmond sy as both
loyal and harmonious was essential to the Queen Mother, no matter how maybe incredible
of a picture that was projecting seated together at the opening ceremony with Catherine and
her children. The albeit incongruentous unity strengthened her image as an effective ruler and
sent a message to the estates potentially troublesome representatives that she had the backing already
of the country's most powerful nobles. This was a done deal. In his
address to the Deputies, de la Abital made it quite clear that the Queen
Mother viewed decisions by the crown to be above debate and final, nor would
she hear any claims arising from anything from the past. That was key.
It was a done deal. That book was closed. We're not going backwards.
Catherine made it clear, We're going forward. It rapidly dawned on the
deputies of the Estates General that they had not been called for genuine consultation,
but in order to give them money. If Henry the Second's wars and gifts
had depleted King Francis the Second's cash reserves, his son's short reign left Catherine
staring at an empty treasury. Even the usual means of raising money by the
sale of offices, however, corrupt, had been so deluded that they could
no longer contribute anything of substance. Squeezing money from the peasantry during the Wars
of Henry the Second had left them so impoverished that the estates were now being
called upon to replenish the treasury. Of the three estates that made up the
Estates General, the nobility, the clergy, and the commoners, only the
clergy felt itself really vulnerable. Since its riches were still relatively intact, it
was certainly the most conscientious estate to pillage. Now in effect, the new
Chancellor was asking the Estates General to raise funds and means to give the Crown
back its independence from itself, and nobody misunderstood what was going on. Once
the flowery, legal and loyal language had all been bandied about, the bare
fact remained that this was an auditious ask, to say the least, since
none of the three estates stepped up to offer a solution, they'll all beat
del asked them to consider the proposal he now put to them. His prescription
was to raise the what are called talaise. This is the Crown's only direct
tax, the burden of which fell upon the peasantry, as the nobles and
clergy were both exempts, so the idea was they would raise that for six
years, and also that the clergy should buy back rents and revenues that the
Crown had been forced to sell. The only suggestion that emerged from the estates
themselves could best be described as unimaginative, which was just simply, you know,
the Crown needed to tighten its belt. Catherine diligently cut down the number
of servants and offices, She lowered pensions and salaries, and was able to
then rather triumphantly announce the savings of two point three million livre. Instead of
congratulating Catherine on her endeavors, however, the deputies merely observed that if such
a sum could be saved with such ease, could more deep cuts be made.
One contemporary wrote of Catherine's efforts as follows, quote the greatest of subsidies
is the drastic economy which the court imposes on itself in all things end quote.
De la Potel received instructions from the Queen mother to send the deputies away
into return with an answer in May. Although the financial question had been left
without a solution, Catherine and de l'apotel congratulated themselves upon the reforms of the
judicial system that have been pushed through in an attempt to alleviate the terrible and
these were bad abuses taking place in the judiciary. Magistrates would henceforth have to
be elected, and several other measures were agreed to which would protect the peasantry
and prevent abuses, mostly by the other two estates, the nobility and the
church. A unification of weights and measures was also adopted, and taxes levied
on moving goods from one area of France to another abolished. The further notable
decision taken to creed that the Estates General should meet at least once every five
years. As to religion, the Chancellor pronounced that he considered it impossible to
expect a cord between people of different faiths. He confirmed his axiom that he
would repeat over and over and over again throughout the reign quote one faith,
one law, one king. End quote. He added, Let us not
innovate lightly, let us deliberate long and previously instruct ourselves. If a man
may be allowed to adopt a new religion as he chooses, beware lest there
be as many religions as there are families and heads of men. You may
say that your religion is better, I defend mine. Which is more reasonable
that I should follow you or you follow me? End quote. For all
of this reference to Orthodoxy, de la Alpitelle's speech nonetheless outlined Catherine's clear break
with the Geese's methods of violent persecution. He reminded the estates general quote the
knife is of no avail against the spirit, save to lose both body and
soul. Gentleness will accomplish more than rigor end quote. He spoke of the
need of a general assembly of the Church Council to get to the root of
this religious division, and he tried to make it clear that a council would
be convoked for this purpose in the very near future. Once again, the
Protestants misunderstood this as a measure of toleration. Unfortunately, as a consequence,
they grew ever more brazen in their open practice of the new religion, and
this would only magnify Catholic fears by damaging church property, smashing sacred statues,
and committing other sacrilegious acts. As always, steps towards toleration were meant by
religious open expression of toleration, and this only made the more orthodox community react.
Ever, the harsher as we're going to see today. As Catherine's moderate
religious policy became clear, an unlikely alliance grew together in a stated effort to
keep France's traditional Catholic values firmly in place. This alliance saw the Geese family
unite with Maltmonalcy plus the Marshal de sa Andre, who formed what was called
the Triumvirent. The three men intended first to secure France from further Protestant encroachment
and then to go on the offensive, fighting against the Protestant powers of Europe.
They had the support of Philip of Spain, the Emperor, and of
course the papacy. In reality, the three men also had an unstated aim,
which was to remove Catherine from power. For the moments, the supporters
of these three men only made matters worse as they took it upon themselves to
attack groups of Huguenots, which are French Protestants. I'll get to the termin
minute throughout the kingdom. After Easter, the Triumvirance announced that they were leaving
court and would not return. Catherine was furious, but recognized that there was
little she could do without the support of either the Constable or the Geese family.
This also happened to be when the idea of a marriage between Mary,
Queen of Scott's, and Don Carlos, Philip's heir, surfaced. Catherine was
livid, mostly because she realized that with Spanish support, the Gheese family would
become basically unstoppable and might easily sweep her and her son aside. So she
wrote to her daughter, now married to Phillip the Second in Spain, to
do everything that she could to subvert the plan. In the end, both
Catherine and Elizabeth the First Queen of England opposed the match, and Philip didn't
have enough strength for another fight, so by April fifteen sixty one, the
project was dead and Catherine had dodged another bullet. Though, as we will
see, Mary Stuart, mary Queen of Scott's, continued to push for this
idea long after it was actually dead. Catherine was eager to get Mary out
of France and back to her homeland Scotland, which, by the way,
Mary knew next to nothing about. Ultimately, Catherine got her way. On
August the fourteenth, Mary Stuart left France for Leith, Scotland, never to
return on May fifteenth, fifteen sixty one, Charles the ninth was finally crowned
at Reams. It was a muted affair. Economically, the Crown could not
afford a lavish ceremony. Had it not been for the intervention of the Pope,
none of the triumvis would have gone. But the papacy reminded the Geeses
at Montmorency that if they continued to absent themselves from court, then Charles would
definitely fall under the sway of Protestants. Had no choice. They had to
go back, so they did, but they stood at the ceremony looking surly
and unhappy about it the whole time. After the coordination, Catherine worked to
bring Montmorency and the Geese family back into the royal fold. She managed to
get the Duke of Geese to come back to Paris, but only with the
promise that he could lead an annual Catholic procession. In the end, Catherine
achieved a cosmetic sense of unity, but the sore beneath the veneer continued to
fester. Importantly, Catherine continued to work to show up her relations with Philip
of Spade, because she knew that he was a person who was really supporting
the three triumvers. If she could pull Philip away, then the whole thing
might fall apart. And to that end, she always portrayed herself as the
model, stern Catholic matriarch, though her behavior in private often suggested that this
too was cosmetic. The Queen Mother's daughter Margaret, would later report that the
court was full of heretics. Yet in public and in her messages sent across
the kingdom, Catherine consistently portrayed herself as an ardent Catholic. But the reality
was that Catherine's middle position left her looking weak to many. Her advisors consistently
urged her to take a harder line against the Huguenots. At least, they
wanted her to take action that would curb some of the appearances, and I
do mean outward appearances of Protestantism. If Catherine wasn't going to persecute the Huguenots,
then she should at very least stop their actions from being so public.
That might slow down the simmering conflict, But she did not. On the
thirtieth of July, and edict was announced that offered amnesty for all religious offenses.
Since Henry the second's death with a provision that in the future those persons
led quote peaceful and Catholic lives. It was yet another stopgap solution. With
the meeting of the Church Council that have been promised about the Estates General now
only a month away. Catherine felt more optimistic than most that a reasonable solution
might be found. To her, God should only be invoked as a protector,
not as an avenger. In religious matters. She was no fanatic,
except when her sons and their birthrights were concerned. The Catholic Mass suited her
just fine, a lifelong habit that she found comforting, almost as though it
was just a talisman. Unfortunately, she failed to grasp that the burning issues
were not tiny doctrinal differences between Christians, but a profound rejection by the reformers
of two fundamental truths upon which the Catholic Church was built, the Eucharist and
the doctrinal authority of the Pope. Now the Pope was concerned about the Estates
General as well, and especially the suggestion of a French Church Council. He
wanted, obviously, to be in charge of doctrinal reforms. He pressed Catherine
to delay the Council with Trent still humming. The Council of Trent, by
the way, doesn't end until fifteen sixty three. Catherine didn't believe that she
could wait, and she pressed ahead, telling the Pope that he was welcome
to send a representative to the meeting, which he did shortly before the Church
conference. The Estates General met on the twenty seventh of August. The meetings
that for May had been postponed due to the coronation. The outcome of the
meeting, which had been called to deal with the crown's financial problems, resulted
in money being voted to curb the king's finance issues. Most of the funds
came from the Church, which, fearing even harsher demands being made upon it,
offered one point five million livre over six years quote for the redemption of
royal domains and of indirect taxes which had been alienated, and quote a further
seven and a half million livre would be paid to settle the King's debts.
The financial aid promised was a huge relief to Catherine. With one problem solved,
she could move on to the next. The Church Council, leading Calvinist
present, Theodore de Bezier arrived in Poissier on August the twenty third. He
was believed to be the most reasonable of the Calvinist leaders, though that wasn't
saying much because they weren't, on the main a super reasonable bunch. Bezez
met with Cardinal Loran and spoke at length about various doctrinal issues. While they
didn't come out of the meeting with anything concrete, at least they didn't come
to blows. Catherine claimed it as a triumph. A few days later,
However, this triumph proved to be purely fool's gold. The result of this
religious convocation was the so called Colloquio Posse. The Colloquia Posse opened in a
refractory of a Dominican convent not far from Paris. Seated there on the raised
dais were Catherine and her children, the Princes of the Blood, and the
King's counsul. Along both sides of the room, facing each other, sat
the difference prelates the doctors of theology, cardinals and ministers who were to participate
in debate and hear the arguments. The Duke of Geese brought in the meager
number of Protestant representatives under guard and placed them behind a low barrier, as
if to prevent them from contaminating the rest of those present. As seating arrangements
go, it was neither tactful nor auspicious. Dibse opened with a graceful speech
and then proceeded to go to the straight to the heart of the matter before
them, his el the listeners. As he moved on to the subject of
the Eucharist, he then spoke those fatal words about the host quote, his
body is as far removed from the bread and the wine as Heaven is from
Earth end quote. There followed a horrified and stunned silence, followed by an
uproar, and then shouts of blasphemy and scandal. The Cardinal of Trent rounded
on Catherine on her raised platform and cried out, quote, how can you
tolerate such horrors and blasphemy to be spoken before your children, who are still
of such a tender age end quote. Catherine replied that she and her sons
were Catholic and would live and die as Catholic. The Jesuit general, who
was present, warned the queen that the kingdom was doomed if she didn't banish
the heretics. Then in there with de Bese's words, Catherine's hopes for a
compromise collapsed. After a few more days that produced nothing but deeper division and
more hatred, the Colloquia Poisse closed on the thirteenth of October fifteen sixty one.
Despite the acrimony at plis A, Catherine continued to show favor to the
Protestants. One explanation apart from her pragmatism and hopes of unity based on reason,
could be put down to simply the conduct of the Huguenots present. While
the Triumvirs and the Spanish bullied and threatened her, the Protestant leaders and noblemen
treated the Queen Mother with the greatest respect, calling her our Queen and making
endless loyal professions as French subjects to the crown. This clever policy of appealing
to her as their ruler and protector, lauding her wisdom and foresight, gained
them a lot of ground and favor. This was particularly true since the Catholic
chiefs were frequently absent from the court, sulking at their estates, and if
they did deign to appear at court, they were constantly rude to Catherine.
In the absence of the war hero Geese and other Catholic icons. The most
brilliant Huguenot leaders, such as the care charismatic Admiral Gaspard de Colin Neay you'll
hear of him again, who had been publicly disowned by his uncle Montmorency for
his change of religion. They had the stage to themselves, and they proved
irresistible to many, and de Beze received a gracious invitation to remain at court.
Indeed, Catherine allowed him to preach to the increasing number of Protestant converts
there, among them some of the most important noble men and noble women of
the country. Of course, the result of all this was that the Geese
faction again withdrew from court in protest Now as they did, they this time
attempted to kidnap Eduard Alexandre, Catherine's youngest and certainly favorite child. The effort
to steal away her son incensed Catherine. Later on, perhaps as part of
a greater plan, perhaps out of a good natured interest, King Philip wrote
to Catherine that she should move her remaining children somewhere where they would be safe
from all the strife. She wrote back, the only place she could think
of to send them was the Spanish court. This was likely just an effort
to smoke out Philip to see if he had a hand in the effort to
kidnap the Prince. Neither way, he declined. During the late autumn of
fifteen sixty one, monks were being killed and churches pillaged in the southwest of
France, where the Huguenots held Sway. In revenge, Parisian Catholics rose up
and attacked Huguenot gatherings in an attempt to keep the warring parties separate. Protestants
were banned from worshiping within the city walls and not at all on Sundays or
Catholic feast days. De Besei wrote to Calvin that he had secret permission for
Protestants to meet in safety and waited for an edict that would give them better
terms. Catherine was making a final, brave attempt to unite the two faiths,
holding back French clergymen from setting out to attend the Council of Trent.
She struggled heroically to find some sort of accommodation. Despite all her efforts,
what Catherine failed to see was the sheer passion with which many people clung to
their beliefs. For many, there could be no accommodation when it came to
their faith. There could be no compromise. For them, Paris was not
yet worth a mass. Catherine's last effort at producing a peaceful solution came with
the Edict of January. In de Haupital's opening speech before the meeting to discuss
it, he put forward the view that he shared with Catherine, affirming that
the Assembly had not been called to decide which was the best religion, but
only the best way to restore the state. He said it was possible to
be a citizen without being a Christian. Indeed, it was possible for an
excommunicant to be a citizen. The debates and resulting vote took place on the
fifteenth of January fifteen sixty two. The edict effectively recognized and legalized the Protestant
religion in French, which had hitherto been outlawed. By giving the Protestants even
minimal recognition, Catherine now allowed them the right of citizenship, albeit a second
class one. Henceforth, they would be allowed to practice their religion, but
only outside town and city walls, closing the council with an eloquent speech in
which she explained her vision and her hope. She reaffirmed that quote she and
her children and the King's Council wished to live in the Catholic faith in obedience
to rome end quote. Catholics, of course, were furious with the edict,
and Parliament refused to ratify it. Even her daughter Elizabeth wrote from Spain,
saying bluntly that her mother must either declare unambiguously for the Catholics and receive
the support from Spain, or sided with the Protestants, in which case she
would be Spain's enemy. Finally, Catherine sent her delegates to attend the Council
of Trent and argued that the edict must be seen as a stopgap. Before
the council finished its deliberation, Catherine wrote to Philip, hoping to clarify her
stance as a firm Catholic and somehow some way pulled off the impending storm.
It didn't work. On March the first, fifteen sixty two, the storm
finally broke. The Duke of Geese had been visiting his family estates in the
Champon region during early fifteen sixty two, and on Sunday, the first of
March, he rode with an armed escort to hear the mass. As he
passed through the small town of Vessay, belonging to his niece Mary Stewart,
he heard singing coming from within a barn that was inside the town walls.
A Protestant service was being held, which, according to the terms of the
new edict, was clearly illegal. The Duke attended Mass in a church not
far from the barn, to his increasing anger. The voices of the psalm
singers could be clearly heard as they filtered through the church walls. Whoever provoked
the subsequent fight is not The Duke's official version gave it out to a quote
regrettable accident end quote. The temples boiled over into a violent struggle between the
Huguenots and Geese's men, which left seventy four Protestants dead and over one hundred
wounded. Among the casualties were women and children. Geese himself received a cut
to the face and some of his men were also hurt. The incident became
known as the Massacre of Vessay, and it admittedly lit the fuse that sparked
off what will come to be known as the French Wars of religion. News
of the massacre of Vassi swept across the Kingdom of France like a great crashing
wave. Shortly thereafter, the Duke of Geese was marching to Paris ahead of
three thousand men. Already within the city stood Conde at the head of his
own private army of one thousand as Saint Germaine. When she heard news of
the massacre of Vassi, Catherine made an eleventh hour attempt to stop open warfare
breaking out in the capitol. She commanded Conde's brother, the Cardinal de Bourbon,
governor of France, to order both Geese and Conde to quit the city
at once, taking their win with them. Knowing he was secure though having
two thousand more men, Geese did not move, but Conde rightly feared for
his life and left Paris on March twenty third, fifteen sixty two. Catherine
then sent four emotional letters to him in the last two weeks of March,
begging him not to abandon either her or the peace of France. In it,
she wrote, quote, I see so much that pains me that were
it not for the confidence I have in God, and the certainty that you
will help me preserve this kingdom and serve the king my son, I would
even feel worse hope that we shall remedy all with your good counsel and help
end quote. Now, even at the best of times, Conde never allowed
himself to be taken in by Catherine's flattery. The prince now considered it time
to arm and fight for what he believed was right. All her appeals were
made in vain. Catherine and the court smartly moved to Fontainebleau, but the
Duke of Geese arrived there on the twenty sixth of March with one thousand armed
men. He claimed that he had come to protect the royal family and take
them back to Paris. Catherine refused, but when the Duke insisted, she
had no choice and capitulated. In possession of the king, The Catholic faction
was now effectively now in control of the government. On April, the second
Conde to the south captured the city of Orleans, Rua felt the Huguenots a
few days later. Sides were now being drawn for an all out civil war.
Catherine met with Conde on June ninth, but nothing came from the meeting
other than the promise of meeting again. The two did meet again a few
weeks later, but it came to nothing. At this point, both sides,
Huguenot and Catholics, started to reach out for foreign aid. The Huguenots
called out to Geneva and, of course, Protestant England. Queen Elizabeth was
at first noncommittal, but ultimately signed the Treaty of Hampton Court in fifteen sixty
two in September. Now that being said, any help that came from England
was only partly assisting the Huguenots out of a desire to help their fellow Protestants.
Mostly, Queen Elizabeth just wanted Calais back. To that end, she
agreed to send six thousand English troops who worked to improve fortifications at La Have.
Catherine and the Catholics sent out their own appeals for aid. Philip of
Spain sent ten thousand infantry and three hundred cal Swiss mercenaries came in droves to
fill royal ranks, but if anything, the first few weeks of what became
known as the First War of Religion in France were dominated by atrocities on both
sides, especially in the countryside. Two hundred Protestants were drowned at tours in
Sinns, monks had their throats cut. Even the recently deceased Francis the Second
was not free from the violence. His heart was stolen from its urn and
desecrated. By mid October, Catherine was present at the siege of Rowan,
watching her guns bombard the battlements. Geese and Montmorency warned her not to expose
herself to danger, but she laughed at their fears, saying only, quote,
my courage is as great as yours end quote. They did not exaggerate
the risks that she ran. When Antoine de barban A Pyeing, one of
the forward Royalist positions, needed to relieve himself. He wandered into the bushes
a little way off from his men and was hit in the left shoulder by
a shot of an archieblus. Geese, who found Bourbon knocked to the ground,
picked him up and had him carried to the surgeons. Yeah first sight,
the wound did not look mortal, but despite what must have been an
excruciating exploratory surgeons as the physicians poked and brought it about the bullet could not
be found. Catherine arrived at Bourbon's sick bed, bringing with her Geese and
Antoine's brother, the Cardinal de Babon, as a host of doctors and surgeons
surrounding him maintained their optimism. However, at some point it was clear that
the doctors were wrong, and a replacement doctor was brought in who diagnosed the
situation correct. The wound was gangrenous. This surgeon later recalled Bourbon's suffering quote
it was necessary to open his arm, from which came a smell so foul
that many people are unable to bear the stench were forced to leave the room
end quote. Unfortunately, noplus accompanied the putrid odor, and the patient grew
delirious as his fever steadily rose. He asked to be removed from the unhealthy
air of Rowan and be taken up the sin in a galley. With his
end quickly approaching, Urban behaved as indecisively in death as he had done in
life. Both Catholics and Protestants, eager to claim the salvation of this high
prince, surrounded him, arguing over his soul. On November the ninth,
he confessed to a Catholic priest, but the following day, regaining consciousness,
he declared, quote, I wish to live and die as a Lutheran.
On the night of the seventeenth of November, one month after receiving his wound,
death finally claimed him. His last words were to his Italian valet,
of whom he was fond Grabbing the man's beard, he gasped, quote,
serve my son well and make sure he serves the king Antoine's and meant that
his eight year old son, Anri, became not only the first prince of
the blood, but also heir to the throne after Catherine's sons. For this,
if for no other reason, Catherine feared the boy, and in time
Amrie would also prove himself to be a much more intractable foe than his father
had ever been. But for now, at only eight, onreposed what could
be said is only a theoretical challenge to Catherine's power. One of the joys
that Catherine had anticipated upon the recapture of Ruan evaded her. However, Gabrielle
de Montmorency, one of the key leading Protestant figures, with a handful of
men, escaped on board a ship, but just before the town fell in
a vengeful frenzy, four thousand rebel captives were put to the sword by Royalist
soldiers, though Geese tried to put a stop to the worst excesses and keep
some of the more valuable prisoners for rans. More pressing problems now occupied Catherine.
However, despite the Royalists regaining the momentum, there was a sudden and
real danger posed when Conde and his army left Orleans marching toward Paris. Geese,
who had planned to take La Have, abandoned his project and set out
immediately with his army in a headlong rush to try to cut the army off
before the Huguenots could reach the capitol. Geese ultimately did win the race,
and Conde turned toward the English troops in Normandy, planning to join forces with
them before any major engagement took place, but he was foiled by Mount Moranci's
army, which blocked the route northward, and the Battle of Jua was fought
on the nineteenth of December fifteen sixty two. The Huguenots actually nearly won this
battle on what could be only described as a dazzling cavalry charge, but in
the end, Geese's arrival meant that the Catholic faction had just way more men
and that they won the day. Interestingly enough, both Conde, a Protestant,
and mat Morenci, a Catholic, found themselves prisoners by the opposite side
at battle's end. The upshot of all of this became that the Duke of
Geese was now the unquestioned head of the Royalist faction. Catherine wanted to use
this victory, which was tactical but not a complete defeat for the Protestants,
to start peace talks. But Geese, as I said, now totally in
control, decided to proceed onto Orleans and placed really the last major bastion of
Huguenot power under siege. It proved to be a costly error. On February
eighteenth, fifteen sixty three, while inspecting the progress of the siege, the
Duke of Geese was shot in the back by an assassin. He died shortly
thereafter. Catherine was at Bluis when she heard the news. She was in
part devastated because the Duke had been by far her best military commander, but
she was also elated because his death meant that his control over her son was
over. But in the end she really realized that the Duke's death made any
chance of peace impossible. Now it would be all eye for an eye justice,
and matters only grew more serious when the assassin was found and confessed that
he had done all he had done on orders from Huguenot leaders. On March
the nineteenth, the Duke received a state funeral and thousands lined the streets to
witness the procession. The assassination of the Duke of Geese set in motion a
series of events that's going to culminate in the deaths of tens of thousands of
people about nine years later. So no one knew that yet. Invariably,
Catherine's long and often difficult relationship with the Geese family left a cloud of suspicion
over her as well. Ring to the Venetian and Master, Catherine had once
remarked her only regret was that Geese had not died sooner. However, the
reality remained that after the Duke's death, Catherine was the undisputed head of the
Catholic faction. She truly wanted peace, but recognized that most French were ardent
Catholics, and that any agreements that ended the conflict would need to prevent the
spread of the Reformed Faith. But we're going to leave things with Catherine there
because the death of the Duke of Geese really brings to an end the first
phase of the French Wars of Religion. Next time, we're going to go
back to England, where Elizabeth is still without an air and as we will
see, the situation is growing more and more perilous for the English, all the while