King Francis I of France (ruled 1515-47: 16th) died in 1547 and was succeeded by his son, who became King Henry II of France. (For more, see 1.11:15).
King Henry II of France (r. 1547-59: 16th) was the successor of King Francis I of France. He married Catherine de Medici. He signed the Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis (1559: 16th) that ended the war between France and Spain (originally between Francis I of France and Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor), and died that same year (1559) while jousting at his daughter's wedding. He was succeeded by his son, Francis II of France.
Since Mary, Queen of Scots married Francis II of France (r. 1559-60: 16th) and since he was not the most capable leader, she was able to place her two French uncles of the House of Guise (16th) into high positions within the government. Her two uncles were Francis, Duke of Guise and Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine, and they were very Catholic. Henry II died of natural causes in 1559, leaving the kingdom in the control of the Guises (through Mary and the sickly Francis II) until his second son Charles IX of France became king in 1560.
Another powerful family was the House of Bourbon (16th). They were becoming Huguenots (16th): French Calvinists/Presbyterians/Puritans, whose name was derived from Besançon Hugues (16th) ).
King Charles IX of France was too young to rule in full when he first came to power, so his mother, Catherine de Medici, acted as regent while he was growing up. She realized that the House of Guise and the House of Bourbon were becoming very powerful and very close to the throne, so she began doing things to ensure her family lineage. She nominated the moderate chancellor Michel de l'Hôpital. To keep down the growing anger of the Huguenots (thus the House of Bourbon), she passed the Edict of Toleration (1562: 16th), which allowed the Huguenots to worship publicly outside of town and privately in town. This was later recalled after the Catholic Duke of Guise temporarily took over the government (killing 30 Huguenots in the process) out of anger for the toleration of the Huguenots.
The French Wars of Religion openly began (1562).
Francis, Duke of Guise was murdered in 1562.
Henry of Nevarre became the Duke of Bourbon (1563) after his father was killed. He was only 10 years old when he became duke, so Admiral Gaspard de Coligny (1519-72: 16th) became regent for him.
To curb the fighting, Catherine de Medici passed as regent the Treaty of St. Germain (1570), which allowed for religious toleration of the Huguenots again.
To try to quell the fighting between the Protestants and the Catholics (the House of Bourbon and the House of Guise), Catherine de Medici arranged for Henry of Navarre, Duke of Bourbon (the leader of the Huguenots) to marry her daughter Margaret (16th), who was a Catholic (like all of the Valois Dynasty). Henry of Nevarre was also in line for the throne after her children, so it would keep the family on the throne.
The wedding (1572) between Henry of Nevarre and Margaret daughter of Catherine de Medici provided an extraordinary occasion to get all of the powerful Huguenots (House of Bourbon) in one place. Catherine de Medici therefore planned a massacre of many of the Huguenots while they were in town for the wedding, but she had a hard time convincing her son, King Charles IX of France, to do this since he had developed a friendly relationship with Gaspard de Coligny (the leader of the House of Bourbon). Finally, after much argument, Charles IX of France became furious and lashed out at his mother, commanding the massacre to be done thoroughly if it were to be done at all (in other words, he didn't want to face any retaliation, so he ordered them all to be killed).
The massacre called Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre (August 24, 1572: 16th) occurred after the wedding of Henry of Navarre and Margaret took place: 3,000 Huguenots were killed in Paris and 20,000 Huguenots were killed elsewhere in France. Admiral Gaspard de Coligny was killed, though an attempt had been made on his life days earlier. Henry of Nevarre was put in jail and forced to convert to Catholicism by a later date (he was still married to Margaret).
King Henry III of France (r. 1574-89: 16th) succeeded his older brother King Charles IX of France (1574). He was a Catholic and the last of his immediate family to be king, since his younger brother Duke of Alencon (d. 1584: 16th), last son of Henry II of France, died during his reign. King Henry III of France ordered the assassination of Duke Henry of Guise (the son of Francis, Duke of Guise), because he was becoming too powerful, and he had a claim to the throne. In retaliation, a fanatical monk devoted to Duke Henry (a promising Catholic leader), killed Henry III of France.
The leader of the House of Bourbon, Henry of Navarre, was the next in line through a claim through his grandmother, the sister of King Francis I of France. With no heirs, Henry III of France was succeeded by Henry of Navarre (King Henry IV of France) of the House of Bourbon, becoming the first of the Bourbon Dynasty. He was officially crowned king in 1594, soon after his conversion to Catholicism to appease the Catholics).
Since King Henry III of France, Henry of Guise, and Henry of Navarre were all fighting for control, their struggle became known as the War of the Three Henrys (1585-89: 16th).
After becoming king, Henry IV of France then appointed the Duke of Sully (1560-1641: 17th) as his Chief Minister. This gave the Duke of Sully considerable control over the French government. He used his power to improve the finances of France by reducing the taille (16th), a direct land tax instituted by King Charles VII of France to strengthen the monarchy (see 1.11:11), and by promoting agriculture, public works, and highway building. He also commissioned the first French canal. Later the Duke of Sully proposed the creation of the Grand Design (17th) that was supposed to be a European alliance used to arbitrate issues and wage collective war on the Ottoman Empire (but never against each other). The livre (17th) was the coin that preceded the franc. As king, Henry IV of France worked on improving the welfare of the common people of France by promoting industry (while the Duke of Sully promoted agriculture), by giving more rights to glass-makers, and by starting the tapestry works of the Gobelins (17th). A year after he became king, Henry IV of France declared war on Spain (1595), because the Spanish government would not recognize his administration, and because there were territories in dispute, and because they had religious differences (Philip II of Spain didn't approve of a truly protestant king in France). This conflict was ended with the Treaty of Vervins (1598: 16th), which granted France a few new territories, but took away some of its older ones. Philip II of Spain also died that same year (1598), which completely ended the religious wars in France, since the Catholics no longer had his support.
Henry IV of France (Henry of Nevarre) soothed the religious tensions in France with his conversion to Catholicism (before becoming king). He later brought an end (1598) to the Wars of Religion (1562-98) with the Edict of Nantes (1598: 16th) that made Catholicism the official religion of France and also allowed Protestants (Huguenots) to worship publicly, and allowed them to establish schools in some towns (mostly in the west and southwest) and fortify a few towns. Henry IV of France became a protector for the Huguenots. The Edict of Nantes was later revoked though.
The Wars of Religion were also ended, because of the death (1598) of Philip II of Spain since he was helping the Catholics.
Henry IV of France began creating the foundation for a strong French monarchy, and this wasn't too difficult since there was no basis for a constitutional monarchy in France. He began to get involved in other European affairs. When the kings of Cleves (17th), Julich (17th), and Berg (17th) died (1609), Henry IV of France began helping the Protestants in that region gain control. A fanatic named Ravillac (17th) killed him for this (14 May 1610), because he thought that he was a traitor to the Catholic cause. (Cleves, Julich, and Berg were territories in the same area as Alsace and Lorraine, the two territories that would later be disputed between France and Germany).
King Henry IV of France's son succeeded him as Louis XIII of France, but he was to young to rule. Therefore his mother, Marie de Medici (17th) became his regent (Henry IV of France had had his marriage to Margaret daughter of Catherine de Medici annulled). To deal with the financial troubles of France, she called upon the Estates General (1614), which wasn't summoned into power again for 175 years (until 1789 during the French Revolution, which effectively means the monarchy wasn't constitutional). She was incompetent as a ruler, so she let the work of her husband Henry IV of France go to waste.
Louis XIII of France became friendly with Charles d'Albert (d. 1621: 17th), the Duke of Luynes. They plotted to overthrow his mother Marie de Medici. Thus they killed Concino Concini (d. 26 April 1617: 17th), her adviser, and forced out Marie de Medici.
Louis XIII of France and Charles d'Albert were not good rulers.
Armond Jean du Plessis Richelieu (1585-1642: 17th) left with the overthrow of Marie de Medici as well, but he later reconciled her with Louis XIII of France. He later became a Cardinal. He was then appointed as the Chief Minister of France by Louis XIII of France (1624). His power depended on Louis XIII of France's support, but that was pretty much guaranteed, so he was very powerful. He was a "Machiavellian"; in that he did anything to get what he wanted. He wanted to establish a dominating position for France in Europe, and he wanted to unify France under the monarchy. To make the power of the monarchy absolute, he sent out intendants (17th) throughout France. They were middle-class people with arbitrary powers that allowed them to take over many of the duties of the nobles that were governors (which fostered loyalty to the monarchy). The intendants acted as Richelieu's “eyes and ears.” He also strengthened the control of the monarchy by getting rid of the Huguenots' fortified towns (that were allowed by Henry IV of France's Edict of Nantes). The Huguenots rebelled 3 times, but on the third time, Richelieu was ready, and he defeated the leader of the Huguenot rebels, La Rochelle. The Huguenots retained all of their rights, except they could no longer fortify their towns. Richelieu also got France into the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), though only the last part, the French Period. Richelieu had realized that death for himself and King Louis XIII of France may be near, so he began training Cardinal Mazarin to take over when he died. Richelieu died (1642) and then six months later, so did King Louis XIII of France.
Louis XIII of France's son succeeded him as King Louis XIV of France. Since he was too young, his mother, the wife of Louis XIII of France, Anne of Austria (17th) ruled in his place as regent and Cardinal Mazarin (1601-1661: 17h) succeeded Richelieu as the Chief Minister of France as planned (he thus had the real power). To fund the last part (the French Period) of the Thirty Years' War with which he was involved (1642-48), he raised the taxes across the classes in France (the nobles had previously been exempt from paying taxes). This caused a revolt called the Fronde (1649-53: 17th), which was instigated by the Nobles against the monarch. It was put down by Mazarin, and thus failed because the nobles weren't united and they didn't have the support of the middle-class bourgeoisie. King Louis XIV of France was only able to rule absolutely when Mazarin died (1661).
Francis, Duke of Guise (d. 1563: 16th) was the leader of the House of Guise and was appointed to a high position within the French government by his niece Mary, Queen of Scots during her marriage to King Francis II of France. He was very Catholic and worked to gain more control for his family and for the Catholics. He temporarily took over the government (1562) in response to the Edict of Toleration (killing 30 Huguenots in the process), which caused for the rescinding of it. He was murdered in 1563.
Cardinal Lorraine (16th) was the brother of Francis, Duke of Guise and the uncle of Mary, Queen of Scots, who appointed him and his brother to high positions in the government while she was married to Francis II of France. When his brother died, he became the head of the House of Guise and tried to further the power of his family as well as the Catholics.
Catherine de Medici (1519-89) was the widow of Henry II of France son of Francis I of France. She was the mother of Francis II of France, Charles IX of France, Henry III of France, the Duke of Alencon, and Margaret. She was the real power behind the kings (who weren't good kings), and she spent her life trying to keep her family line in power on the throne by appeasing and killing both the members of the House of Guise (Catholics) and the ppHouse of Bourbon]] (Huguenots); she convinced Charles IX of France to carry out the Saint Bartholomeu's Day Massacre. She was a Catholic.
King Charles IX of France (r. 1560-74:16th) was the successor (1560) of King Francis II of France and the son of Catherine de Medici and King Henry II of France. King Charles IX of France was too young when he became king to rule, so his mother became the regent for him. He became good friends with Admiral Gerard de Coligny, but Catherine de Medici persuaded Charles IX of France to kill the Huguenots in a massacre along with Gaspard de Coligny after the wedding of Henry of Nevarre and Charles IX of France's sister Margaret. He was succeeded by his younger brother king Henry III of France.
Henry of Nevarre (1553-1610: 17th) became the Duke of Bourbon (1563) when he was only 10 years old (and thus the leader of the Huguenots, though Admiral Gaspard de Coligny acted as regent for him). He was in line for the throne after the children of Catherine de Medici. He was then married (1572) to Margaret, daughter of Catherine de Medici (it was later annulled). He was involved with the War of the Three Henrys and then became King Henry IV of France (r. 1589-1610: 17th). He stopped the Wars of Religion by becoming a Catholic (before becoming king) and by declaring the Edict of Nantes (1598). He improved the financial status of the common people and of France by encouraging industry (giving the glass-makers more rights and founding the tapestry works of the Gobelins. His Chief Minister of France the Duke of Sully improved the financial status of France by encouraging agriculture, public works, the building of highways and canals). He began a war with Spain over territory and religion which resulted in the signing of the Treaty of Vervins (1598) and the end of the Wars of Religion in France (with the death of King Philip II of Spain the same year). He helped the protestants gain control in Cleves, Julich, and Berg (which were territories whose kings died and were in the same area as Alsace and Lorraine, two territories that would later be disputed between Germany and France). This provoked a fanatic Catholic named Ravillac to kill him (1610).
Louis XIII of France (r. 1610-1643: 17th) was the son and successor of Henry IV of France. He was too young to rule, so his mother Marie de Medici was his regent. He became good friends with Charles d'Albert Duke of Luynes and they plotted to overthrow his mother. They did this and killed her adviser Concino Concini and drove out Richelieu. He and Charles d'Albert were not good rulers. Then Richelieu reconciled him with his mother, and was appointed as Louis XIII of France's Chief Minister of France.
Louis XIV of France (r. 1643-1715: 17th) was the son and successor of Louis XIII of France. He was too young to rule, so his mother Anne of Austria was his regent and Mazarin was his Chief Minister of France (he had the real power). The Fronde rebellions took place during his reign. He was only able to rule absolutely after the death of Mazarin (1661).