Editing Charles IX of France (section)

===First war of religion===

====Relations with the Huguenots====
In 1560, a group of Huguenot nobles at [[Amboise conspiracy|Amboise]] had planned to try to abduct King Francis II and arrest the Catholic leaders [[Francis of Guise|Francis, Duke of Guise]], and his brother [[Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine]]. The plot was discovered ahead of time, and the Guises were prepared, executing hundreds of Huguenots. This was followed by cases of Protestant [[iconoclasm]] and Catholic reprisals.{{sfn|Salmon|1975|p=124–137}}{{sfn|Sutherland|1962|p=111–138}}

The regent Catherine tried to foster reconciliation at the [[Colloquy at Poissy]] and, after that failed, made several concessions to the Huguenots in the [[Edict of Saint-Germain]] in January 1562.{{sfn|Knecht|2000|p=78–79}} Nonetheless, the [[Massacre of Vassy]], perpetrated on 1 March 1562, when the [[Francis, Duke of Guise|Duke of Guise]] and his troops attacked and killed or wounded over 100 Huguenot worshipers and citizens, brought France spiralling towards civil war. 

The massacre lit the fuse that sparked the [[French Wars of Religion]]. [[Louis I de Bourbon, prince de Condé|Louis of Bourbon, Prince of Condé]], brother of the Lieutenant-General and the suspected architect of the [[Amboise conspiracy]], had already prepared for war and, taking Wassy as the pretext, assumed the role of a protector of Protestantism and began to seize and garrison strategic towns along the [[Loire Valley]]. In response, the monarchy revoked the concessions given to the Huguenots. After the military leaders of both sides were either killed or captured in battles at [[Siege of Rouen (1562)|Rouen]], [[Battle of Dreux|Dreux]], and [[Siege of Orleans (1563)|Orléans]], the regent mediated a truce and issued the [[Edict of Amboise]] (1563).{{sfn|Knecht|2000|p=86}}

====Armed peace====
[[File:François Clouet 004.jpg|thumb|Charles IX as an adult, by [[François Clouet]]]]
The war was followed by four years of an uneasy "armed peace", during which time Catherine united the factions in the successful effort to recapture [[Le Havre]] from the English.{{sfn|Knecht|1998|p=93}} After this victory, Charles declared his legal majority in August 1563, formally ending the regency.{{sfn|Knecht|2000|p=118}} However, Catherine continued to play a principal role in politics, and often dominated her son. In March 1564, the King and his mother set out from [[Fontainebleau]] on a [[Charles IX's grand tour of France|grand tour of France]]. Their tour spanned two years and brought them through Bar, [[Lyon]], [[Salon-de-Provence]] (where they visited [[Nostradamus]]), [[Carcassonne]], [[Toulouse]] (where the King and his younger brother Henry were [[confirmation|confirmed]]), [[Bayonne]], [[La Rochelle]], and [[Moulins, Allier|Moulins]]. During this trip, Charles IX issued the [[Edict of Roussillon]], which standardised 1 January as the first day of the year throughout France.