Editing Catherine de' Medici (section)

==Queen mother==

===Reign of Francis II===
[[File:FrancoisII.jpg|thumb| upright| [[Francis II of France]], by [[François Clouet]], 1560. Francis found the crown so heavy at his coronation that four nobles had to hold it in place as he walked up the steps to his throne.<ref>Guy, 102–103.</ref>]]

[[Francis II of France|Francis&nbsp;II]] became king at the age of fifteen. In what has been called a [[coup d'état]], the Cardinal of Lorraine and the [[Francis, Duke of Guise|Duke of Guise]]—whose niece, [[Mary, Queen of Scots]], had [[Wedding of Mary, Queen of Scots, and Francis, Dauphin of France|married Francis II]] the year before—seized power the day after Henry{{nbsp}}II's death and quickly moved themselves into the [[Louvre Palace]] with the young couple.<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 59.</ref> The English ambassador reported a few days later that "the house of Guise ruleth and doth all about the French king".<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 60.</ref> For the moment, Catherine worked with the Guises out of necessity. She was not strictly entitled to a role in Francis's government, because he was deemed old enough to rule for himself.<ref>Morris, 248.</ref> Nevertheless, all his official acts began with the words: "This being the good pleasure of the Queen, my lady-mother, and I also approving of every opinion that she holdeth, am content and command that&nbsp;...". Catherine did not hesitate to exploit her new authority. One of her first acts was to force [[Diane de Poitiers]] to hand over the crown jewels and return the [[Château de Chenonceau]] to the crown. She later did her best to efface or outdo Diane's building work there.

The Guise brothers set about persecuting the Protestants with zeal. Catherine adopted a moderate stance and spoke against the Guise persecutions, though she had no particular sympathy for the Huguenots, whose beliefs she never shared. The Protestants looked for leadership first to [[Antoine of Navarre|Antoine de Bourbon, King of Navarre]], the [[First Prince of the Blood]], and then, with more success, to his brother, [[Louis, Prince of Condé (1530–1569)|Louis de Bourbon, Prince of Condé]], who backed a plot to overthrow the Guises by force.<ref>Holt, 38–39.</ref> When the Guises heard of the plot,<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 64; Holt, 44. The incident was known later as the [[Amboise conspiracy|"tumult" or conspiracy of Amboise]].</ref> they moved the court to the fortified [[Château d'Amboise|Château of Amboise]]. The Duke of Guise launched an attack into the woods around the château. His troops surprised the rebels and killed many of them on the spot, including the commander, La Renaudie.<ref>Knecht, ''Renaissance France'', 282.</ref> Others they drowned in the river or strung up around the battlements while Catherine and the court watched.<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 65–66.</ref>

In June 1560, [[Michel de l'Hôpital]] was appointed [[List of Justice Ministers of France|Chancellor of France]]. He sought the support of France's constitutional bodies and worked closely with Catherine to defend the law in the face of the growing anarchy.<ref>Sutherland, ''Ancien Régime'', 32.</ref> Neither saw the need to punish Protestants who worshipped in private and did not take up arms. On 20 August 1560, Catherine and the chancellor advocated this policy to an [[1560 Assembly of Notables|Assembly of Notables]] at [[Château de Fontainebleau|Fontainebleau]]. Historians regard the occasion as an early example of Catherine's statesmanship. Meanwhile, Condé raised an army and in autumn 1560 began attacking towns in the south. Catherine ordered him to court and had him imprisoned as soon as he arrived. He was tried in November, found guilty of offences against the crown, and sentenced to death. His life was saved by the illness and death of the king, as a result of an infection or an [[abscess]] in his ear.<ref>Knecht, 72; Guy, 119.</ref>

When Catherine realized Francis was going to die, she made a pact with Antoine de Bourbon by which he would renounce his right to the regency of the future king, [[Charles IX of France|Charles IX]], in return for the release of his brother Condé.<ref>Pettegree, 154; Hoogvliet, 105. The regency was traditionally the preserve of the princes of the blood.</ref> As a result, when Francis died on 5 December 1560, the Privy Council appointed Catherine as governor of France (''gouvernante de France''), with sweeping powers. She wrote to her daughter Elisabeth: "My principal aim is to have the honour of God before my eyes in all things and to preserve my authority, not for myself, but for the conservation of this kingdom and for the good of all your brothers".<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 73.</ref>

===Reign of Charles IX===
[[File:Bemberg Fondation Toulouse - Portrait de Charles IX - François Clouet - Inv.1012.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Charles IX of France]], after [[François Clouet]], c.&nbsp;1565. The Venetian ambassador Giovanni Michiel described Charles as "an admirable child, with fine eyes, gracious movements, though he is not robust. He favours physical exercise that is too violent for his health, for he suffers from shortness of breath".]]

Charles IX was ten years old at the time of his royal consecration, during which he cried. At first Catherine kept him very close to her, and even slept in his chamber. She presided over his council, decided policy, and controlled state business and patronage. However, she was never in a position to control the country as a whole, which was on the brink of civil war. In many parts of France the rule of nobles held sway rather than that of the crown. The challenges Catherine faced were complex and, in some ways, difficult for her to comprehend as a foreigner.<ref>Sutherland, ''Ancien Régime'', 28.</ref>

She summoned church leaders from both sides to attempt to solve their doctrinal differences. Despite her optimism, the resulting [[Colloquy of Poissy]] ended in failure on 13 October 1561, dissolving itself without her permission.<ref>Manetsch, 22.</ref> Catherine failed because she saw the religious divide only in political terms. In the words of historian R. J. Knecht, "she underestimated the strength of religious conviction, imagining that all would be well if only she could get the party leaders to agree".<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 80.</ref> In January 1562, Catherine issued the tolerant [[Edict of Saint-Germain]] in a further attempt to build bridges with the Protestants.<ref>Knecht, ''Renaissance France'', 311; Sutherland, ''Ancien Régime'', 11–12. The edict, also known as the Edict of Toleration and the Edict of January, was significant for effectively recognising the existence of Protestant churches and permitting their worship outside city walls.</ref> On 1 March 1562, however, in an incident known as the [[Massacre of Vassy]], the Duke of Guise and his men attacked worshipping Huguenots in a barn at [[Wassy|Vassy]], killing 74 and wounding 104.<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 87.</ref> Guise, who called the massacre "a regrettable accident", was cheered as a hero in the streets of Paris while the Huguenots called for revenge. The massacre lit the fuse that sparked the [[French Wars of Religion]]. For the next thirty years, France found itself in a state of either civil war or armed truce.<ref>Sutherland, ''Secretaries of State'', 140.</ref>

Within a month [[Louis, Prince of Condé (1530–1569)|Louis de Bourbon, Prince of Condé]], and [[Gaspard II de Coligny|Admiral Gaspard de Coligny]] had raised an army of 1,800. They formed an alliance with England and seized town after town in France. Catherine met Coligny, but he refused to back down. She therefore told him: "Since you rely on your forces, we will show you ours".<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 89.</ref> The royal army struck back quickly and laid siege to Huguenot-held [[Rouen]]. Catherine visited the deathbed of [[Antoine of Navarre|Antoine de Bourbon, King of Navarre]], after he was fatally wounded by an [[arquebus]] shot. Catherine insisted on visiting the field herself and when warned of the dangers laughed, "My courage is as great as yours".<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 90.</ref> The Catholics took Rouen, but their triumph was short-lived. On 18 February 1563, a spy called [[Jean de Poltrot|Poltrot de Méré]] fired an arquebus into the back of the [[Francis, Duke of Guise|Duke of Guise]], at the siege of Orléans. The murder triggered an aristocratic [[feud|blood feud]] that complicated the French civil wars for years to come.<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 91; Carroll, 126; Sutherland, ''Ancien Régime'', 17.</ref> Catherine, however, was delighted with the death of her ally. "If Monsieur de Guise had perished sooner", she told the Venetian ambassador, "peace would have been achieved more quickly".<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 91–92.</ref> On 19 March 1563, the [[Edict of Amboise]], also known as the Edict of Pacification, ended the war. Catherine now rallied both Huguenot and Catholic forces to retake [[Le Havre]] from the English.

====Huguenots====
On 17 August 1563, Charles IX was declared of age at the [[Parlement]] of Rouen, but he was never able to rule on his own and showed little interest in government.<ref name="Sutherland, Ancien Régime, 20"/> Catherine decided to launch a drive to enforce the [[Edict of Amboise]] and revive loyalty to the crown. To this end, she set out with Charles and the court on a [[royal entry|progress]] around France that lasted from January 1564 until May 1565.<ref>Sutherland, ''Ancien Régime'', 15.</ref> Catherine held talks with [[Jeanne d'Albret]], the Protestant queen regnant of Navarre (and the wife of [[Antoine de Bourbon]]) at [[Mâcon]] and [[Nérac]]. She also met her daughter [[Elisabeth of Valois|Elisabeth]] at [[Bayonne]] near the Spanish border, amidst lavish [[Catherine de' Medici's court festivals|court festivities]]. [[Philip II of Spain|Philip&nbsp;II]] excused himself from the occasion. He sent the [[Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba|Duke of Alba]] to tell Catherine to scrap the Edict of Amboise and to find punitive solutions to the problem of heresy.<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 104, 107–108.</ref>

In 1566, through the ambassador to the [[Ottoman Empire]], [[Guillaume de Grandchamp de Grantrie]], and because of a long-standing [[Franco-Ottoman alliance]], Charles and Catherine proposed to the Ottoman Court a plan to resettle French [[Huguenots]] and French and German [[Lutherans]] in Ottoman-controlled [[Moldavia]], in order to create a military colony and a buffer against the [[Habsburg]]. This plan also had the added advantage of removing the Huguenots from France, but it failed to interest the Ottomans.<ref name="Faroqhi">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-m8mind_TVIC&pg=PA37|title=The Ottoman Empire and the World Around it|first=Suraiya|last=Faroqhi|page=37|date=2006|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic|isbn=978-1845111229 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

On 27 September 1567, in a swoop known as the [[Surprise of Meaux]], Huguenot forces attempted to ambush the king, triggering renewed civil war.<ref>Wood, 17.</ref> Taken unawares, the court fled to Paris in disarray.<ref>Sutherland, ''Secretaries of State'', 147.</ref> The war was ended by the [[Peace of Longjumeau]] of 22–23 March 1568, but civil unrest and bloodshed continued.<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 118.</ref> The Surprise of Meaux marked a turning point in Catherine's policy towards the Huguenots. From that moment, she abandoned compromise for a policy of repression.<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 120.</ref> She told the Venetian ambassador in June 1568 that all one could expect from Huguenots was deceit, and she praised the Duke of Alba's reign of terror in the Netherlands, where [[Calvinist]]s and rebels were put to death in the thousands.

[[File:Jeanne-albret-navarre.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Jeanne d'Albret]], Queen of Navarre, by [[François Clouet]], 1570. She wrote to her son, Henry, in 1572: "All she [Catherine] does is mock me, and afterwards tells others exactly the opposite of what I have said&nbsp;... she denies everything, laughing in my face&nbsp;... she treats me so shamefully that the patience I manage to maintain surpasses that of [[Griselda (folklore)|Griselda]]".<ref>Quoted by Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 149.</ref>]]

The Huguenots retreated to the fortified stronghold of [[La Rochelle]] on the west coast, where Jeanne d'Albret and her fifteen-year-old son, [[Henry IV of France|Henry of Bourbon]], joined them.<ref>Bryson, 204.</ref> "We have come to the determination to die, all of us", Jeanne wrote to Catherine, "rather than abandon our God, and our religion."<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 132.</ref> Catherine called Jeanne, whose decision to rebel posed a dynastic threat to the Valois, "the most shameless woman in the world". Nevertheless, the [[Peace of Saint-Germain-en-Laye]], signed on 8 August 1570 because the royal army ran out of cash, conceded wider toleration to the Huguenots than ever before.<ref>Wood, 28.</ref>

Catherine looked to further Valois interests by grand dynastic marriages. In 1570, Charles IX married [[Elisabeth of Austria (1554-1592)|Elisabeth of Austria]], daughter of [[Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor]]. Catherine was also eager for a match between one of her two youngest sons and [[Elizabeth I of England]].<ref>Holt, 77.</ref> After Catherine's daughter Elisabeth died in childbirth in 1568, she had touted her youngest daughter [[Margaret of Valois|Margaret]] as a bride for [[Philip II of Spain]]. Now she sought a marriage between Margaret and [[Henry III of Navarre]], Jeanne's son, with the aim of uniting Valois and Bourbon interests. Margaret, however, was secretly involved with [[Henry I, Duke of Guise|Henry of Guise]], the son of the late Duke of Guise. When Catherine found this out, she had her daughter brought from her bed. Catherine and the king then beat her, ripping her nightclothes and pulling out handfuls of her hair.<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 135.</ref>

Catherine pressed Jeanne d'Albret to attend court. Writing that she wanted to see Jeanne's children, she promised not to harm them. Jeanne replied: "Pardon me if, reading that, I want to laugh, because you want to relieve me of a fear that I've never had. I've never thought that, as they say, you eat little children."<ref>Bryson, 282.</ref> When Jeanne did come to court, Catherine pressured her hard,<ref>Jeanne d'Albret wrote to her son, Henry: "I am not free to talk with either the King or Madame, only the Queen Mother, who goads me [''me traite á la fourche'']&nbsp;... You have doubtless realized that their main object, my son, is to separate you from God, and from me." Quoted by Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 148–149.</ref> playing on Jeanne's hopes for her beloved son. Jeanne finally agreed to the marriage between her son and Margaret, so long as Henry could remain a Huguenot. When Jeanne arrived in Paris to buy clothes for the wedding, she was taken ill and died on 9 June 1572, aged forty-three. Huguenot writers later accused Catherine of murdering her with poisoned gloves.<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 151. An autopsy revealed tuberculosis and an abscess.</ref> The wedding took place on 18 August 1572 at [[Notre-Dame de Paris|Notre-Dame]], Paris.

====St. Bartholomew's Day massacre====
Three days later, [[Gaspard II de Coligny|Admiral Coligny]] was walking back to his rooms from the Louvre when a shot rang out from a house and wounded him in the hand and arm.<ref>Sutherland, ''Massacre of St Bartholomew'', 313.</ref> A smoking arquebus was discovered in a window, but the culprit had made his escape from the rear of the building on a waiting horse.<ref>Holt, 83. The investigators traced the house and horse to the Guises and claimed to have found evidence that the would-be killer was [[Charles de Louviers de Maurevert]].</ref> Coligny was carried to his lodgings at the Hôtel de Béthisy, where the surgeon [[Ambroise Paré]] removed a bullet from his elbow and amputated a damaged finger with a pair of scissors. Catherine, who was said to have received the news without emotion, made a tearful visit to Coligny and promised to punish his attacker. Many historians have blamed Catherine for the attack on Coligny. Others point to the Guise family or a Spanish-papal plot to end Coligny's influence on the king.<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 154–157. Coligny was lobbying the king to intervene against the empire in the Netherlands.<br />• The Duke of Anjou was later reported as saying that he and Catherine had planned the assassination with Anne d'Este, who longed to avenge her husband, [[Francis, Duke of Guise]].<br />• For an overview of historians' various interpretations, see Holt, 83–84.</ref> Whatever the truth, the bloodbath that followed was soon beyond the control of Catherine or any other leader.<ref>Pettegree, 159–160.</ref>

The [[St. Bartholomew's Day massacre]], which began two days later, has stained Catherine's reputation ever since.<ref name="Pettegree, 154"/> There is reason to believe she was party to the decision when on 23 August Charles IX is said to have ordered, "Then kill them all! Kill them all!"<ref>Holt, 84.<br />• The memoirs of [[Gaspard de Saulx|Marshal Tavannes]], edited by his son and published around 1620 (Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 122, 158), state that Catherine had summoned a war council in the [[Tuileries Palace|Tuileries Gardens]] (so as not to be overheard) to plan the next move: "Because the attempt on the Admiral would cause a war, she, and the rest of us, agreed that it would be advisable to bring battle in Paris". It is almost certain, however, that when Charles gave the order "Kill them all!", he meant those drawn up on a list by Catherine, and not, as has often been claimed, all Huguenots.</ref> Historians have suggested that Catherine and her advisers expected a Huguenot uprising to avenge the attack on Coligny. They chose therefore to strike first and wipe out the Huguenot leaders while they were still in Paris after the wedding.<ref>Holt, 84.</ref>

The slaughter in Paris lasted for almost a week. It spread to many parts of France, where it persisted into the autumn. In the words of historian [[Jules Michelet]], "St Bartholomew was not a day, but a season".<ref>Quoted by Morris, 252.</ref> On 29 September, when Navarre knelt before the altar as a Roman Catholic, having converted to avoid being killed, Catherine turned to the ambassadors and laughed. From this time dates the legend of the wicked Italian queen. Huguenot writers branded Catherine a scheming Italian, who had acted on [[Niccolò Machiavelli|Machiavelli]]'s principles to kill all enemies in one blow.<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 163–164; Heller, 117; Manetsch, 60–61. The [[misogyny]] and anti-Italianism in Huguenot "histories" proved seductive not only to Protestants but to Catholics seeking a [[scapegoat]] for France's woes.</ref>

===Reign of Henry III===
[[File:Anjou 1570louvre.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Henry III of France|Henry, Duke of Anjou]], by [[Jean de Court]], {{Circa|1573|lk=no}}. As [[Henry III of France|Henry III]], he often showed more interest in pious devotions than in government.]]

Two years later, Catherine faced a new crisis with the death of Charles IX at the age of twenty-three. His dying words were "oh, my mother&nbsp;..." The day before he died, he named Catherine regent, since his brother and heir, Henry the Duke of Anjou, was in the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]], where he had been elected [[List of Polish monarchs#Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, 1569–1795|king]] the year before. However, three months after his coronation at [[Wawel Cathedral]], Henry abandoned that throne and returned to France in order to become King of France. Catherine wrote to Henry of Charles IX's death: "I am grief-stricken to have witnessed such a scene and the love which he showed me at the end&nbsp;... My only consolation is to see you here soon, as your kingdom requires, and in good health, for if I were to lose you, I would have myself buried alive with you."<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 172.</ref>

Henry was Catherine's favourite son. Unlike his brothers, he came to the throne as a grown man. He was also healthier, though he suffered from weak lungs and constant fatigue. His interest in the tasks of government, however, proved fitful. He depended on Catherine and her team of secretaries until the last few weeks of her life. He often hid from state affairs, immersing himself in acts of piety, such as [[pilgrimage]]s and [[flagellation]].<ref>Sutherland, ''Secretaries of State'', 232, 240, 247.</ref>

Henry married [[Louise de Lorraine-Vaudémont]] in February 1575, two days after his coronation. His choice thwarted Catherine's plans for a political marriage to a foreign princess. Rumours of Henry's inability to produce children were by that time in wide circulation. The papal [[nuncio]] [[Salviati family|Salviati]] observed, "it is only with difficulty that we can imagine there will be offspring&nbsp;... physicians and those who know him well say that he has an extremely weak constitution and will not live long." As time passed and the likelihood of children from the marriage receded, Catherine's youngest son, [[Francis, Duke of Anjou|Francis, Duke of Alençon]], known as "Monsieur", played upon his role as heir to the throne, repeatedly exploiting the anarchy of the civil wars, which were by now as much about noble power struggles as religion.<ref>Sutherland, ''Ancien Régime'', 22.</ref> Catherine did all in her power to bring Francis back into the fold. On one occasion, in March 1578, she lectured him for six hours about his dangerously subversive behaviour.<ref>Sutherland, ''Secretaries of State'', 205.</ref>

In 1576, in a move that endangered Henry's throne, Francis allied with the Protestant princes against the crown.<ref>Holt, 104.</ref> On 6 May 1576, Catherine gave in to almost all Huguenot demands in the [[Edict of Beaulieu]]. The treaty became known as the ''Peace of Monsieur'' because it was thought that Francis had forced it on the crown.<ref>Holt, 105–106; Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 186.</ref> Francis died of [[tuberculosis|consumption]] in June 1584, after a disastrous intervention in the Low Countries during which his army had been massacred.<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 212–213.</ref> Catherine wrote, the next day: "I am so wretched to live long enough to see so many people die before me, although I realize that God's will must be obeyed, that He owns everything, and that He lends us only for as long as He likes the children whom He gives us."<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 217.</ref> The death of her youngest son was a calamity for Catherine's dynastic dreams. Under [[Salic law]], by which only males could ascend the throne, the Huguenot Henry of Navarre now became heir presumptive to the French crown.<ref name="Pettegree, 154"/>

[[File:Nicholas Hilliard 002.jpg|thumb|upright|Catherine's youngest son, [[Francis, Duke of Anjou|Francis, Duke of Alençon]], by [[Nicholas Hilliard]], {{Circa|1577|lk=no}}. [[Elizabeth I|Elizabeth of England]] called him "her frog" but found him "not so deformed" as she had been led to expect.]]

Catherine had at least taken the precaution of marrying Margaret, her youngest daughter, to Navarre. Margaret, however, became almost as much of a thorn in Catherine's side as Francis, and in 1582, she returned to the French court without her husband. Catherine was heard yelling at her for taking lovers. Catherine sent [[Pomponne de Bellièvre]] to Navarre to arrange Margaret's return. In 1585, Margaret fled Navarre again. She retreated to her property at [[Agen]] and begged her mother for money. Catherine sent her only enough "to put food on her table". Moving on to the fortress of Carlat, Margaret took a lover called d'Aubiac. Catherine asked Henry to act before Margaret brought shame on them again. In October 1586, therefore, he had Margaret locked up in the [[Château d'Usson]]. D'Aubiac was executed, though not, despite Catherine's wish, in front of Margaret.<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 254–255.</ref> Catherine cut Margaret out of her will and never saw her again.

Catherine was unable to control Henry in the way she had Francis and Charles.<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 189.</ref> Her role in his government became that of chief executive and roving diplomat. She travelled widely across the kingdom, enforcing his authority and trying to head off war. In 1578, she took on the task of pacifying the south. At the age of fifty-nine, she embarked on an eighteen-month journey around the south of France to meet Huguenot leaders face to face. Her efforts won Catherine new respect from the French people.<ref>Sutherland, ''Secretaries of State'', 209.</ref> On her return to Paris in 1579, she was greeted outside the city by the Parlement and crowds. The Venetian ambassador, Gerolamo Lipomanno, wrote: "She is an indefatigable princess, born to tame and govern a people as unruly as the French: they now recognize her merits, her concern for unity and are sorry not to have appreciated her sooner."<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 200.</ref> She was under no illusions, however. On 25 November 1579, she wrote to the king, "You are on the eve of a general revolt. Anyone who tells you differently is a liar."<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 201.</ref>

====Catholic League====
[[File:Guise.jpg|left|thumb|upright|[[Henry I, Duke of Guise|Henry, Duke of Guise]], by Pierre Dumoûtier. Disarmed by Catherine's sweetness on meeting her for negotiations at [[Épernay]] in 1585, Guise tearfully insisted that his motives had been misunderstood. Catherine told him it would be better if he took off his boots and ate something, after which they could talk at length.]]

Many leading Roman Catholics were appalled by Catherine's attempts to appease the Huguenots. After the Edict of Beaulieu, they had started forming local leagues to protect their religion.<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 185.</ref> The death of the heir to the throne in 1584 prompted the Duke of Guise to assume the leadership of the [[Catholic League (French)|Catholic League]]. He planned to block Henry of Navarre's succession and place Henry's Catholic uncle [[Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon (born 1523)|Cardinal Charles de Bourbon]] on the throne instead. In this cause, he recruited the great Catholic princes, nobles and prelates, signed the [[treaty of Joinville]] with Spain, and prepared to make war on the "heretics".<ref>Pettegree, 164.</ref> By 1585, Henry{{nbsp}}III had no choice but to go to war against the League.<ref>Sutherland, ''Secretaries of State'', 255.</ref> As Catherine put it, "peace is carried on a stick" (''bâton porte paix'').<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 249.</ref> "Take care", she wrote to the king, "especially about your person. There is so much treachery about that I die of fear."<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 251.</ref>

Henry was unable to fight the Catholics and the Protestants at once, both of whom had stronger armies than his own. In the [[Treaty of Nemours]], signed on 7 July 1585, he was forced to give in to all the League's demands, even that he pay its troops.<ref>Knecht, ''Renaissance France'', 440.</ref> He went into hiding to fast and pray, surrounded by a bodyguard known as "[[The forty-five guards|the Forty-five]]", and left Catherine to sort out the mess.<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 253.</ref> The monarchy had lost control of the country, and was in no position to assist England in the face of the coming Spanish attack. The Spanish ambassador told Philip{{nbsp}}II that the abscess was about to burst.<ref>Sutherland, ''Secretaries of State'', 287.</ref>

By 1587, the Catholic backlash against the Protestants had become a campaign across Europe. [[Elizabeth I of England]]'s [[Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots|execution]] of [[Mary, Queen of Scots]], on 8 February 1587 outraged the Catholic world.<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 257.</ref> [[Philip II of Spain]] prepared for an invasion of England. The League took control of much of northern France to secure French ports for his [[Spanish Armada|armada]].

====Last months and death====
[[File:Emanuel van Meteren Historie ppn 051504510 MG 8758 catherina de medices.tif|right|thumb|Engraving of Catherine de' Medici]]

Henry hired Swiss troops to help him defend himself in Paris. The Parisians, however, claimed the right to defend the city themselves. On 12 May 1588, they set up barricades in the streets and refused to take orders from anyone except the Duke of Guise.<ref>"[[Day of the Barricades|The Day of the Barricades]]", as the revolt became known, "reduced the authority and prestige of the monarchy to its lowest ebb for a century and a half." Morris, 260.</ref> When Catherine tried to go to Mass, she found her way barred, though she was allowed through the barricades. The chronicler L'Estoile reported that she cried all through her lunch that day. She wrote to Bellièvre, "Never have I seen myself in such trouble or with so little light by which to escape."<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 263.</ref> As usual, Catherine advised the king, who had fled the city in the nick of time, to compromise and live to fight another day. On 15 June 1588, Henry duly signed the Act of Union, which gave in to all the League's latest demands.

On 8 September 1588 at Blois, where the court had assembled for a meeting of the Estates, Henry dismissed all his ministers without warning. Catherine, in bed with a lung infection, had been kept in the dark.<ref>Henry wrote a note to Villeroy, which began: "Villeroy, I remain very well contented with your service; do not fail however to go away to your house where you will stay until I send for you; do not seek the reason for this my letter, but obey me." Sutherland, ''Secretaries of State'', 300–303.</ref> The king's actions effectively ended her days of power.

At the meeting of the Estates, Henry thanked Catherine for all she had done. He called her not only the mother of the king but the mother of the state.<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 264–265.</ref> Henry did not tell Catherine of his plan for a solution to his problems.<ref>Yet on 22 December 1588, Guise spent the night with his current mistress [[Charlotte de Sauve]], the most accomplished and notorious member of Catherine de' Medici's group of female spies known as the "Flying Squadron", making it unlikely Catherine was kept 'in the dark'. Emmanuel le Roy Ladurie France 1460–1610.</ref> On 23 December 1588, he asked the Duke of Guise to call on him at the [[Château de Blois]]. As Guise entered the king's chamber, the Forty-five plunged their blades into his body, and he died at the foot of the king's bed. At the same moment, eight members of the Guise family were rounded up, including the Duke of Guise's brother, [[Louis II, Cardinal of Guise]], whom Henry's men hacked to death the next day in the palace dungeons.<ref>Pettegree, 165.</ref> Immediately after the murder of Guise, Henry entered Catherine's bedroom on the floor below and announced, "Please forgive me. Monsieur de Guise is dead. He will not be spoken of again. I have had him killed. I have done to him what he was going to do to me."<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 266. The words were reported to the government of Florence by Catherine's doctor, Filippo Cavriana, who acted as their informant.</ref> Catherine's immediate reaction is not known; but on Christmas Day, she told a friar, "Oh, wretched man! What has he done?&nbsp;... Pray for him&nbsp;... I see him rushing towards his ruin."<ref name = K267>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 267.</ref> She visited her old friend Cardinal de Bourbon on 1 January 1589 to tell him she was sure he would soon be freed. He shouted at her, "Your words, Madam, have led us all to this butchery."<ref name = K267/> She left in tears.

[[File:Catherine de Medicis Henri II gisants basilique-Saint-Denis.jpg|thumb|[[Effigy|Effigie]]s of Catherine de' Medici and Henry II by [[Germain Pilon]] (1583), [[Basilica of St Denis]]]]
On 5 January 1589, Catherine died at the age of sixty-nine, probably from [[pleurisy]]. L'Estoile wrote: "those close to her believed that her life had been shortened by displeasure over her son's deed."<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 268–269.</ref> He added that she had no sooner died than she was treated with as much consideration as a dead goat. Because Paris was held by enemies of the crown, Catherine had to be buried provisionally at Blois. Eight months later, [[Jacques Clément]] stabbed Henry{{nbsp}}III to death. At the time, Henry was besieging Paris with the King of Navarre, who would [[Henry IV of France's succession|succeed him as Henry IV of France]]. Henry{{nbsp}}III's assassination ended nearly three centuries of [[House of Valois|Valois]] rule and brought the [[House of Bourbon|Bourbon dynasty]] into power. Years later, [[Diane de France|Diane]], daughter of Henry{{nbsp}}II and Philippa Duci, had Catherine's remains reinterred in the [[Basilique Saint-Denis|Saint-Denis basilica]] in Paris. In 1793, a revolutionary mob tossed her bones into a mass grave with those of the other kings and queens.<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 269.</ref>

Henry IV was later reported to have said of Catherine:

{{blockquote|text=I ask you, what could a woman do, left by the death of her husband with five little children on her arms, and two families of France who were thinking of grasping the crown—our own [the Bourbons] and the Guises? Was she not compelled to play strange parts to deceive first one and then the other, in order to guard, as she did, her sons, who successively reigned through the wise conduct of that shrewd woman? I am surprised that she never did worse.<ref>Brantôme, p. 88.</ref>}}