Editing Francis II of France (section)

====Guise administration====
[[File:Francois-duc-de-guise.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|[[Francis, Duke of Guise|Francis of Lorraine, Duke of Guise]]. Pencil portrait by [[François Clouet]].]]

From the beginning of their assumption of government, the Guises faced opposition from several factions. Their rise to dominance had come at the expense of [[Anne de Montmorency]] and the [[House of Bourbon]] who resented their total ascendency to varying degrees.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Carroll|first=Stuart|title=Martyrs and Murderers: The Guise Family and the Making of Europe|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2009|isbn=9780199596799|pages=117}}</ref>

The political decisions of the government were also contested. To try and set about fixing the realm's finances, they embarked upon an aggressive campaign of cost cutting, scaling down the size of the army from its height in the wars, and deferring payments to the troops, who angrily protested against the Guises.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Knecht|first=Robert|title=The French Wars of Religion 1559–1598|publisher=Routledge|year=2010|isbn=9781408228197|page=22}}</ref> This would not however be enough, so they were moved to raise forced loans from the provinces, such as 800,000 livres from Normandy, to cover shortfalls.<ref name=":1" /> They further suppressed [[Venal office]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Carroll|first=Stuart|title=Martyrs and Murderers: The Guise Family and the Making of Europe|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2009|isbn=9780199596799|pages=104}}</ref>

Forced loans would continue into 1560, with 100,000 crowns being demanded of the Parlement and merchants of Paris in October 1560, shortly after the convoking of the estates had taken place.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Thompson|first=James|title=The Wars of Religion in France, 1559–1576: The Huguenots, Catherine de Medici and Phillip II|publisher=Chicago University Press|year=1909|pages=61}}</ref>

In religion, the Guises initially continued the repression of Protestantism started by King Henry II. From July 1559 to February 1560 they would pass four more persecutory edicts, including such provisions as the razing of any house which a Protestant meeting occurred in, and the prosecution of landlords who knowingly harboured heretics as tenants.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Carroll|first=Stuart|title=Martyrs and Murderers: The Guise Family and the Making of Europe|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2009|isbn=9780199596799|pages=111}}</ref>