Editing French Wars of Religion (section)

===Amboise conspiracy===
{{Main|Amboise conspiracy}}
[[File:Conjuration amboise.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.3|Contemporary woodcut of executions following the [[Amboise conspiracy]]]]

In 1559, the Italian wars between France and Spain ended with the treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis. These wars had nearly bankrupted both countries.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Knecht |first=R.J. |title=The French Wars of Religion 1559-1598 |date=2014a |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-138-41830-1 |edition=3rd |location=Oxford, UK |pages=3 |language=English}}</ref> Additionally, the death of Henry II in July 1559 created a political vacuum and an internal struggle for power between rival factions, which the 15-year-old Francis II lacked the ability to control. [[Francis, Duke of Guise]], whose niece Mary, Queen of Scots, was married to the king, exploited the situation to establish dominance over their rivals, the [[House of Montmorency]].{{Sfn|Salmon|1975|p=118}}{{Sfn|Rady|1991|pp=52–53}} Within days of the King's accession, the English ambassador reported "the [[house of Guise]] ruleth and doth all about the French King".{{Sfn|Knecht|2007|p=195}}

On 10 March 1560, a group of disaffected nobles led by Jean du Barry, attempted to break the power of the Guise by abducting the young king.{{Sfn|Knecht|1996|p=25}} Their plans were discovered before being carried out and hundreds of suspected plotters executed, including du Barry.{{Sfn|Salmon|1975|pp=124–125}}{{Sfn|Sutherland|1962|pp=111–138)}} The Guise suspected Condé of involvement in the plot, and he was arrested and sentenced to death before being freed in the political chaos that followed the sudden death of Francis II, adding to the tensions of the period.{{Sfn|Sutherland|1984|pp=63–64}}

In the aftermath of the plot, the term "[[Huguenot]]" for France's Protestants came into widespread usage.{{Sfn|Salmon|1975|p=125}} Shortly afterwards, the first instances of Protestant [[iconoclasm]] or the destruction of images and statues in Catholic churches, occurred in [[Rouen]] and [[La Rochelle]]. This continued throughout 1561 in more than 20 cities and towns, sparking attacks on Protestants by Catholic mobs in [[Sens]], [[Cahors]], [[Carcassonne]], [[Tours]] and elsewhere.{{Sfn|Salmon|1975|pp=136–137}}