Wars of Religion 1562-98, series of civil wars in France, also known as the Huguenot Wars. The immediate issue was the French Protestants' struggle for freedom of worship and the right of establishment (see Huguenots ). Of equal importance, however, was the struggle for power between the crown and the great nobles and the rivalry among the great nobles themselves for the control of the king. The foremost Protestant leaders were, successively, Louis I de Condé , Gaspard de Coligny , and Henry of Navarre (later Henry IV ); the Catholic party was dominated by the house of Guise . A third party, called the Politiques and composed of moderate Catholics, sided with the Protestants, while Catherine de' Medici and her sons, Charles IX , Henry III , and Francis , duke of Alençon, vainly sought to maintain a balance of power by siding now with the Catholics, now with the Huguenots. The Conspiracy of Amboise (1560), by which the Huguenots attempted to end the persecutions suffered at the hands of Francis II , was a prelude to the first three civil wars (1562-63, 1567-68, 1568-70). The Treaty of Saint-Germain (1570), ending the wars, gave the Protestants new liberties and the wardenship of four cities, including La Rochelle. The fourth civil war (1572-73) began with the massacre of Saint Bartholomew's Day , a general slaughter of Protestants throughout France. The fifth civil war (1574-76) ended with the Peace of Monsieur (named for Francis of...
Wars of Religion 1562-98, series of civil wars in France, also known as the Huguenot Wars. The immediate issue was the French Protestants' struggle for freedom of worship and the right of establishment (see Huguenots ). Of equal importance, however, was the struggle for power between the crown and the great nobles and the rivalry among the great nobles themselves for the control of the king. The foremost Protestant leaders were, successively, Louis I de Condé , Gaspard de Coligny , and Henry of Navarre (later Henry IV ); the Catholic party was dominated by the house of Guise . A third party, called the Politiques and composed of moderate Catholics, sided with the Protestants, while Catherine de' Medici and her sons, Charles IX , Henry III , and Francis , duke of Alençon, vainly sought to maintain a balance of power by siding now with the Catholics, now with the Huguenots. The Conspiracy of Amboise (1560), by which the Huguenots attempted to end the persecutions suffered at the hands of Francis II , was a prelude to the first three civil wars (1562-63, 1567-68, 1568-70). The Treaty of Saint-Germain (1570), ending the wars, gave the Protestants new liberties and the wardenship of four cities, including La Rochelle. The fourth civil war (1572-73) began with the massacre of Saint Bartholomew's Day , a general slaughter of Protestants throughout France. The fifth civil war (1574-76) ended with the Peace of Monsieur (named for Francis of...
