Assassination of François, Duke of Guise
[4] With the beginning of the reign of the young Francis II the Guise quickly moved to consolidate control over the administration and crown finance, exerting a strong degree of influence over royal policy.
[9] The ascension of Charles IX would sever their connections to the royal family that had existed through their niece’s marriage to Francis and, with the formation of a new regency council under Catherine de' Medici, they left court.
[17] Second; 1567–1568Saint-Denis; Chartres Third; 1568–1570Jarnac; La Roche-l'Abeille; Poitiers; Orthez; Moncontour; Saint-Jean d'Angély; Arney-le-Duc Fourth; 1572–1573Mons; Sommières; Sancerre; La Rochelle Fifth; 1574–1576Dormans Sixth; 1577La Charité-sur-Loire; Issoire; Brouage Seventh; 1580La Fère War of the Three Henrys (1585–1589)Coutras; Vimory; Auneau; Day of the Barricades Succession of Henry IV of France (1589–1594)Arques; Ivry; Paris; Château-Laudran; Rouen; Caudebec; Craon; 1st Luxembourg; Blaye; Morlaix; Fort Crozon Franco-Spanish War (1595–1598)2nd Luxembourg; Fontaine-Française; Ham; Le Catelet; Doullens; Cambrai; Calais; La Fère; Ardres; Amiens Jean de Poltrot had first found himself involved in action against the Guise during the Conspiracy of Amboise, at which he was present as a page of Francois Bouchard.
After a trip to Lyons later in the year, he would return with letters for Gaspard II de Coligny, the leader of the anti crown forces now that Condé was a prisoner.
[24] The wound was not at first considered life-threatening, however when he developed signs of what appeared to his doctors to be a fever on 22 Feb their painful operation to attempt to extract the bullet further worsened his condition.
[27] Finally on the 19 March an elaborate public funeral attended by thousands of the people of Paris would be held, his popularity strong in the largely Catholic city that considered him their saviour for his victory at the Battle of Dreux.
[29] In his first testimony delivered before Catherine and the council on 21 Feb he would implicate Coligny, asserting that in his first visit to Orléans in June 1562 he had been solicited to do the deed but had refused, and had later relented to the Admirals pressure when he was further implored to do the act by Theodore Beza.
[29] Extracted under torture as these confessions were, and without any trial, there is no clear answer as to any potential orchestration, contemporary theories of involvement would include Condé and Catherine de' Medici.
[32] Having been directly implicated in the first testimony before the court, Coligny would write in defence of himself on 12 March in which he would argue that several of Poltrot's asserted meetings had not taken place, and that when they had met, it had only been to discuss spying on the Duke's camp.
[33] Theodore Beza would likewise write in his own defence, arguing that he had sought justice for the Duke's crimes at Wassy through legal channels with Catherine de' Medici.
[32] While Coligny had been pressing the Parlement of Paris for a formal trial so he could clear his name, the execution was rushed through so that it would pre-empt the amnesty clause of the Edict of Amboise which came into force a day later.
[39] Throughout 1563 they would face off with the House of Montmorency, who would through their control of the regency council and the governorship of Paris gain the upper hand, culminating in the crowns decision on 5 Jan 1564 to suspend investigation of potential involvement in the assassination for a 3-year period.
