Estates General of 1588

Called as a part of the concessions Henri III made to the Catholic ligue in the aftermath of the Day of the Barricades, the Estates were formerly convoked on 28 May.

On 16 October the Estates formerly opened, and quickly the ligueur deputies imposed their will on the king, forcing him to reaffirm concessions he had made in July.

Matters soon turned to finance, with the Third Estate taking the lead in combining an advocacy for war against Protestantism with a refusal to countenance any raising of taxes.

They had been a failure, and by now his assassination of the duke of Guise had brought France into civil war, with the majority of French cities including Paris declaring themselves in insurrection against him.

The riot was quickly harnessed by the aristocratic members of the ligue, with the duke of Brissac leading a force of students and monks against the soldiers, driving them back across the city.

Henri, increasingly alarmed decided he had little choice but to flee the capital, leaving it in the hands of the duke of Guise and the ligue, who quickly instituted a revolution in the cities administration.

François II de Montholon [fr] was appointed garde des sceaux, giving him the authority of Chancellor, and Ruzé and Revol were established as new secretaries of state.

[10][11] Morosini found the explanation plausible, envisioning that the men would be blamed for the high taxation, but also thought that their links to the king's mother Catherine de Medici had a part to play.

[6] Henri however had different ambitions for the gathering, and looked to use it to isolate the noble ligueurs from their urban base, thus regaining the initiative he had lost so decisively during the Day of the Barricades.

In August he warned that he was willing to defend his rights, and that the delegates for the Estates should work towards a productive peace, so that a general council could resolve doctrinal issues between Protestants and Catholics.

[8] The duke of Guise wrote to the Spanish ambassador Mendoza, explaining that 'I am not forgetting anything on my side, having sent to all provinces and bailliages [trustworthy agents] to secure a contrary outcome'.

[5] Though it had initially been intended for the Estates to begin their deliberations on 15 September, too few delegates had arrived by that time for things to be started, so the opening was pushed back a month.

[19] Much of the local Champenois nobility was either neutral concerning the ligue or allied with the lieutenant general Joachim de Dinteville in support of the crown's cause.

The primary problem of the kingdom according to the grievance list, was of course the toleration of 'heresy', which the cahiers alleged was enabled by protective favourites at court who shielded 'heretics' from their 'rightful persecution' and subjugated the population of France with oppressive measures.

[27] The Third Estate in Chaumont took the radical step in their cahiers of suggesting that their loyalty to the king would be contingent on his upholding of the fundamental laws of the kingdom, and if he violated these principles, his subjects would no longer be compelled to obey him.

The nobles of the baillage of Montdidier argued that the provincial estates should be expanded in purview, to afford the local nobility a greater say in the affairs of their provinces.

For the Second Estate election of Chartres, he overruled the governor of the city, insisting that his favourite, the seigner de Maintenon be chosen.

[37] The duke of Guise, who had in the wake of the Day of the Barricades been granted one of the two royal armies to command, handed over his control to the ligueur adjacent Nevers in September.

During his speech, Henri took a provocative step, declaring that 'Some great nobles in my kingdom have formed such leagues and associations, but with my customary kindness I am putting the past behind me regarding this matter.

However, as I have to uphold royal dignity, I hereby declare that any subject of mine who now or in the future will continue to adhere to such leagues and associations without my consent, will be deemed guilty of high treason'.

The duke of Guise, in his capacity as Grand Maître was seated directly below the king during this address, and was reported to turn pale when he heard this part of the speech.

He had intended to detail plans of ecclesiastical alienations to be made to raise funds, but the rebukes the court had received from the cahiers of the Estates led to this being excised.

He at first attempted to temper what he was being asked to do, trying to insert the phrase 'the authority, fidelity and obedience due to his majesty', but the Estates rejected this, and he was forced to concede.

On 4 November, the lower clergy drove the Estates as a whole to demand that Henri go further than the Edict of Union, and specifically declare that Navarre was a traitor, and had no rights to inherit the crown.

Guise found himself involved in repeated negotiations with the Third Estate in an attempt to reconcile the two positions, something he would ultimately be unsuccessful in at the time of his death.

[60] At the end of October, while the Estates were in session, the duke of Savoie invaded the French Marquisate of Saluzzo, under the pretext of protecting the territory from heresy.

On 28 November Guise dined with La Chapelle-Marteau and other leaders to discuss the Third Estates position, pleading with them to afford the king some financial relief.

[75] The Seize shadow government of Paris was defiant, replacing their arrested members, and vowing to 'employ the last penny in their purse and the last drop of their blood' to avenge the murder of Guise.

According to Bernard these men controlled legal tribunals through bribery and intimidation, and travelled through the kingdom protected by mercenaries from the common people as they implemented new fiscal devices.

[73] The royalist bishop of Bourges gave the closing address of the Estates on 16 January, in which he urged that all Frenchman pray for Henri's health and longevity.