Jean de Poltrot

Pretending to be a deserter, he gained admission to the camp of the Catholic army that was besieging Orléans.

In the evening of 18 February 1563, he hid by the side of a road along which he knew the Duke would pass, fired a pistol at him, and fled.

The punishment, carried out on 18 March 1563, was botched; the horses having failed to rend his limbs, swords were used to finish the job.

This vendetta not only prolonged the Wars of Religion but contributed to the attempted assassination of Coligny during the celebrations of the marriage of Henri of Navarre with Margaret of Valois, and thence to the St Bartholomew's Day massacre.

[citation needed] De Poltrot's assassination of Duke Francis and his subsequent trial and execution are described in Ken Follett's historical novel, A Column of Fire.