Charles IX (dec 5, 1560 – may 30, 1574)
Description:
second son of Henri II. His older brother, the sickly Francois II, only ruled for 18 months, and the 10-year-old Charles became king. After decades of tension, war broke out between Protestants and Catholics after the massacre of Vassy in 1562. In 1572, after several unsuccessful peace attempts, Charles ordered the marriage of his sister Margaret of Valois to Henry of Navarre (the future King Henry IV of France), a major Protestant nobleman who was in the line of succession to the French throne, in a last desperate bid to reconcile his people. Facing popular hostility against this policy of appeasement and at the instigation of his Roman Catholic mother Catherine de' Medici, Charles allowed the massacre of all Huguenot leaders, known as the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre, a significant blow to the Huguenot movement. Charles sought to take advantage of the disarray of the Huguenots by ordering the Siege of La Rochelle, but was unable to take the Protestant stronghold. Charles died of tuberculosis without legitimate male issue in 1574 and was succeeded by his brother Henri III.Added to timeline:
Date:
dec 5, 1560
may 30, 1574
~ 13 years