The House of Guise (pronunciation: ">ĄÉ„izDutch: ''Wieze,
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
: Wiese'') was a prominent French
noble family
Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteris ...
, that was involved heavily in the
French Wars of Religion
The French Wars of Religion is the term which is used in reference to a period of civil war between French Catholics and Protestants, commonly called Huguenots, which lasted from 1562 to 1598. According to estimates, between two and four mi ...
cadet branch
In history and heraldry, a cadet branch consists of the male-line descendants of a monarch's or patriarch's younger sons ( cadets). In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assetsâ realm, tit ...
of the
House of Lorraine
The House of Lorraine (german: link=no, Haus Lothringen) originated as a cadet branch of the House of Metz. It inherited the Duchy of Lorraine in 1473 after the death without a male heir of Nicholas I, Duke of Lorraine. By the marriage of Fra ...
by Claude of Lorraine (1496â1550), who entered French service and was made the first
King Francis I
Francis I (french: François Ier; frm, Francoys; 12 September 1494 â 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of AngoulĂȘme, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once ...
in 1527. The family's high rank was due not to possession of the Guise dukedom but to their membership in a sovereign dynasty, which procured for them the rank of ''
royal court
A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word "court" may also be appl ...
of France. Claude's daughter Mary of Guise (1515â1560) married King
James V of Scotland
James V (10 April 1512 â 14 December 1542) was King of Scotland from 9 September 1513 until his death in 1542. He was crowned on 21 September 1513 at the age of seventeen months. James was the son of King James IV and Margaret Tudor, and du ...
and was mother of
Mary, Queen of Scots
Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 â 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567.
The only surviving legitimate child of James V of S ...
. Claude's eldest son, Francis, became the second Duke of Guise at his father's death on 12 April 1550 and became a military hero thanks to his defense of Metz in 1552 and the capture of Calais from the English in 1558, while another son, Charles, became
Archbishop of Reims
The Archdiocese of Reims (traditionally spelt "Rheims" in English) ( la, ArchidiĆcesis Remensis; French: ''ArchidiocĂšse de Reims'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastic territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. Erected as a diocese a ...
Mary, Queen of Scots
Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 â 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567.
The only surviving legitimate child of James V of S ...
Edict of Saint-Germain
The Edict of Saint-Germain, also known as the Edict of January, was a landmark decree of tolerance promulgated by the regent of France, Catherine de' Medici, in January 1562. The act represented the culmination of several years of slowly libera ...
(19 December 1562), but he was assassinated at the
Siege of Orleans
A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characterize ...
on 24 February 1563 while he was seeking a final victory. His son,
Henry
Henry may refer to:
People
*Henry (given name)
* Henry (surname)
* Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry
Royalty
* Portuguese royalty
** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal
** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...
, inherited his titles; and under the direction of his uncle Charles began a campaign to accuse Admiral Coligny of orchestrating his fathers assassination. Charles meanwhile led the French delegation at the Council of Trent, converting to the Papal line in 1563. No longer permitted in 1564 to continue his feud with Coligny through legal channels, he and his uncle
Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine
Charles de Lorraine (c. 1525 â 26 December 1574), Duke of Chevreuse, was a French Cardinal, a member of the powerful House of Guise. He was known at first as the Cardinal of Guise, and then as the second Cardinal of Lorraine, after the death o ...
would attempt to make a show of force in entering Paris, but their entry ended with both besieged in their residence and forced to concede.
In 1566, the crown forced Charles at Moulins to make the kiss of peace with Coligny to end their feud, Henry refused to attend. He would also challenge Coligny and Anne de Montmorency to duels, but they rebuffed his attempts. No longer welcome at court, he and his brother
Charles, Duke of Mayenne
Charles of Lorraine, Duke of Mayenne (26 March 1554 â 3 October 1611), or Charles de Guise, was a French nobleman of the house of Guise and a military leader of the Catholic League, which he headed during the French Wars of Religion, followi ...
decided to crusade against the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, ĐΞÏΌαΜÎčÎșÎź ÎÏ ÏÎżÎșÏαÏÎżÏία, OthĆmanikÄ Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
in
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, MagyarorszĂĄg ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...
. In September 1568, he reached his majority, just as Charles returned to the centre of French politics with his readmission to the Privy Council. No sooner had he returned to the council than he began leading the war party to break off the
Peace of Longjumeau
The Peace of Longjumeau (also known as the Treaty of Longjumeau or the Edict of Longjumeau) was signed on 23 March 1568 by Charles IX of France and Catherine de' Medici. The edict brought to an end the brief second French Wars of Religion with t ...
, which would be annulled shortly thereafter and started the Third French War of religion. He would fight at
Jarnac
Jarnac (; ; Saintongese: ''Jharnat'') is a commune in the Charente department, southwestern France.Moncontour and defend Poitiers from a siege by Coligny. By the termination of the third war, the Guise would once more find themselves in disgrace from court due both to their hawkish policy and Henry's affair with Margaret de Valois.
Having returned to favour, Henry helped plan the assassination of Coligny, a final culmination of his feud that would spiral into the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre of the Huguenots in 1572. In 1576, frustrated with the
Politiques
During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, ''politiques'' () were those in a position of power who put the success and well-being of their state above all else. During the Wars of Religion, this included moderates of both religious faiths ( ...
, Guise would be instrumental in the formation of the Catholic League. The death of the royal heir presumptive, Francis, Duke of Anjou, in 1584, which made the Protestant King
Henry of Navarre
Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 â 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarc ...
the heir to the French throne, led to a new civil war, the War of the Three Henries, with King Henry III of France, Henry of Navarre and Henry of Guise fighting for control of France. Guise began the war by declaring the unacceptability of Navarre as King of France and controlled the powerful Catholic League, which soon forced the French king to follow in his wake. In 1588 Guise, with Spanish support, instigated a revolt against the king, took control of the city of
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 kmÂČ (41 sq mi), ma ...
and became the de facto ruler of France.
After an apparent reconciliation between the French King and the Duke, King Henry III had both the Duke of Guise and his brother, Louis of Lorraine, Cardinal of Guise (1555–1588), murdered in December 1588 during a meeting in the Royal Chateau at Blois. Thle leadership of the Catholic League fell to their brother, Charles of Lorraine, Duke of Mayenne, the commander of the armed forces of the Catholic League.
The Duke of Mayenne's nephew, the young Duke of Guise, Charles, was proposed by the Catholic League as a candidate for the throne, possibly through a marriage to Philip II of Spain's daughter
Isabella
Isabella may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Isabella (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
* Isabella (surname), including a list of people
Places
United States
* Isabella, Alabama, an unincorpor ...
, the granddaughter of
Henry II of France
Henry II (french: Henri II; 31 March 1519 â 10 July 1559) was King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559. The second son of Francis I and Duchess Claude of Brittany, he became Dauphin of France upon the death of his elder bro ...
. The Catholic League was eventually defeated, but for the sake of the country, King Henry IV became a Catholic and bought peace with Mayenne, and in January 1596, a treaty was signed that put an end to the League.
Decline from prominence
After this, the House of Guise receded from its prominent position in French politics, and the senior line, that of the Dukes of Guise became extinct in 1688. The vast estates and title were disputed and diverted by various relatives although several junior branches of the family (
Dukes of Mayenne
Duke of Mayenne (duc de Mayenne) is a title created for a cadet branch of the House of Guise. It subsequently passed by marriage to the Gonzaga in 1621. They sold it to Cardinal Mazarin in 1654; he bestowed it on his niece, Hortense Mancini in 1 ...
, Dukes of Elbeuf etc.) perpetuated the male line until 1825.
Their principal title, Duke de Guise in 1688 was awarded to a branch of the House of Bourbon and afterwards to the
. The title, with one exception, was not used by pretenders to throne of France,who were overthrown by the French Revolution of 1848. One of House of Guise's heads,
(1874â1940) nonetheless took it as his title of pretence to the former crown of France and was supported by some of the 19th century Orleanist activists. They formed for at the time the junior set of
, who are claimants to be senior descendants of the pre-1848 French Royal Family and have been supported by restorative movements before, during and after the
Second French Empire
The Second French Empire (; officially the French Empire, ), was the 18-year Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 14 January 1852 to 27 October 1870, between the Second and the Third Republic of France.
Historians in the 1930 ...
, the last undoubted monarch of France. By the end of the 1880s, a series of republican
Presidents
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966â2010 Japanese ful ...
Duchess of Guise
Lady of Guise Non hereditary, 950â?
Elder House of Guise, ?â1185
House of Avesnes, 1185â1244
House of ChĂątillon, 1244â1404
House of Valois-Anjou, 1404â1417
Countess of Guise House of Valois-Anjou, 1417â1425
House of L ...
for a list of their wives.
Other members of the House of Guise
*
Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine
Charles de Lorraine (c. 1525 â 26 December 1574), Duke of Chevreuse, was a French Cardinal, a member of the powerful House of Guise. He was known at first as the Cardinal of Guise, and then as the second Cardinal of Lorraine, after the death o ...
Louis II, Cardinal of Guise
Louis II, Cardinal of Guise (6 July 1555, Dampierre â 24 December 1588, ChĂąteau de Blois), was the third son of Francis, Duke of Guise, and Anna d'Este.
Life
He was elected archbishop of Reims in 1574, succeeding his uncle, Charles of Guise. ...
*
Louis III, Cardinal of Guise
Louis de Lorraine known as the ''Cardinal de Guise'' (22 January 1575 â 21 June 1621, Saintes, Charente-Maritime, Saintes) was the third son of Henry I, Duke of Guise and Catherine of Cleves.
Life
His ecclesiastical post was entirely a sinecure ...
Charles I, Duke of Elbeuf
Charles de Lorraine ( Joinville, 18 October 1556 â Moulins, 4 August 1605) was a French duke and nobleman. He was marquis of Elbeuf from 1566 to 1582, then duke of Elbeuf from 1582 to 1605 and count of Harcourt from 1566 to 1582, lord of Rie ...
*
Charles II, Duke of Elbeuf
Charles II, Duke of Elbeuf (5 November 1596 â 5 November 1657), was a French nobleman, the son of Charles I, Duke of Elbeuf, by his wife, Marguerite de Chabot. He succeeded his father in the Elbeuf dukedom (ElbĆuf is an alternate, anglicized s ...
*
Claude, Duke of Chevreuse
Claude de Lorraine (5 June 1578 â 24 January 1657), also called ''Claude de Guise'', was a French noble and husband of Marie de Rohan. He was the Duke of Chevreuse, a title which is today used by the Duke of Luynes.
Biography
He was the thir ...
*
Claude, Duke of Aumale
Claude of Lorraine, Duke of Aumale (18 August 1526, Joinville – 3 March 1573, La Rochelle) was the third son of Claude, Duke of Guise and Antoinette de Bourbon. He was a prince of Lorraine by birth.
Biography
As part of the Treaty of Boulog ...
*
Charles, Duke of Mayenne
Charles of Lorraine, Duke of Mayenne (26 March 1554 â 3 October 1611), or Charles de Guise, was a French nobleman of the house of Guise and a military leader of the Catholic League, which he headed during the French Wars of Religion, followi ...
Catherine de Lorraine (1552â1596)
Catherine-Marie de Lorraine (18 July 1551 â 5 May 1596), Duchess of Montpensier, was a French princess from the house of Guise who played a leading political role in the Catholic League during the French Wars of Religion.
Early years
Catherine ...