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Francis, 2nd Duke of Guise ( February 17 , 1519 – February 24 , 1563 ), called ''Balafré'' ("the scarred"), was a French soldier and politician. Biography Born at Bar-le-Duc ( Lorraine ), Guise was the son of Claude, Duke Of Guise and his wife Antoinette of Bourbon . His sister Mary Of Guise was wife of James V Of Scotland and mother of Mary I Of Scotland . In 1545 , he gained his nickname through a wound sustained at the siege of Boulogne . In 1551 , he was created Grand Chamberlain of France. He won international renown in 1552 when he successfully defended the city of Metz from the forces of Emperor Charles V , and defeated the imperial troops again at the Battle Of Renty in 1554 . The siege of Metz is detailed well in Ambroise Paré 's "Journey in Diverse Places" (written around 1580 ). He was created Grand Veneur Of France in 1556 , but the Truce Of Vaucelles temporarily curtailed his military activity. He led an army into Italy in 1557 to aid Pope Paul IV (and probably to further His Family 's pretensions to the Angevin inheritance), but was recalled to France and made Lieutenant-General of France after the defeat of the Constable De Montmorency at the Battle Of St. Quentin . Taking the field, he captured Calais from the English in January 1558 , Thionville and Arlon that summer, and was preparing to advance into Luxemburg when the Peace Of Cateau-Cambrésis was signed. The accession of Francis II ( 10 July , 1559 ), however, and his consort, Mary Stuart , niece of François d Guise, was a triumph for the Guise family, and the Grand Master Of France de Montmorency was disgraced. "François de Guise was supreme in the royal council. "My advice", he would say, "is so-and-so; we must act thus." Occasionally he signed public acts in the royal manner, with his baptismal name only. At the investigation of Antoine De Bourbon and the Prince de Condé, La Renaudie, a Protestant gentlemen of Périgord , organized a plot to seize the person of François de Guise and His Brother , the second cardinal of Lorraine. The plot was discovered ( Conspiracy Of Amboise , 1560) and violently suppressed. Condé was obliged to flee the court, and the power of the Guises was increased. The discourse which Coligny , leader of the Huguenot s, pronounced against them in the Assembly Of The Notables at Fountainbleau (August, 1560), did not influence Francis II in the least, but resulted rather in the imprisonment of Condé. The king, however, died, 5 December , 1560 —a year full of calamity for the Guises both in Scotland and France. Within a few months their influence waxed great and waned. After the accession of Charles IX , François de Guise lived in retirement on his estates. The regent, Catherine De Medici , at first inclined to favour the Protestants, and to save the Catholic party, François de Guise formed with his old enemy, the Constable de Montmorency and the Maréchal de Saint-André the so-called triumvirate (April, 1561), hostile to the policy of concession which Catharine de Medici attempted to inaugurate in favour of the Protestants. The plan of the Triumvirate was to treat with Spain and the Holy See , and also to come to an understanding with the Lutheran princes of Germany to induce them to abandon the idea of relieving the French Protestants. About July, 1561, Guise wrote to this effect to the Duke Of Würtemberg . The Colloquy Of Poissy (September and October, 1561) between theologians of the two confessions was fruitless, and the conciliation policy of Catharine de' Medici was defeated. From 15 to 18 February, 1562, Guise visited the Duke of Würtemberg at Saverne , and convinced him that if the conference at Poissy had failed, the fault was that of the Calvinists. As Guise passed through Wassy-sur-Blaise on his was to Paris ( 1 March , 1562 ), a massacre of Protestants took place. It is not known to what extent he was responsible for this, but it kindled the religious war. Rouen was retaken from the Protestants by Guise after a month's siege (October); the Battle Of Dreux , at which Montmorency was taken prison and Saint-André slain, was in the end turned by Guise to the advantage of the Catholic cause (19 December), and Condé, leader of the Huguenots, taken prisoner. Guise was about to take Orléans from the Huguenots when (18 February, 1563) he was wounded by the Protestant Poltrot de Méré, and died six days later. "We cannot deny", wrote the Protestant Coligny, in reference to his death, "the manifest miracles of God." He was shot by Huguenot Jean De Poltrot De Méré , at the siege of Orléans on February 18 , 1563 and died of his wounds a few days later, at Château Corney. Family Guise married in Saint-Germain-en-Laye on April 29 , 1548 Anna d'Este, daughter of Ercole D'Este II , Duke Of Ferrara and Renée Of France . They had seven children: # Henry I, Duke Of Guise ( 1550 – 1588 ), who succeeded him as Duke Of Guise . # Catherine ( July 18 , 1552 , Joinville – May 6 , 1596 , Paris ), married on February 4 , 1570 Louis II, Duke Of Montpensier # Charles Of Lorraine, Duke Of Mayenne ( 1554 – 1611 ) # Louis II, Cardinal Of Guise ( 1555 – 1588 ), Archbishop Of Reims # Antoine ( April 25 , 1557 – January 16 , 1560) # François ( December 31 , 1559, Blois – October 24 , 1573 , Reims ) # Maximilien ( October 25 , 1562 – 1567 ) See also References |