Charles de Guise was the second son of Claude, first Duke of Guise, of the house of Lorraine. He was made Archbishop of Reims at fourteen in 1538 and a cardinal in 1547, and was known thereafter as the Cardinal of Lorraine. Brilliant, ambitious, and immensely rich in benefices, he and his elder brother Francis, Duke of Guise, became the leaders of the uncompromising Catholic party in France. Their sister Mary of Guise was queen of Scotland.

When their niece Mary Stuart married Francis II, who became king in 1559, the brothers governed France. The Huguenot plot against them at Amboise in March 1560 was crushed, and its leaders were hanged from the castle walls.¹ At the Colloquy of Poissy in September 1561, the cardinal led the Catholic side against Theodore Beza, who had been invited to speak for the Reformed churches. The colloquy failed. The following March, the Duke of Guise’s men attacked a Huguenot congregation at Vassy, and the Wars of Religion began.

The cardinal went on to Trent, where in 1562–1563 he was the leading French voice at the final sessions of the council. He died at Avignon on December 26, 1574, two years after the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, in which his nephew Henry, Duke of Guise, had directed the murder of Admiral Coligny.

The Guise family held so many high offices that names repeat. The Duke of Guise at Vassy (1562) was Francis, the cardinal’s brother; the duke at St. Bartholomew (1572) was Henry, his nephew.

Catholic Opponents