Henry II of France in the context of "French Renaissance literature"

The French Wars of Religion were a series of civil wars between French Catholics and Protestants (called Huguenots) from 1562 to 1598. Between two and four million people died from violence, famine or disease directly caused by the conflict, and it severely damaged the power of the French monarchy. One of its most notorious episodes was the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in 1572. The fighting ended with a compromise in 1598, when Henry of Navarre, who converted to Catholicism in 1593, was proclaimed King Henry IV of France and issued the Edict of Nantes, which granted substantial rights and freedoms to the Huguenots. However, Catholics continued to disapprove of Protestants and of Henry, and his assassination in 1610 triggered a fresh round of Huguenot rebellions in the 1620s.

Tensions between the two religions had been building since the 1530s, exacerbating existing regional divisions, and quests for power among the nobles. The sudden accidental death of Henry II of France in July 1559 initiated a prolonged struggle for power between his widow Catherine de' Medici and powerful nobles. These included a fervently Catholic faction led by the Guise and Montmorency families, and Protestants headed by the House of Condé and the Navarrese queen, Jeanne d'Albret. Both sides received assistance from external powers, with Spain and Savoy supporting the Catholics, and England and the Dutch Republic backing the Protestants.

Palace of Fontainebleau (/ˈfɒntɪnbloʊ/ FON-tin-bloh, US also /-bluː/ -⁠bloo; French: Château de Fontainebleau [ʃɑto d(ə) fɔ̃tɛnblo]), located 55 kilometers (34 miles) southeast of the center of Paris, in the commune of Fontainebleau, is one of the largest French royal châteaux. It served as a hunting lodge and autumn residence for many of the French monarchs, including Louis VII, Francis I, Henry II, Louis-Philippe, Napoleon I, and Napoleon III. Though the monarchs only resided there for a few months of the year, they gradually transformed it into a genuine palace, filled with art and decoration. It became a national museum in 1927 and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981 for its unique architecture and historical importance.

The Franco-Ottoman alliance, also known as the Franco-Turkish alliance, was an alliance established in 1536 between Francis I, King of France and Suleiman I of the Ottoman Empire. The strategic and sometimes tactical alliance was one of the longest-lasting and most important foreign alliances of France, and was particularly influential during the Italian Wars. The Franco-Ottoman military alliance reached its peak with the Invasion of Corsica of 1553 during the reign of Henry II of France.

As the first non-ideological alliance in effect between a Christian and Muslim state, the alliance attracted heavy controversy for its time and caused a scandal throughout Christendom. Carl Jacob Burckhardt (1947) called it "the sacrilegious union of the lily and the crescent". It lasted intermittently for more than two and a half centuries, until the Napoleonic campaign in Ottoman Egypt, in 1798–1801.

Henry III (French: Henri III, né Alexandre Édouard; Polish: Henryk Walezy; Lithuanian: Henrikas Valua; 19 September 1551 – 2 August 1589) was King of France from 1574 until his assassination in 1589 and, as Henry of Valois, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1573 to 1575.

As the fourth son of King Henry II of France and Queen Catherine de' Medici, he was not expected to inherit the French throne and thus was a good candidate for the vacant throne of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, where he was elected monarch in 1573. During his brief rule, he refused to sign the Henrician Articles into law, which would recognise the szlachta's right to freely elect their monarch. The Henrician Articles became, nonetheless, deeply rooted in Poland's politics as all his successors accepted them. Aged 22, Henry abandoned Poland–Lithuania upon inheriting the French throne when his brother, Charles IX, died without issue.

The union of the Duchy of Brittany with the Crown of France was the culmination of a political process begun at the end of the 15th century in the wake of the Mad War. It resulted in the Edict of Union of 13 August 1532 and the incorporation of the duchy into the Crown lands of France, a critical step in the formation of modern-day France.

As a territorial principality of the Kingdom of France, Brittany had enjoyed varying degrees of autonomy since Clovis I was given authority over the Gallo-Roman domain during the 5th century. It was first recorded as a "duchy" during the rule of Nominoe in 846, in likely recognition of Carolingian overlordship. Over the centuries, the fealty demonstrated by the Duchy of Brittany toward the French king depended significantly on the individuals holding the two titles, as well as the involvement of the English monarchy at that particular time. The reign of Francis II, Duke of Brittany, was at an especially crucial time, as the nobles struggled to maintain their autonomy against the increasing central authority desired by Louis XI. As a result of several wars, treaties, and papal decisions, Brittany was united with France through the eventual marriage of Louis XI's son Charles VIII to the heiress of Brittany, Anne in 1491. However, because of the different systems of inheritance between the two realms, the crown and the duchy were not held by the same hereditary claimant until the reign of Henry II, beginning 1547.

Catherine de' Medici (Italian: Caterina de' Medici, pronounced [kateˈriːna de ˈmɛːditʃi]; French: Catherine de Médicis, pronounced [katʁin də medisis]; 13 April 1519 – 5 January 1589) was an Italian Florentine noblewoman of the Medici family and Queen of France from 1547 to 1559 by marriage to King Henry II. She was the mother of French kings Francis II, Charles IX, and Henry III, and a cousin to Pope Clement VII. The years during which her sons reigned have been called "the age of Catherine de' Medici" since she had extensive, albeit at times varying, influence on the political life of France.

Catherine was born in Florence to Lorenzo de' Medici, Duke of Urbino, and his wife, Madeleine de La Tour d'Auvergne. In 1533, at the age of 14, Catherine married Henry, the second son of King Francis I and Queen Claude of France, who would become Dauphin of France (heir to the throne) upon the death of his elder brother Francis in 1536. Catherine's marriage was arranged by Clement VII. Henry largely excluded Catherine from state affairs during his reign, instead showering favours on his chief mistress, Diane de Poitiers, who wielded significant influence in the court. Henry's sudden accidental death in 1559 thrust Catherine into the political arena as mother of the frail 15-year-old Francis II. When Francis II died the next year, she became regent on behalf of her 10-year-old son Charles IX and thus gained sweeping powers. After Charles died in 1574, Catherine played a key role in the reign of her third son, Henry III. He dispensed with her advice only in the last months of her life but outlived her by just seven months.