Albrecht Dürer,“The Martyrdom

of the Ten Thousand”(on Mount

Ararat, by the Persian King

Saporat, at the order of Emperor

Hadrian),painted in 1508

Dutch War of Independence

French Wars of Religion

1561: Philip II imposes Spanish rule in Burgundy

1559: Death of Henry II; Catherine de Medici is regent

1566/67: “Calvinist Fury” provokes crackdown

1561: Catherine decrees religious toleration

1562: Massacre at Vassy by the Duc de Guise provokes war

1572: “Sea Beggars” liberate Zeeland & Holland, war begins

1572: Marriage feast leads to St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre

1585: England intervenes to avoid a Protestant defeat

1588/89: War of the 3 Henries (Guise+Valois+Navarre): Holy League (militant Catholic) takes Paris

1588: The English defeat the “invincible” Spanish Armada

1609: Twelve Years’ Truce and partition of the Low Countries

1593/94: Henry IV converts to Catholicism, is crowned King

The Duchy of Burgundy under Emperor Charles

VThe United Provinces vs. Spanish Netherlands in

1609

“The Massacre of the Innocents”(Pieter Brueghel the Young, 1610s)

The Capture of Briel by the Dutch “Sea Beggars,” April 1, 1572

William the Silent, Prince of Orange (1533-1584), painted around 1555 and 1580

Spanish troops leave Maastricht after a truce in 1577, but they returned soon thereafter

Anchored off Calais, the “invincible” Spanish Armada of

1588 broke up in confusion when the English sailed eight fire ships

into their tight formation at midnight

The Dutch were Europe’s best sailors in 1600: Here Dutch ships ram Spanish galleys off the

Flemish coast, October 1602

The Battle of Gibraltar, 1607, when the Dutch completely destroyed a Spanish fleet of 21 ships

The 12-Years’ Truce did not apply overseas, so the Dutch conquered all the most profitable colonies of Portugal

The King of France was

also the Duke of Normandy,

Count of Provence, etc. The Bourbon

King of Navarre was the highest

ranking French

Protestant.

The strong Valois Kings Francis I and Henry II centralized power, but Henry II died in a freak jousting

accident in 1559

Catherine de Medici (1519-

1589),Regent for all

three of her sons:Francis II,

Charles IX, and Henry III.

The Catholic House of Guise and Huguenot

House of Bourbon both sensed a

chance to recover their power.

Huguenots depicted as apes and

tormentors of Christ.

The Catholic majority viewed

Catherine’s Edict of Toleration as gross dereliction of duty;

war broke out in 1562 when the Duc de Guise ordered the execution of

Huguenots worshiping on his

lands.

The partition of France, 1570-90.

Catherine de Medici sought

reconciliation in 1572 by

arranging marriage between

Marguerite de Valois and King

Henry of Navarre.

Gaspard de Coligny,

Admiral of France & Huguenot

leader, since 1570 a trusted advisor of King

Charles IX; wounded by a

Catholic assassin on August 22,

1572.

The St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, August 24, 1572 (painting by a Huguenot survivor): It began with the murder of the wounded Coligny by order of King

Charles IX.

Henry of Navarre seeks protection from his bride:

His life was spared when he

promised to convert to

Catholicism.

After being recognized by the dying Henry III as the rightful heir to the throne, Henry of Navarre routed the forces of the Catholic

Holy League at the Battle of Arques, September 1589

But the Holy League still

controlled Paris and refused to

recognize Henry IV

“Procession of the Catholic Leagueon the Place de Grève,” Paris, 1590-93:Hunger and the promise that Henry IV

would convert to Catholicism made them submit

The coronation of King Henry IV in Paris, 1594 (he cures a scrofulous beggar with his “royal touch”)

Henry IV issued the Edict of Nantes

in 1598 to guarantee Huguenots freedom of conscience, civil rights, and fortified places of

refuge.

The Assassination of King Henry IV, 1610