The assassination of Admiral Coligny on 24 August 1572 would prelude one of the critical events of the French Wars of Religion, the Massacre of Saint Bartholomew. The figures responsible for first the attempt on his life on 22 August and then his execution on 24 August have long been debated by historians. Coligny's feud with Henry I, Duke of Guise throughout the 1560s and his desire to bring France into conflict with Spain are often cited as key factors. The attempt on his life took place in the wake of the marriage between Navarre and Margaret of Valois a high-profile affair intended as a component of the Peace of Saint-Germain-en-Laye by Catherine de'Medici and her son Charles IX.
Prelude Peace Coligny little trusted the promises of safety from the crown for the prospect of returning to court, and based himself out of La Rochelle from late 1570 into 1571. In 1571 he married Jacqueline de Montbel d'Entremont giving him territorial interest in Savoyard lands. Both the duke of Savoy and the king of Spain were convinced he was plotting against them. Enthusiasm for the planned marriage between Navarre and Margaret of Valois designed as a method to seal the Peace of Saint-Germain was mixed among the Huguenot leadership. Albret was ambiguous on the prospect, while Coligny was opposed, fearing it could withdraw Navarre from the Bourbon-Châtillon orbit with his abjuration. After long resisting coming to the French court Albret arrived in March 1572, and the marriage contract was signed on 11 March. As the wedding drew closer, many Huguenot nobles arrived at the capital for the celebrations. Not easily able to miss such an important event in cementing the peace as well as such an elite marriage. The Guise and their associated clientele took up residence in the Hôtel de Guise.
In September 1571 Coligny arrived at court, being held at Blois, received a generous pension from the king, totalling 150,000 livres and was readmitted onto the king's council. Between this re-admission and August 1572, Coligny would however only be present at court for 5 weeks, and his influence would be highly limited, despite the fears of the militant Catholics that he was driving the king's policy. During his stay at court, the Guise took leave of the king. In June 1572 Coligny again presented himself at court, accompanied by 300 cavaliers.
Feud
At the climax of the siege of Orléans in 1563, the Duke of Guise had been assassinated by the Protestant assassin Poltrot de Méré. Under torture Poltrot would implicate Coligny in the assassination, though his story would change with each telling, and several times he would deny Coligny's involvement. Coligny who was fighting in Normandy, denounced these accusations, demanding a right to cross examine Poltrot in Parlement to clear his name. He would however be hurriedly executed to pre-empt the amnesty clause of the Edict of Amboise.
Poltrots testimony would be a lightning rod for Guise anger. Meanwhile Condé and Montmorency rallied to Coligny's defence at council. The Guise family launched a private suite on 26 April 1563. To ensure an appropriately partisan justice was selected to handle their suit they made a show of force at the Parlement session when the decision was being made, with a hundred armed men, succeeding in getting a partisan candidate. The king would however evoke the case to the royal council, removing the Parlement from having jurisdiction. This done he would then arrange for the judgement to be suspended until he reached his majority. Attempting to prove not only Guise had the power to make shows of force, Coligny entered Paris with a large host of armed supporters in November. Catherine summoned both to the Louvre on 6 December in a desperate bid to get them to both calm down. This would be in vain, and the two sides would engage in various petty acts of violence over the coming weeks, culminating in the murder of a guard member. On 5 January the king tried to take more definitive action to crush the feud, suspending judgement for a further three years.
Frustrated at the failure of their strategy, the Guise family altered their approach, seeking to build a non confessional base to prosecute their feud, appealing to Condé by highlighting how Montmorency and the Châtillon were upstart houses compared to true princes like them. Condé on side, Lorraine planned an armed entry into Paris over the protestations of the governor Marshal Montmorency who tried to tell them arms were not allowed in the city of Paris. Lorraine and the young Guise entered with a large retinue under arms, clashing with the forces of Montmorency in several street skirmishes in which they came off the worse, with several dead. Humiliated Lorraine and Guise retreated to their residence where they were besieged by taunts even from the Catholic Parisians.
In early 1566 Lorraine travelled to where the court was staying at Moulins to appeal for proceedings against Coligny. Continuing his strategy from the prior year he characterised himself as a champion of the rights of princes, but the various princes at court were uninterested and voted his proposals down. This allowed Charles to compel Lorraine and Coligny to exchange the kiss of peace. The young Guise would however refuse to appear at Moulins, and further refuse to sign anything that implied Coligny's innoncence. Guise had challenged both Coligny, and Marshal Montmorency to duels, however they felt confident in ignoring his challenges. The king followed the kiss of peace staging by publishing an edict on 29 January 1566; in which Coligny's innocence was declared.
In November 1571 it was reported the Guise faction were gathering funds and followers in Champagne. The Huguenot nobility rallied round Coligny who was at Châtillon, offering their support if conflict broke out again.
In January 1572 the Guise family petitioned for the withdrawal of the arrêt issued at Moulins, concerning their feud with Coligny. On 14 January Guise, Aumale and Mayenne entered Paris with a strong escort of 500 men in another show of force. In another display of bluster he requested the king's permission to fight Coligny in single combat. In March Charles again cleared Coligny of involvement in the assassination of the Duke of Guise Satisfied that he had protected his honour, the younger Guise was persuaded by the king in May to abide by the terms of the Moulins agreement that he had previously avoided. This undertaking delighted the king.
Dutch revolt The Dutch revolt was continuing to intersect closely with French politics. William of Orange had fought with Coligny during the Siege of Poitiers (1569) and while he had left afterwards to organise further in the Spanish Netherlands his brother Louis of Nassau was among those who stayed behind, operating out of La Rochelle under Coligny's protection to attack Spanish shipping. Nassau had also fought with Coligny during the third civil war. When the Spanish ambassador, Alava complained of this harbouring to Charles, the king retorted that 'his master should not look to give laws to France.' In July 1571 Charles attended a meeting at Fontainebleau with Louis of Nassau to discuss the prospects of intervention in the Netherlands, with potential for a partition. Téligny also returned to court around this time, one of the first Huguenot nobles to do so, working with Nassau in the hopes of persuading Charles.
It was for reasons of pursuing this policy that Coligny made his return to court in August 1571, hoping to bring the king firmly on board with war with Spain. Catherine was firmly opposed to this course of action. On 1 April 1572, the Sea Beggars seized Brill, and several days later Orange issued a declaration of war on Spain on 14 April. Nassau looked to Charles to join with a declaration of war by France, but neither he nor any member of his council outside of Coligny was willing to join in this course.
In late May Nassau and some Huguenot allies decided to act regardless, crossing the border and capturing the towns of Valenciennes and Mons. This further spurred Coligny to call for war with Spain, but Charles responded by prohibiting his subjects from crossing the border in support of Nassau on 7 June. Charles oversaw three of his councillors, Tavannes, Nevers and Jean de Morvillier composing memoranda against open war with Spain. In mid July several hundred more Huguenots would in defiance of this ban cross the border under the leadership of Genlis who had previously been with Nassau during the capture of Mons. The Spanish would crush this force, destroying Genlis army at Saint-Ghislain near Mons and taking 200 men including Genlis prisoner. Both Coligny and Charles were implicated as having provided covert levels of support. However Charles vigorously denied this and on 21 July affirmed his friendship with Spain. Coligny fretted about the fate of the prisoners in Alva's hands, trying to arrange a ransom via the agent Mondoucet, but this came to nought. Coligny was in continued correspondence with Orange and reassured him that soon he would be coming to their aid with 12000 foot and 3000 horse. To this end after another stay in Châtillon he again visited Paris to push his war plan, highlighting the strategic advantages of weakening Spain in this theatre. There are reports that Coligny transmitted a threat to the Spanish ambassador via Jérôme de Gondi implying he would kill him if he did not ensure the prisoners were treated well in the Netherlands.
Coligny began recruiting in August for an expedition, with the support of François de Montmorency. Catherine returned from a meeting at Châlons with her daughter, and obliged the council to re-open the debate on intervention, hoping to shut down Charles' ambiguous policy. On 9 and 10 August the court was unanimous in rejecting this proposal. In spite of this Alba complained that yet again there were troops assembling near Mons. Dark threats were emanating from some leading Huguenots during this time that they would savage the comte de Retz for his alleged promise to several ambassadors that he would ensure an anti-war resolution from the council. Retz had allegedly received 25,000 écus to stop the entreprise.
Wedding
Guise and his retinues arrived in the city for the wedding in early August, to a rapturous welcome from the militant parts of the population. They based themselves out of the Hôtel de Guise and the cloisters of Saint-Germain and other places of the clergy in the city.
On 17 August the engagement took place between the couple. The next day, 18 August the wedding was celebrated at the Notre-Dame without the long-awaited Papal dispensation. A cortege of the couple, the princes of the blood, the marshals and grandes of France followed them down the aisle. In place of the Pope's blessing, Cardinal Bourbon was coerced into giving his assent to the match. For attendance of Mass, Anjou filled in for the place of Navarre. The Catholics were dressed in their most exuberant finery, with Anjou wearing a pale yellow satin suit with silver embroidery and pearls. This conspicuously marked out the Huguenot nobles, all clothed in dour black for the celebration.