The 1559–1562 French political crisis was induced by the sudden death of the King Henri II (otherwise known as Henry II) in July 1559. With his death, the throne fell to François II (otherwise known as Francis II) who though not a minor, lacked the ability to command authority due to his young age. Actual power fell to two of Henri II's favourites, the duke of Guise (), François and the cardinal of Lorraine (), Charles who quickly moved to assert a monopoly of their authority over the administration of the kingdom. Royal patronage would flow to them and their clients, with those of their rival, Constable Montmorency quickly starved of royal favour. Having been left with ruinous debts by Henri, they undertook a campaign of aggressive austerity which further alienated many grandees and soldiers who were not shielded from its effects (as the clients of the Lorraine brothers were). They also continued the persecution of Protestantism that had transpired under Henri II, though with the young François on the throne the Protestants felt emboldened to resist.
To this end aggrieved Protestants and political opponents of the Lorraine brothers administration formulated a conspiracy to assume control of the king and end the Lorraine administration. This manifested in an attempted conspiracy at Amboise in March 1560. Guise and Lorraine were able to suppress the conspiracy, crushing it brutally. They suspected that the Protestant prince du sang (prince of the blood) prince de Condé was the architect of the conspiracy, and Condé thus departed from court shortly after the conspiracy under a cloud of suspicion. He joined with his brother, the premier prince du sang the king of Navarre at Navarre's southern court of Nérac and the two spent the summer plotting against the crown. While Amboise had been suppressed at the court, its aftershocks continued to be felt across France, with various disorders, particularly in the south of France. The Lorraine administration attempted to crush the embers of the revolt. At the same time they abandoned the persecutory policy of Henri II and differentiated 'heresy' from 'sedition' for the first time. An Assembly of Notables was called to advise on the kingdom's problems in August and it resolved on the convoking of an Estates General and a national church council. At the assembly, Montmorency's nephew Admiral Coligny established himself as a leading voice of the Protestants, representing several of their petitions, much to the annoyance of the Lorraine government. Navarre and Condé were absent from the meeting and after further evidence of their involvement in an attempted coup at Lyon was uncovered they were summoned to the court. They arrived in October for the upcoming Estates General and Condé was arrested for treason. Shortly before the Estates General could meet in December, the young king François died, ending the Lorraine government.
Catherine de' Medici, the young king's mother, moved to the centre of the political stage as de facto regent for her second son Charles IX. To assume this position she negotiated with Navarre, who as premier prince du sang had a right to the regency. He was bought out of the position in return for the release of his brother Condé from captivity, the position of lieutenant-general of the kingdom and several other concessions. The new administration decided to go further than the Lorraine government in moving towards implicit toleration of Protestantism. In opposition to their alienation from the government and the toleration of Protestantism, Guise, Montmorency and another favourite of Henri II, Marshal Saint-André entered into an agreement in April 1561 that has become known to history as the 'Triumvirate'. They agreed to support the preservation of Catholicism and support one another during the current political crisis. 1561 was a major year of growth for Protestantism, and the Protestants became increasingly bold as they saw favour from the crown. As a result, there was much disorder in the kingdom throughout late 1561, particularly in the south of the kingdom, where a state of civil war emerged between Protestants and Catholics. The crown attempted to pacify these troubles with further religious edicts that continued to wind down the persecution of Protestantism without legalising the religion explicitly, however these failed. In late 1561 the colloquy of Poissy attempted to achieve a religious synthesis between Protestantism and Catholicism, however it devolved into acrimony and in the wake of this failure, Guise, Lorraine and many of the other grandees departed from court in October. Around this time there was also an attempt to kidnap Catherine's third son the duc d'Orléans. By the beginning of 1562 Catherine, and her chancellor Michel de L'Hôpital had resolved that formal toleration of Protestantism would be necessary to sooth the troubles in the kingdom, and to this end published the Edict of Saint-Germain on 17 January. The publishing of the edict finished the alienation of the lieutenant-general Navarre from the government of which he was part, and he aligned himself with the 'Triumvirate'. He summoned Guise to come to court and aid in the opposition to the edict. Guise was at this time at Saverne meeting with the duke of Wűrttemberg and upon his return he perpetrated the massacre of Wassy, which shortly preceded the outbreak of the first French War of Religion.
Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis
Death of Henri II
The end of the war with Spain radically changed the distributed of the French gendarmerie, which had in the years of war been concentrated on the frontiers. With compagnies d'ordonnances (ordinance companies) returning to their home provinces, this put at the disposal of the provincial governors a large military force that they had not enjoyed for generations. In prior years, king Henri had declared that not even the king of Navarre was to enjoy an armed guard. Now, all provincial governors had at their disposal hundreds of armed veterans, who travelled with them as large entourages.
The establishment of the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis in April 1559 allowed the French monarchy to turn its attention to domestic Protestant 'heresy'. Indeed, in a court increasingly riven by factionalism between the constable de Montmorency and the king's mistress Diane de Poitiers on the one hand and on the other the house of Lorraine as represented by the duc de Guise and the cardinal de Lorraine the crushing of Protestant heresy was the only point upon which unity existed.
To celebrate the establishment of the peace, and the two marriages contained in its terms (that of Henri's daughter Élisabeth to Philip II of Spain and Henri's sister Marguerite to the duke of Savoy), Henri decided to host a tournament. Henri was an accomplished rider and therefore participated in the jousts (wearing the colours of his mistress Diane - black and white). He successfully rode against the duke of Ferrara, the duc de Guise (duke of Guise) and duc de Nemours before having an indecisive run against the comte de Montgommery (count of Montgommery) captain of his Garde écossaise (Scottish Guard). With the run having lacked a decisive victory, Henri demanded another pass with the reluctant Montgommery, despite the urgings of his wife Catherine. In their second run, Montgommery's lance pierced Henri's visor embedding a shard of wood in his eye. Henri was hurriedly carried to the palais des Tournelles where despite medical attention he died on 10 July. In his final hours, Catherine ensured that Diane was afforded no access to her lovers bedside, and she further kept Montmorency away when her husband was unconscious, though on regaining consciousness Henri would insist on the Constable's return.
Protestants saw the death of their hated persecutor as a sign of divine justice. As their pamphleteers were quick to observe, the very eye with which Henri had vowed to see the Protestant parlementaire (member of the French sovereign court) Anne du Bourg burn had been pierced with a lance. This death brought France into a serious political crisis. In the estimation of Garrisson, it is at this point, and not the 1562 Massacre of Wassy, that the rupture between the noble factions can be observed.
Ascent of François II
With Henri dead, his young son François ascended to the throne as François II. François, though legally of the age to rule, lacked maturity and experience. He was also racked by illness and therefore actual decision making fell to those around him. In the estimation of Le Roux the apparatus of the French state had insufficient strength to operate without a strong king at its centre. The Lorraine brothers had been in discussions with the king's mother Catherine during the final days of Henri II's life and she had assented to them assuming control of François' government. Devastated by the passing of her husband she had little appetite for taking the reins of power herself. Therefore, at the recommendation of his mother, the young king looked to his wife's uncles the duc de Guise and cardinal de Lorraine to lead his administration.
A palace revolution quickly followed, with the Montmorency family pushed from their ascendency alongside the king's mistress Diane de Poitiers. The court was moved from the Tournelles to the Louvre, where the duc de Guise and cardinal de Lorraine assumed control of the apartments that Montmorency and Diane had previously enjoyed the use of. The palace revolution was not however comparable with that which had accompanied the ascent of Henri II to the throne in 1547. The ouster of Diane de Poitiers allowed the Guise to restore the chancellor of France, François Olivier to his charge that he had been denied the exercise of his charge during Diane's ascendency. Olivier had an unimpeachable reputation and the Lorraine brothers hoped to be advantaged by this - while making the chancellor dependant on them. Diane's chancellor Jean Bertrand was therefore disgraced. Diane was compelled to surrender the château de Chenonceaux (in return for Chaumont) and the crown jewels she had received from the late king. The disgrace of Diane was an olive branch of the Lorraine family to Catherine, as though Catherine held considerable antipathy for Diane the former favourite's daughter was married to Guise's brother the duc d'Aumale. As a result, Aumale had protested against her disgrace. While Diane and her daughter the duchesse de Bouillon were exiled from the court, Aumale's wife the duchesse d'Aumale was permitted to remain.
The king's seal, which Montmorency had held, was taken from him while he was still doing his duty to guard the body of the late king. It was transferred to Lorraine. Montmorency further surrendered his charge of grand maître (grand master), but was allowed to maintain the office of Constable and the governorship of Languedoc. The charge of grand maître was one of the most prestigious in the king's household, it granted its holder authority over all the nobles of the court. The charge was removed from him on the pretext of his old age (he was 67). The charge of Constable made Montmorency the de facto head of the French military. Guise assumed the office of grand maître sometime between 14 and 17 November and the English ambassador observed him exercising the role on 3 December. In further consolation to Montmorency, in return for relinquishing the great office of the crown, he received the promotion of his eldest son François to the Marshalate in January 1560.