The principal conspirators along with Prince Code where Jean du Barry and Lord Renaudie, a Calvinist nobleman. Renaudie loathed the Guise as he believed they where responsible for the execution of a relative, he gained 500 plotters for the conspiracy, all members of the old word-nobility, who wanted ‘to return the government of the kingdom to its ancient and legitimate form.’ However he used forged letters of support supposedly coming form John Calvin. The supporters of the conspiracy were encouraged to help capture the king. This shows a great amount of prejudice towards the Guise and a great amount of anti-Guise behaviour, which causes greater factionalism within the court and allows Protestants and Catholics to gain different advantages, like the Protestants supporting the Bourbons.
However the plot was discovered, as Renaudie was not discreet enough about the conspiracy and the plot was discovered. The rebels where captured and dealt with brutally, which shows that treason of any type would not be tolerated. Although the conspirators claimed their conspiracy was not against the king but against the Guise, it was seen as treason and they were dealt with. However the brutality that the crown dealt with the rebels made Huguenots more extreme and more prepared to appeal to foreign Protestant princes for assistant.
The crown was weak as it is shown in the Tumult of Aboise as rebels where able to rise against the king even if it was defeated, they did plan to capture the king and stop Guise influence. Therefore religious conflict between the Protestant and Catholic was something the crown did not want at this time; therefore they tried to prevent it by calling a nation council of the French Church. The council met at Poissy in 1561 and they wanted to try to find a compromise between the Catholic Church and French Protestants. The meeting involved discussions between Catholic and Calvinist representatives known as the Colloquy of Poissy. However the Calvinist representative, Theodore de Beze, took an uncompromising stand. This shows that at the time Protestants did not want to compromise their views, even when the crown became involved they would not compromise. This both shows the weakness of the crown and shows that Protestants are prepared to fight for their beliefs, which cause further tension in the French kingdom. It seems that the Tumult of Aboise lead up to the Colloquy of Poissy, because of the tension it caused between Protestants and Catholics. The Protestants supported the Bourbons as the Guise where Catholic and this caused more tension between the two religions and the two aristocratic groups.
However in January 1562 the monarchy issued the Edict of St Germain, which stated that Huguenots where allowed to hold their meetings throughout France, except inside walled towns. This shows that although Huguenots are giving the freedom to worship and hold meetings they are still not accepted in society as they are banned from towns. This shows that the crown where trying to come to a compromise at this time, and they where prepared to let them worship outside town walls to keep the peace. However the compromise did not help the situation as the Duke of Guise’s troops opened fire on a Huguenot religious meeting as it was within the walls of Vassy. The meeting was illegal because of the 1562 Edict of St Germain, which stated they could not practice inside walls. However the brutality that was used on the Huguenots from the Duke of Guise and his soldiers was not necessary, as the Huguenots would not have fought back. This shows the Catholics wanted to cause conflict as this event started of a civil war in Castile that the crown had to deal with; they were not prepared to compromise.
It seems that the Tumult of Aboise was an important factor in causing civil war as it lead to the 1561 Colloquy of Poissy and the 1562 Edict of St Germain, which in return lead to civil war because of St Bartholomew’s Days Massacre.
However there are a number of other factors that helped contribute to the conflict between the two religions, which cause civil war in France. With the death of Henry II on the 30th June 1559 the heir to the throne was Francis II, however he was a sick and weakly king, which allowed the Guise to take influence over him. Therefore they can implement their thoughts and opinions on the King, which in return will be issued to the whole of the country which caused greater amounts of tension. The Guise where Catholics therefore their opinions will be anti-Huguenots and will cause greater tension between the two religions.
However the Guise control of the King also caused greater tension at court, which increased factionalism. This is one of the reasons the Bourbons tried to capture the king in the Tumoult of Aboise as they wanted to stop the Guise control over the King, however this did not work and the Guise accused the Bourbons of trying to kill the king. The factions wanted to gain influence over the king not because they wanted to stop conflict in the country but because they wanted to gain power over the king. As this meant they would gain clientage which would make them more respected and more wealthy. The hold the Guise had on the king caused a great amount of tension between the aristocratic factions in court, and helped cause the civil war which gradually lead to the French Wars of Religion.
However there were other conflicts in France at this time as in the 1550s Protestantism began to grow and they wanted to spread their religion and gain more supporters. However the main religion up until now was Catholicism and it was the religion of the Pope, therefore they did not want Protestants spreading their faith and making people question Catholicism. This meant there was great tension between the two groups, which could and would eventually cause civil war.
The Tumoult of Amboise was a very important factor as it helped create greater tension in France at a time when the crown was weak, and there was great religious tension. This meant the atmosphere was ready to explode and with the crown been weak at this time due to 15 year old Francis II, the Duke of Guise made things worse at the St Bartholomew day Massacre, as this create civil war. This was the beginning of the French Wars of Religion. The Tumoult of Amboise is very important as it seems like the starting factor which helped cause the French Wars of Religion, as it was the beginning conspiracy that started certain events.
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