Francis, Duke of Guise

Francis, Duke of Guise, was one of the leading French soldiers and Catholic nobles of the mid-sixteenth century. He defended Metz against Charles V, captured Calais from the English in 1558 and dominated the government during the reign of his nephew by marriage, Francis II. As religious conflict intensified, Guise became a chief opponent of the Huguenots. He was assassinated during the siege of Orléans in 1563, deepening the cycle of factional revenge.

Guise appears in Alexandre Dumas’s The Two Dianas and in historical novels about Mary, Queen of Scots and the French Wars of Religion. Fiction often presents him as the military arm of an ambitious family, in contrast to the political manoeuvring of his brother Cardinal Charles. His role in the massacre at Wassy is frequently used as the dramatic opening of civil war, though responsibility and intention are debated.

Dorothy Dunnett’s Checkmate is set in 1557, Lymond returns to French service during the final phase of the Italian Wars and helps the forces of Henry II recover Calais from England. Ken Follett’s A Column of Fire is set in 1558, Ned Willard returns to Kingsbridge hoping to marry Margery Fitzgerald, but their families stand on opposing sides of England’s religious division.