Guise

Guise, dynasty of French nobility, a branch of the ducal House of Lorraine. Its members were among the most prominent soldiers and statesmen in French politics of the 16th century. Claude de Lorraine, Comte de Guise, had a distinguished military career in the service of Francis I. In the early 1520s his victories against the English and the forces of the Holy Roman Empire brought generous royal recognition. After Francis I was taken prisoner at the Battle of Pavia in 1525, Claude de Lorraine served on the council of regency and was rewarded in 1527 with the title Duc de Guise, becoming the premier nobleman in France. In the following 60 years the power and influence of the Guise line often rivalled that of the Crown itself.

François de Lorraine, son of Claude de Lorraine and 2nd Duc de Guise, was the most remarkable French soldier and statesman of his period. In the 1550s, under King Henry II, his military successes included the defence of Metz against Charles V, and major victories over Imperial, Spanish, and English forces. Under Francis II he was appointed grand master of the royal household, effectively ruling the country together with his brother Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine. The Guises' powerful position and anti-Huguenot policies evoked opposition from the rival Bourbon faction (who aligned themselves with the Protestant Huguenots), and in 1560 a plot to overthrow them, led by Louis I de Bourbon, Prince de Condé, was discovered and brutally suppressed. The Bourbons nevertheless ousted the Guises from royal favour following Charles IX's accession in 1560 and the regency of his mother, Catherine de Médicis. In March 1561 François de Guise, with Marshal Anne de Montmorency and Jacques de Saint-André, became joint leader of the Catholic party opposed to the regency and its stance of religious toleration. In 1562 the massacre of Huguenots at Wassy by François de Guise's soldiers was a flashpoint for the French Wars of Religion. Guise himself was murdered in 1563 by a Huguenot assassin.

Henri I de Lorraine succeeded his father as 3rd Duc de Guise. Henri's leadership of the Catholic party and his desire to avenge his father's death brought about his involvement in the infamous massacre of St Bartholomew's day in 1572. When in 1576 King Henry III made peace with the Huguenots, the Duc de Guise responded by establishing a Catholic alliance known as the Holy League with the intention of continuing the religious conflict. Disbanded in 1577, the League was revived to counter the threat of a Protestant, Henri de Navarre, assuming the throne, initiating the so-called “War of the Three Henrys”. Riding a groundswell of popular support, Guise could have taken control of Paris and gained the crown for himself, but forfeited this by allowing Henry III to escape the mob on the Day of Barricades (May 12, 1588). In December 1588, at Blois, Henry III had Guise assassinated.

Thereafter the family's fortunes quickly declined. Henri I's son Charles de Lorraine, 4th Duc de Guise, was imprisoned for three years after his father's death. He served King Henry IV (the former Henri de Navarre) for a time as governor of Provence, but in 1631 was forced into exile in Italy. His brother, Henri II de Lorraine, 5th Duc de Guise, made numerous failed attempts to gain power, both in France and in Naples. He had no sons, and by 1675 the Guise line was extinct.