wars of the huguenots, 1562-1598

Marguerite de Valois is considered the most beautiful woman in the French Court in 1565 and is in love with Henri of Guise, but her mother, Catherine de Medici, and brothers have other plans, forcing Marguerite to marry Henry of Navarre, and leading Marguerite and her new husband into a hostage situation in the midst of the Massacre of Saint Bartholomew.

Explains the evangelical and Lutheran origins of the Huguenot Church in France, challenges simplistic interpretations of the religious conflict as purely a cloak for political rebellion, provides concise analyses of the wars themselves, and evaluates the extent of France's recovery under Henry IV.