March 26, 1554 birth of Charles of Lorraine , Duke of Mayenne. He was the second son and third child of Francis, Duke of Guise and Anne d'Este. His mother was the daughter of Ercole II D'este and Renee of France making him the great-grandson of Louis XII. His father was the brother of Marie of Guise, and Uncle of Mary Queen of Scots.
his siblings:
-Henry I Duke of Guise: was founder of the Catholic league, trying to stop Henry of Navarre from coming to the throne. He was assassinated by bodyguards of Henry III.He was married to Catherine of Cleves. Catherine was a first cousin of Henry of Navarre, and sister in law to the Prince of Conde. The couple had 14 children and he was succeeded by his son Charles.
-Catherine: married Louis, Duke of Montpensier.
-Louis II, Cardonal of Guise: He was assassinated due to his support of his bother Henry, the day after Henry. His bastard son Louis would be legimtized and make Prince of Lexin. Louis married Henriette de Lorraine daughter of Francis II of Lorraine and Claude of France.
-Antoine died at 3
-Francois died at 14
-Maximillien died at
He also had three half siblings. His mother Anne married Jacques, Duke of Nemours 3 years after Charles' father died, in 1566. He was an ally. They had 2 sons and 1 daughter.
-Charles Emmanuel-he quarrelled over making peace with Henry IV with Charles. He attempted to gain independence for his land from the crown. He was imprisoned by the archbishop of Lyon but escaped. He died unmarried and without any children.
-Marguerite died at age three
-Henry- succeeded his brother as duke in 1595. He married Anne of Lorraine, daughter of Charles de Lorraine, Duke of Aumale. He had three sons, but he was succeeded by all three. His youngest son died without children, and the Duchy reverted to the crown. A niece inherited one of his lower titles.
Charles was off fighting the Turks when the St Bartholomew massacre happened. He was a supporter of it though and he accompanied Henry III when he went to Poland to become king. He had been named a peer of the realm before they left. He returned to France where he was a loyal supporter of his brother Henry. After the murder of his two brothers, he was the new head of the Catholic league in France.
After the death of Henry III there were calls for him to claim to the throne. He instead backed Cardinal Charles de Borbon, son of Charles IV de Bourbon, duke of Vendôme. The argument made was that with the death of Henry IIII, the claim should pass to the Borbon-Vendome line for which Charles was the senior claimant. And as a catholic, unlike Henry IV, his claim was supported by many nobles and foreign catholic rulers. Charles had the backing of the Duke of Parma and King Philip II of Spain but he had his doubts about the intentions of Philip.
When the cardinal died, again there was a push for him to be king. But he lacked the charm and political prowess of his brother Henry. Or the popularity of the people. He would have relied on Philip II to put him on the throne. While claiming to support Philip II's idea to put Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenie on the throne (Isabella was Philip's daughter with Elizabeth Valois) he made peace with Henry IV temporarily. Henry IV converted to catholocism. The peace didn't last and he proceeded to try and take Dijon but was defeated by Henry IV. They made peace in 1595 with Charles being given Chalon-sur-Saône, his son Henry was made governor of Ile-de-France and the king paid an edemnity to him.
He was married to Henriette of Savoy. Henriette was the daughter of Honorat II of Savoy. She was Marquis of Villars following her father.
they had four children:
-Renee- she married Mario Sforza and had children.
-Henri- succeeded his father as Duke of Mayenne. He was married to Henriette daughter of Louis Gonzaga, Duke of Nevers. He died childless and was succeeded by his nephew.
-Charles Emmanuel- count of Sommerive. Died at 28 unmarried.
-Catherine- married Charles I Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua. Charles was the brother of Catherine's sister in law Henriette. The couple had six children. Her second son Charles succeeded his Uncle Henri as Duke of Mayenne.
