Henry II: Intensification and Tragedy

Henry II (r. 1547-1559) continued his father's policies while intensifying both Italian involvement and religious persecution. His reign demonstrated the later Valois pattern of military competence undermined by fiscal strain and religious division. His accidental death in a tournament initiated the succession crisis that would merge with religious conflict to produce civil war.

The final phase of the Italian Wars saw modest French gains. The capture of Calais from England (1558) avenged centuries of humiliation and secured France's northern frontier. The Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis (1559), while abandoning Italian claims, confirmed French possession of Metz, Toul, and Verdun—strategically valuable bishoprics. These realistic achievements contrasted with earlier grandiose ambitions, showing matured assessment of French capabilities.

Domestic religious persecution intensified dramatically. The Edict of Châteaubriant (1551) created comprehensive machinery for detecting and punishing heresy. Special courts, surveillance of book trades, and rewards for denunciation created an atmosphere of religious terror. The Parlement of Paris's creation of the Chambre Ardente exclusively for heresy trials showed institutional commitment to persecution. Yet repression failed to stop Protestantism's growth; organized Reformed churches appeared throughout France by the 1550s.

Henry II's administrative innovations continued centralizing trends. The creation of présidiaux courts (1552) intermediate between local courts and parlements improved judicial administration while raising revenue through office sales. Military reforms, including attempts to create national infantry, pointed toward standing armies independent of noble contingents. Financial expedients, particularly increased office sales and forced loans, addressed chronic deficits while storing future problems.

The king's death from a tournament injury (1559) created the power vacuum that allowed religious and political tensions to explode. The accidental nature of his death—a broken lance piercing his eye—seemed to contemporaries a divine judgment on persecution or royal magnificence, depending on perspective. The succession of three minor or weak sons would transform manageable tensions into revolutionary crisis.