Catholic League

In Marlowe’s drama The Massacre at Paris, the Catholic League is mentioned several times. It was founded in Nancy in September 1584 under the leadership of the Duke of Guise. Their primary goal was to prevent the Huguenot Henri de Navarre from ascending to the throne. Besides Navarre, the only legitimate successor to the present monarch was his uncle, Charles de Bourbon, a cardinal of almost 60 years. Within a very short time, leagues were formed throughout the country, some of which operated independently. Whereas until now only Catholics and Huguenots had faced each other in battle, the duke and his followers gradually established a third party in the Wars of Religion. On 30 March 1585, the League published the Manifesto of Péronne. Although Henri III and his mother were accused in it of having tolerated the Huguenots in France for too long, it became clear that the religious question was taking a back seat. The high nobility felt robbed of its supremacy by the monarch’s policy of favouritism, which it was no longer willing to accept. However, as the Crown lacked the financial means to stand up to the League, Caterina de' Medici was sent to the negotiating table in April. The Duke of Guise was playing for time as his troops drew ever closer to the capital. The Treaty of Nemours was signed on 7 July. The practice of the Huguenot faith in France was prohibited, Navarre excluded from the succession. It was not only at home that the League received great support. On the advice of his minister Don Juan de Zúñiga, Philip II decided to support Guise. On 31 December 1584, the secret Treaty of Joinville was signed, which Pope Sixtus V later also ratified. Together they wanted to eradicate Protestantism in France and the Netherlands. The future French king would have to terminate the alliance with the Ottomans, as well as refrain from boarding Spanish ships. For this, Spain would pay up to 600,000 Écus. In addition, Katharina Michaela, the daughter of Philip II and Elisabeth de Valois, was to take over Henri III’s crown after his death.¹ This was completely contrary to the Salic Law, for the enforcement of which France had, after all, put up with the Hundred Years' War with England.