Guise (Name of a branch of the ducal)

Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)

the name of a branch of the ducal family of Lorraine, which it derives from the town of Guise, in the department of Aisne. CLAUDE OF LORRAINE, first Duke of Guise, fifth son of René II., Duke of Lorraine; born at the château of Condé, Oct. 20, 1496. Attaching himself to Francis I., he fought with distinction at Marignano in 1516; but after that campaign remained at home to defend France against the English and Germans (1522-1523). During the captivity of Francis I., after Pavia, Claude of Guise suppressed the peasant revolt in Francis, Lorraine (1527), for which Fi which after his return home, created him Duke of Guise. He died April 12, 1550. His daughter, MARY OF LORRAINE, born Nov. 22, 1515; in 1538 became the wife of James V. of Scotland. By his death in 1542 she was left a widow with one child, Mary, Queen of Scots. Under the regency of Arran which followed, war broke out between England and Scotland, partly on account of the claims which Henry VIII. made with regard to the infant Mary's marriage, and partly on religious grounds. Mary of Lorraine during those years acted with much wisdom and moderation; but after her own accession to the regency in 1554, she allowed the Guises too much to influence being that the her policy, the result bei Protestant nobles combined against her in 1559. This rebellion, which she was assisted by French troops to repress, continued almost to the time of her death, which took place in Edinburgh Castle, June 10, 1560. FRANCIS, second Duke of Guise, son of the first duke; born in Bar, Feb. 17, 1519; became one of the greatest generals of France. At the siege of Boulogne in 1545 he gained the nickname of Balafré from a severe wound in his face. Seven years later he held Metz gloriously against Charles V. of Germany and thus prevented an invasion of France. He added to his reputation at Renti in 1554, fighting against the troops of Charles V., and in 1556 took command of the expedition against Naples. Recalled in the following year to defend the N. frontier against the English, he took Calais in 1558 and other towns, and brought about the treaty of Château Cambrésis in 1559. He and his brother Charles, the cardinal, probably the most capable man of the Guises, who afterward played a prominent part at the Council of Trent, then managed to possess themselves of all real power during the reign of the weak King Francis II. Putting themselves at the head of the Roman Catholic opposition to the Reformation, they repressed Protestantism with a strong arm. In the war between Huguenots and Catholics Guise and Montmorency won a victory at Dreux in 1562, and the former was besieging Orleans when he was assassinated by by a Huguenot nobleman, on Feb. 18, 1563. HENRY I., third Duke of Guise, son of Francis; born December 31, 1550. Filled by the murder of his father with bitter hatred of the Protestants, he fought fiercely against them, at Jarnac in March, 1569, and Moncontour in October, 1569, and in the same year forced Coligny to raise the siege of Poitiers. He was one of the contrivers of the massacre of St. Bartholomew, August 24, 1572, in which he personally made sure that Coligny should be slain; and subsequently he put himself at the head of the Catholic League. He had, however, a greater ambition, that of succeeding to the throne of France, for in respect of real power he was already the equal, or rather the superior, of the feeble King Henry III., whose commands he set at naught and whom he so deeply humiliated that the king procured his assassination at Blois, Dec. 23, 1588. HENRY II., fifth Duke of Guise, grandson of Henry I.; born in Blois, April 4, 1614. He was destined for the Church, and at the age of 15 became Archbishop of Rheims, but in 1640, on the death of his elder brother, he succeeded to the dukedom. Having joined the league against Richelieu, he was condemned by the parliament of Paris to capital punishment, but found refuge in Flanders. He put himself at the head of Masaniello's revolt in Naples as the representative of the Anjou family, but was taken prisoner by the Spanish forces in 1647, and carried to Madrid, where he After another remained five years. fruitless attempt to win Naples in 1654, he settled at Paris and lived the life of a courtier. He died in Paris, June 2, 1664.