Mary Su Stuart

In the autumn of 1581, the King and Queen of France finally made up their minds to prepare for a public showdown in the High Court, promulgating a new royal succession law, which was intended to discuss the possibility that a queen would rule France in the future.

From the Merovingian dynasty to the Carolingian dynasty to the Capetian dynasty to the Valois dynasty, the Frankish-West Frankish-French kingdom has never had a female monarch.But in the final analysis, it is actually only the "Duke of Paris" who engages in the practice of only male inheritance; other feudal leaders such as Aquitaine Burgundy... female heiresses are all legal and valid.Therefore, the powerful monarch believes that "jurisprudence" is not the biggest problem.

As for the attitude of the Gordon Court, Francois is quite sure.In France, the monarch's decrees or wills require the approval and signature of the Supreme Court to take effect.Francois chose to "discuss" with them at the first stop, which is also to show their "sincerity".Not to mention, in the past ten years, he has promoted many nobles in robes, and he has cooperated happily with all of you on financial matters, especially with the full support of Lobitard——

The justice said: "Although I am old, I would rather fight to the death for your Majesty's cause." Loyalty is beyond doubt.Of course he also hoped: "Unify the two sides of the strait, if your Majesty has a son, it will be perfect." However, he still admires and respects the queen who "does not want to conceive again".He was very frank: "The Duke of Orleans is worthy of being the crown prince, but unfortunately he also has no children; the Duke of Anjou and the Duke of Alençon are not as humble and studious as the 11-year-old princess, and they are lenient to others, and they may not be able to stabilize France." It can be described as quite pragmatic.

And François's younger brothers... especially the Duke of Orleans, who was most closely connected with the succession to the throne, happened to encounter a sad incident and became more and more shaken.

The Duchess of Orleans, Princess Anna of Austria, had a miscarriage a few days ago and was depressed.Charlie is very sad: his wife and his only mistress have been pregnant three times in more than ten years, and now only the eldest daughter survives...

Catherine also shed a few tears for this.The queen mother even wondered whether the Valois male had suffered some kind of curse—the Duke of Anjou Henry and his wife in Poland also searched for strange people everywhere, but so far they have not found anything; , Playing with flowers, unexpectedly I didn't see an illegitimate child/daughter?

The mother and son stayed in Paris all the year round, tied to His Majesty the King, shrouded in his influence, and under his frequent instigation, gradually believed that if the blood of "Henry II the Heroic" was not passed on to the French throne, It will be a very sad tragedy.As for Henry, François’ younger brother who lives in Poland, he loves pleasure and is indifferent to government affairs. Even Montmorency, who assisted him, was sent home in anger; Even if the forces support it, just pass through the Qi, don't worry about it for the time being...

François had a wishful thinking, and while they were silent and hesitant to object, he waited for an opportunity to finalize the order of succession.Of course, if the situation is not good, he can not force Vivienne to be crown prince immediately, but first confirm that his daughter has the inheritance right, and then continue to plan further in the future.

Well, in terms of public opinion, the king and his wife have manipulated the official newspapers these years, bragging about the great achievements or noble virtues of various female monarchs, lords and heiresses.The public opinion base is more or less there...

Unexpectedly, at the time when François and Marie were trying their best to go to the High Court to talk, make a "first trial" and make a good start; the seemingly "supreme" royal power and the central government suddenly encountered a round of onslaught.

In September 1581, a guy named Stephen Brutus (probably a pseudonym) published an "Apology of the People's Right to Oppose Tyrants". pause. 【Note 9】

This article was written in Latin, fermented from the territory of Vendome, and was quickly translated into various languages.It declares: first, the government should be a covenant formed by God, the people and the monarch, and the ultimate goal is to maintain and obey the true religion (it simply specifies that it is Protestantism); second, the government is the relationship between the monarch and the people. The agreement: The monarch must govern the country impartially; the subjects must be respectful and submissive, each perform their own duties, and must follow the first sacred law of nature.

In short, the monarch is a tool to implement the divine law, not a master.A monarch who does not act according to this principle should be deposed.As for who will evaluate the king's right and wrong, who can determine whether he/she belongs to the tyrant who should be deposed?Oh, not the common masses (rabble), "they are like monsters with ten thousand heads".It is better to let the "local governor" judge, or let a parliamentary group such as the National Congress decide.

When Mary read it, she found it very meaningful!

First of all, this article, in the eyes of future generations like her, is quite desirable.It has the idea of ​​elevating the status of the people: "The people are one and should be considered as the absolute master and proprietor of the kingdom".It opposes the sanctification of monarchy.It has also initially realized that "universal suffrage" is insufficient, and the people's (elite) congress is relatively more authoritative...

Of course, the Queen of France is also aware of the background and significance of her birth: During the reign of Francois II, he tried his best to promote the process of social secularization and suppress religious fanatics (or those with ulterior motives) who like violent resistance; Forces (including feudal lords and urban self-government factions)—groups whose interests have been harmed are finally unwilling to be silent and want to speak out for themselves.

Just say it, the king of a country is not the RMB (no, it is called Lifer here), it is really liked by all the people...

At another time, Mary might be more lenient, and maybe engage in a face-to-face debate competition like she did with Knox back then, instead of just talking about it in the newspapers today.However, this possible new storm, a sudden and severe attack on the crown, would probably affect her and François's recent deployment of her daughter's succession.

Tsk, why are you hitting this juncture.

"They made it clear that they used religious power to attack the royal power and violated the majesty of the central government with local power." Mary was a little depressed. "Maybe, it's not a good time for us to 'discuss' the inheritance bill with the High Court."

Francois said firmly: "Absolutely, definitely not a good time."

Huh?

He said softly: "We, Bourbon, the Duke of Vendôme and the Prince of Condé may start a war in the near future..."

Mary expressed doubts: "It's just an article right now."

"The "Declaration" spread from 'there' is a signal of trouble." Francois said firmly.

Mary stared at him, suddenly awake. "Did you do something? Ever since that Henry returned to his domain, he has had less and less contact with Margo and the court. Last year, you flatly refused Queen Jeanne to let Margo go to La Rochelle and her husband." Application for reunion—”

Francois resolutely fell to his wife's ear, and said slowly in a voice that only she could hear:

"I've been thinking that with a mother like that, the Duke of Vendôme, sooner or later she'd have to go back to the Protestant faith."

"After all, the Bourbon family is increasingly marginalized in this court, and they are getting further and further away from power. If they don't win over the Huguenots, they may decline faster."

"The Queen of Navarre is old now, but the Duke of Vendôme and the Prince of Condé are young and vigorous, especially the Duke of Vendome has no legitimate children...I wish they would gather Protestant forces and local forces to challenge me in a hurry. In this way, I can justifiably send troops to scour out Bourbon's sores. And, by the way, I may also clean up what is left of Navarre."

"I only hope that Henry announces his abandonment of the Holy See as soon as possible. I look forward to them firing the first shot as soon as possible. I deliberately urged the old church people to enter their territory, especially their stronghold La Rochelle, to provoke those fanatics; I have been preparing for a long time, and I will not hesitate to force them to openly provoke civil strife, so that in the future, I will completely wipe them out in the name of countering the rebellion—”

At this time, he sighed with regret. "It's just that I didn't expect it to happen at this time."

Although Mary was equally regretful, she took him by the arm and comforted him softly: "You have done enough. The political situation cannot be controlled by you alone. Thinking about it from another angle, if you can solve them in the past two years; Enacting a new succession bill will only get less resistance."

With his wife's support and understanding, Francois felt a little better. "Well, the next religious civil war... I'm afraid it will drag down the development of the kingdom again."

Mary also sincerely regretted it, but felt that Francois's radical approach was actually justified.In her case, she would probably prefer to sacrifice a period of national interests for the purpose of centralizing power.In an instant, another extreme case popped up in her mind: It was rumored that Roosevelt "connivated" the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor despite deciphering the war signal, just to teach the domestic anti-war faction to shut up?

Francois is also bemoaning the naval problem. "Because of these drags... not to mention Spain and Portugal, England is almost building a new fleet, but France has not entered the era of the ocean, and the ships are still so old." He gritted his teeth again as he spoke. "It's all due to Collini, who dominates his position and has never done anything serious!"

Mary was a little bit ironic.This was obviously an act of anger, and Coligny had not been an admiral for many years.Francois's court claims to pay attention to armaments, but the focus is still on the development of land power.The Commander of the Navy, Donville, Tavarna, Montpensier, etc. took office like a lantern, and was replaced soon after.Although the current Marshal Corse has satisfied the queen mother, the king and the Cardinal of Lorraine are always suspicious of his friendship with Coligny...

Mary stroked his hand and said softly, "It doesn't matter. I believe that the difficult period of internal friction will pass soon. With time, your ideal will eventually come true."

She twitched the corner of her mouth. "Besides, Coligny accompanied William of Orange-Nassau to the Netherlands not long ago, and we have to wait until we come back to get involved. We can use..."

François clenched his fists and almost lost his composure in front of his wife. "What the Netherlands, just found out, that guy has 'sneaked' back to France!"

At this moment, the enemies of the French monarchy, the Duke of Vendôme and the Queen of Navarre, their cousin, the Prince of Condé, and the governor of Picardy, Coligny, are gathering together to plot important matters. .

"Although it's a bit hasty, we can no longer swallow our anger at the moment." Jean Na's tone was affirmative. "Over the years, many schools for the formation of old church priests have sprung up in France, all of which are trained by the Jesuits [Note [-]] to oppose Protestantism. Now, the most stubborn and insidious old Christians are gradually infiltrating the territory of Vendôme. An attempt was also made to invade Navarre. For the great cause of Protestantism, we should rid ourselves of these scourges as soon as possible..."

"I suspect that these guys are ordered by the king." Collini said. "There are probably quite a few spies among them who want to drag the local people back into the cage of blind idol worship with those outmoded old views, so that they will gradually lose their fighting spirit and self, and mindlessly submit to the Holy See and the autocrats; ; the despotic power of the monarch."

"They forgot who is their lord." The Duke of Vendome gritted his teeth. "Those who have evil intentions must be taught a lesson. Also, the royal family should see our strength."

"Isn't it?" Prince Condé agreed. "Nowadays, the court is dominated by extreme old believers like Guise. Those courtiers and thieves who pursue foreign queens, from time to time want to tie us, clan nobles, into their management circle. It is too much to meddle in local affairs!"

Jeanna was a little excited, her face flushed slightly. "So what, the truth is on our side! Today, the "Manifesto" has ignited the anger of people's rebellion. Let us hold the "Bible" in one hand and raise the sword in the other to punish those conspirators and those who are evil. Accomplice!"

The Duke of Vendôme nodded vigorously. "My beloved mother, you are right. If you don't fight back now, when will you wait!"

In the winter of 1581, the royal patriarch Henri de Bourbon publicly announced that he had since converted to Protestantism.And his territories, including the Kingdom of Navarre, welcomed all Huguenots.He vowed to protect the people's "freedom of belief".He said he would do everything in his power to fight for the "noble and divine laws of nature" throughout his life.

He quickly showed his determination, as well as his ability to act boldly.In that month, he "exercised his sovereignty" and arbitrarily dismissed some local officials on the grounds that they were "suspected of discriminating against and persecuting Protestants"; Go for those vacancies.

Moreover, accompanied and supported by Coligny, he gave a public speech, calling the Jesuits an "illegal organization" and a vicious dog kept by the Holy See. All missionary activities should be stopped and he should leave France/Navarra quickly.The Duke of Vendôme, who did what he said, quickly launched a purge against the "fanatic old believers" within the territory of him and his mother.For a while, inside and outside the city, there was a real restlessness.

Influenced by this important patriarch and spiritual call, Huguenot believers also took to the streets in many areas outside of Paris, besieging old churches and other religious places, and even storming the city hall, calling for "freedom of belief" and blocking Physical altercations erupted between the protesters - the more violent the closer they got to the south of France.

For this reason, Francois said that he "has had enough."The French king, known for his generosity and kindness and protection of dissidents during the Crown Prince period, and the queen submitted an application to the High Court for an increase in military expenditure.The central government in Paris finally decided to use the standing army to suppress all rebellions in the country that created chaos in the name of religion.

Since then, the first and last major civil war during the reign of François II kicked off.

The author has something to say: [Note 7] The content of the article about the "Declaration" is quoted from "Story of Civilization [-]"

【Note 1534】The Society of Jesus was founded in Paris in 16 by the Spaniard Ignatius Loyola. Catholicism, and the backbone to contend with Protestantism.The Society of Jesus is a religious order established according to the establishment of the army. It is a religious group with strict organization, strict discipline and full of combat effectiveness, also known as "Jesus Company", which is highly valued by the upper ruling class.