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 CHARLES (FRANCE) 287 a new man ; he distinguished himself by wis- dom, prudence, and bravery ; he achieved the task which had been commenced by others, and partly deserved the glorious appellation which has been attached to his name. Peace was reestablished, order and tranquillity pre- vailed, and prosperity revived throughout the kingdom. A regular army was organized from 1439 to 1448 ; the finance department, the ad- ministration of justice, and the other branches of the government were put on a better footing. In many of his reforms Charles was assisted by Jacques Coeur, the richest and most enterpri- sing merchant of the time, whom he had made minister of finance. The improved condition of the country secured the sympathies and, on the renewal of hostilities, the assistance even of those provinces which were still held by the English. Consequently, in the space of a few months, the foreigners were expelled from Nor- mandy and Guienne; and in 1453 the whole of France had returned to its native king, ex- cept Calais, which alone remained for another century in the hands of the English. In this great work Charles VII. had been powerfully assisted by the popular feeling, the prominent representatives of which were Joan of Arc, the heroine, and Jacques Coeur, the merchant ; to both he proved ungrateful, leaving the former at the mercy of the English, without the slightest attempt at her liberation, and pro- scribing the latter, to whose financial assistance he was especially indebted. The celebrated pragmatic sanction, which secured the freedom and privileges of the Gallican church against the encroachments of the Koman see, was negotiated by him in 1438. His later years were embittered by the intrigues and rebellions of the dauphin, the future Louis XI. ; his fear of being poisoned by his son became so over- whelming, that he finally refused to take any food, and died of starvation. CHARLES VIII., the seventh king of the house of Valois, born at Amboise, June 30, 1470, died April 7, 1498. Being only 13 years of age on the death of his father, Louis XL, his eldest sister, Anne de Beaujeu, seized the reins of government, overpowered Louis of Orleans and his associates, who attempted to resist her, and ruled France in peace and prosperity till her brother became of age. The chivalric romances and accounts of Charlemagne's he- roic deeds had imbued his weak mind with the idea that it was his mission to restore the Roman empire, and to take Constantinople from the Turks. At the head of a powerful army he entered Italy in 1494, triumphantly marched through the peninsula, and took pos- session of Naples. Satisfied with his military exploits, he left a part of his army in Naples, and hurried home with a select body of about 9,000 soldiers. When in the neighborhood of Parma, he encountered at Fornovo an army of 40,000 Italians, whom he routed (July 6, 1495), and triumphantly reentered France. He soon learned that his army had been defeated by 173 VOL. iv. 19 the Spaniards under Gonzalvo de Cordova, and that the kingdom of N aples had returned to its old allegiance (1496). He was planning a new expedition when he suddenly expired from the etfects of an apparently trifling accident. CHARLES IX., the twelfth king of the family of Valois, born at St. Germain-en-Laye, June 27, 1550, died May 30, 1574. The second son of Henry II. and Catharine de' Medici, he suc- ceeded his brother, Francis II., Dec. 5, 1560, when only 10 years old, under the regency of his mother. The hatred between the Catholics and the Protestants had been growing for years past; an attempt at conciliation through the conference of Poissy having proved a failure, hostilities soon broke out. The Protestants re- sorted to arms, headed by the prince of Cond6. After being successful in the first encounters, they were defeated at Dreux in 1562 by the duke of Guise, who was assassinated a few months later while besieging Orleans. A treaty of peace, known as the edict of Amboise, was concluded March 19, 1563, between the regent and the leaders of the insurgents. The war was renewed in 1567, when the Protes- tants were again defeated at St. Denis by Mont- morency. A new peace intervened, which was of very short duration, the enemies being again in the field toward the middle of 1568. This third war was signalized by the battles of Jarnac (March 13, 1569) and Moncontour (Oct. 3), won by Henry, duke of Anjou, the younger brother of the king ; then peace, now believed to be final, returned again. The king himself, Queen Catharine de' Medici, and the whole court, seemed to be reconciled to the Protestant party; Coligni was received with great honor by his young sovereign, who fondly called him "father," and required his advice in the administration of the government; the king of Navarre, afterward Henry IV., married the king' s sister, Margaret; the other Protestant chiefs were welcomed at the court. Charles IX., above all, tried to foster concord and friendship between the recent enemies, so that those uninitiated in the secret councils of the court were assured that all were safe, when sud- denly it was reported that Admiral Coligni had been shot by a man commonly known as the king's assassin. This was an awful warning, but it was too late for the Protestants to take meas- ures for their security; they were unarmed and defenceless. About daybreak on Aug. 24, St. Bartholomew's day, 1572, at a signal given from the Louvre, the Catholics of Paris rose in arms and mercilessly slaughtered their opponents, who had confided in the word of the king. It is difficult to determine what was the part of Charles IX. in the fatal deed. He seems to have acted under the pernicious in- fluence of Catharine de' Medici. This terrible woman drew from him the frantic exclamation, which was construed as an order : " Well, then, kill them all, that not a single Huguenot may live to reproach me with their death ! " He frequently afterward manifested signs of deep