1.1b.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1a.2.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1a.1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1.1.1a Gaspard II de Coligny , Ammiraglio di Francia* 
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| Birth |
1519, CHATILLION SUR LOING, FRANCE |
| Death |
25 Aug 1572, PARIS, FRANCE |
Coligny, Gaspard II de (1519-1572),
French Huguenot noble, who was prominent in the wars of religion in Valois
France. He was born at Chatillon-sur-Long on Feb. 16, 1519. A member of the
powerful Chatillon family, he held the title of Count de Coligny. Coligny grew
up at the court of Francois I, where he was the companion of the future King
Henri Valois, later Henry II. After Henry was crowned in 1547, he made Coligny
Lieutenant General, Governor of Paris and the Ile-de France, and in 1552 Admiral
of France. Colingy served the crown heroically against Emperor Charles V and
negotiated the Truce of Vaucelles in 1556.
Coligny was captured by the Spaniards at St. Quentin in 1557, and his subsequent
imprisonment marks a turning point in his career. His reading of Scripture
during this period, and perhaps a prior inclination, brought about his
conversion to Calvinism. He deferred his public profession of faith, however,
until 1559. That year Henry II was killed in an accident, and France was left
with a boy King, Francis II. French Calvinism faced a zealously Catholic party
headed by the Duke de Guise, and civil war seemed imminent. For the next 13
years Coligny sought to protect Calvinism while preserving the peace. Unlike
many of his peers, the Admiral had no feudal ambitions and sought honestly to
serve both the Monarchy and his faith. But religious antipathies unchecked by
the weak Monarchy, made his task impossible.
Francis II was dominated by his Guise advisers, so Coligny's
appeals for religious toleration went unheeded. Guise's massacre of Huguenots
worshipers at Vassy in 1562 precipitated the first War of Religion, in which
Coligny reluctantly fought. The Peace of Amboise (March 1563) only temporarily
soothed religious passions. The assassination of Francois de Guise by a Huguenot
was unjustly blamed on Coligny by Guise's son, who swore vengeance against the
Admiral.
Coligny withdrew to his estates while Charles IX and the Queen mother Catherine
de Medicis toured France (1564-1566). But the bad faith of both parties in
thereligious struggle revived the civil war in 1568, and Coligny fought ably as
the Lieutenant of the Prince de Conde. When Conde was killed at Jarnac in 1569,
Coligny assumed leadership of the Huguenot Party. His perseverance in the face
of continued defeat finally forced a stalemate. The Peace of St. Germain (1570)
granted the Calvinists freedom of conscience, freedom of worship in two cities
of each province, and also four fortified cities.
In September 1571 Coligny was recalled to court. He soon acquired influence over
Charles IX, who was uncomfortable under the domination of his mother, Queen
Catherine de Medicis. The Admiral persuaded Charles to try to unite the nation
by supporting the Low Countries in their revolt against Spain. Catherine and the
Duke de Guise were opposed to this move since it involved the danger of renewed
war with Spain and challenged Catherine's influence over her son. Before the new
Royal policy could be implemented, Catherine and Guise planned Coligny's
assassination. When the assassin succeeded only in wounding him (Aug. 22, 1572),
Catherine panicked. Fearing disgrace if her plot were revealed to the Admiral,
she persuaded her weak son that the Huguenots were planning his, his brother's,
and her own death. Charles then authorized the SAINT BARTHOLOMEW MASSACRE (Aug.
24, 1572). In the massacre Coligny was murdered and his body mutilated by
followers of the Duke de Guise.
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