Charles IX.

Charles IX., king of France (1560-74), the second son of Henry II. and of Catharine de' Medici, was born at St Germain-en-Laye in 1550, and succeeded his brother, Francis II., in 1560. He was a proficient in manly exercises, possessed much physical energy, and considerable literary accomplishments. But weak and wavering, with all his cruelty and cunning, he was completely subject to the will of his mother, whose counsels drove him to authorise an act so diabolical that all Europe still shudders at the recollection. The atrocious massacre of St Bartholomew's Day, 24th August 1572, was the culmination of a series of disgraceful treacheries towards the Huguenots. Its consequences politically were the very reverse of favourable to the Catholic cause, while scarce two years later (May 30, 1574) the wretched king died miserably, with all the horrors of hell before his eyes. See BARTHOLOMEW (MASSACRE OF ST).