Gui-se, House of, the name of a branch of the ducal family of Lorraine, which, during the reign of Francis I, established itself in France, where it was conspicuous in its hostility to the Protestant cause, and played a leading part in the religious wars of the 16th century. The three following members of this family were the most prominent for their abilities, and for bigoted and unscrupulous antagonism to the Re- formed part}', viz.
I. Charles, cardinal of Guise, better known as car- dinal of Lorraine, was born at Joinville Feb. 17, 1524, and died Dec. 26, 1574. He was made archbishop of Rheims in 1538, ci'eated a cardinal in 1547, and was employed on several important eml)assies. In 1558, at an interview with the cardinal Granville at Peronne, he laid the foundations of the alliance between the Girises and Spain, which continued through, and ex- erted an impoi'tant influence on, the civil wars in France. He was present at tl\c Council of Trent (lo62), where at first he favored the demand for re- form and the su periorit}' of councils to the pope, but was too ambitious to adhere to such principles through- out. Under Francis II he was made, or, rather, made himself, the administrator of the finances. His char-
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acter is thus portrayed by De Felice (p. 71): "The cardinal Charles de Lorraine, archbishop of Rheinis, and the possessor, in ecclesiastical benefices, of a rev- enue of three hundred thousand crowns (nianj' mil- lions of our present money), had some learning, affable manners, great facility of speech, and much dexterity in the management of men and affairs, a deep policy, and a vast ambition. He aspired to notliing less than the crown of France for his brother, and to the tiara for himself. So Pius V, somewhat anxious concern- ing the part he was playing in the Church, habitually called him the pope on the other side of the mountains. For the rest, he was a priest without settled convic- tions, and half preached the Confession of Augsburg to please my good masters the Germans^ as saj's Bran- tome ; he was decried for his evil habits, which he did not even care to hide, and raised the hooting of the populace on quitting the dwelling of a courtesan ; lastly, he was as pusillanimous in the face of danger as he was arrogant in prosperity." He was, however, a protector of letters, and Rheims owes to him its uni- versity. He left some letters and sermons.
II. Francois of Lorraine, brother of the preced- ing, and second duke of Guise, was born Feb. 17, 1519, at the castle of Bar, and died Feb. 24, 15G3, of wounds intlicted by an assassin named Poltrot de Mere. He served with marked distinction and success in the army, and gained a European reputation as a general. His good fortune and abilities were seconded by the potent influence of his niece, Marj' Stuart, the wife of the weak Francis II, in whose reign Guise rose to the height of power in the state, and became the head of the Romanist part}'. He was able to foil the power- ful combination (known in history as the conspiracy of Amboise) formed by the malcontent nobles and the Protestants to hurl him and his brother, the cardinal of Lorraine, from power. The death of Francis II compelled him to yield for a time tq the opposition whicli his foreign origin, his rapacity, cruelty, and am- bition had aroused against him, and he left the court. Soon, however, he formed a league with Jbintmorenci and St. Andre to control the government and oppose the Protestants, and having been invited to return to Paris by the king of Navarre (Antoine de Bourbon) then lieutenant general of the kingdom, and who had been won over to the Roman Catholic side. Guise was on his way to the capital, when, on Sundaj', March 1, 15G2, a bloody butcherj' of Huguenots, peaceably as- sembled for worship, was perpetrated b^- his followers, if not with his approbation, at least with his knowl- edge and sufferance. This atrocious act, called the Massacre of Vassy (q. v.), was the signal for the long and desolating religious wars between the Protestants and Romanists of France. At the head of the Catho- lics Guise retook Rouen,. gained a victor}'^ at Dreux (though he lost his colleagues, !Montniorenci by cap- ture and St. Andre by death), and was besieging, with the prospect of speed}' capture, the Protestant strong- hold of Orleans, when he was assassinated. He left a sort of diary, which may be found in Michaud and Poujoulat's Nouvelle Collection de Memoins pour scrvir it I'histoire de France (Paris, 1839, 4to, 1st series, iv, l-fl39).
III. Henry op Lorraine, son of the preceding and third duke of Guise, was liorn Dec. 31, 1550, and assassinated Dec. 23, 1588, by the orders of Henry III of France, against whose authority and throne he was treasonably plotting. Inheriting his father's valor, ability, and hatred of the Reformation, a hatred inten- sified by the false charge that the Protestant chief, Coligni, was the instigator of his father's murder, he fought the Huguenots at Jarnac and Jloncontour, and in tlie same year (1569) forced Coligni to raise the siege of Poitiers. He was an ardent abettor of and active participant in the "Massacre of St. Bartholo- mew" (q. v.), and gave expression to the spirit of a base revenge by kicking the dead body of the venera-