All language subtitles for The Real War of Thrones s02e06 The Last of the Valois 1584-1594

May the mediator of God and men make of
you a mediator of priests and of the

people.

Previously on Throne Wars.

In England, the Virgin Queen fell in
love.

Charming, is he not?

But she refused to release her cousin,
former Queen of Scotland, Mary Stuart.

In France, the wars between the
Protestants and Catholics continued.

Your prince is offering me the crown of
the Netherlands for an army.

Henry III was a despised monarch.

Do not be fooled.

Remember, my son, that you are the king.

The Protestant Henry of Navarre led the
Louvre to form an army. I'll do my

utmost to make him see reason.

Meanwhile, the Duke of Guise was at the
head of the powerful Catholic League,

backed by the King of Spain.

Now the king of France was trying to
save his throne.

His sister went to war.

His worst enemy was serving Spain.

In England, the queen was preparing for
the greatest sea battle of the

Renaissance.

All over Europe, plots were being
hatched. Battles were taking shape.

and royal blood was about to be spilled.

In France, after nine years of marriage,
the king and queen still had no

children and the kingdom had no heir.

The House of Valois had reigned over
France for more than two and a half

centuries.

Desperate not to be the last Valois
ruler of France, King Henry III and

Louise of Lorraine resorted to
mysticism.

the King of France had a holy shirt sent
from Chartres.

The shirt had been placed on a statue of
the Virgin Mary and was believed to

have special powers of fertility.

Rumors circulated that Henry was more
interested in his mignon than his wife.

But the truth was that driven by his
faith and his desire for a son, He spent

most of his nights with Queen Louise,
hoping for a miracle.

This is the Chateau of Chenonceau, in
the Loire Valley where Queen Louise of

Lorraine and King Henry III desperately
tried to have a child.

Because his younger brother, Francis of
Anjou, had died, the legitimate heir to

the throne was Henry of Bourbon, king of
Navarre.

But he was a Protestant and refused to
convert.

For Catholic France, the prospect of the
Protestant Navarre wearing the crown

was unthinkable.

My friends,

King Henry III knew the Catholic's
position, and yet... Today, I recognize

the King of Navarre as my only true
heir.

He is a well -born prince of good
character, and I have always

been well disposed to him.

Henry knew that Navarre refused to
convert, but that did not stop him from

officially recognizing him as his
successor to the throne of France.

That is all.

Henry's decision was the most
devastating blow for Catholics across

Particularly for the most radical among
them, 34 -year -old Henry of Lorraine.

the third Duke of Guise. He had despised
the French king for many years.

He cited Henry III's handling of the
Huguenots as proof of his weakness.

To prevent Henry of Navarre from ever

wearing the French crown, the Duke of
Guise immediately revived the Catholic

League. an organization which was
disbanded and outlawed seven years

Guise amassed an army of 40 ,000 men and
was given a large sum of money from

Spain.

Because not only was Guise the head of
the Catholic League, he was also a spy

working for Philip II, King of Spain.

Guise and Philip had a common goal.

the triumph of the Catholic faith across
Europe.

In a treaty signed with the Spaniards on
January 17, 1585, Guise pledged to

overthrow King Henry, to seize power by
force, and to support King Philip's war

in the Netherlands.

In the spring of 1585, the Duke took
action.

On March 20, with 12 ,000 men, he
attacked Chalons, then Reims.

On April 3, he was about to besiege
Troyes.

Within months, the League had won whole
provinces, including Champagne,

Burgundy, Picardy, and Normandy. Almost
all of the north and east of the kingdom

had been seized by the Guises and the
Catholic League.

France had just been plunged into the
last of the eight wars of religion that

marked the Renaissance.

Across the channel, news of the alliance
between Spain and the fanatical

Catholic League struck fear into Queen
Elizabeth.

Convinced that England was under threat,
she prepared her country's defenses.

It is time to take our palms again.

Sir Francis Drake, make the ships ready.

In June 1585, Elizabeth ordered a
flotilla of ships to attack a fleet of

fishermen off Newfoundland.

In her fight against the Catholic
Coalition in Europe, the English Queen

looking for allies.

In August 1585, Elizabeth signed a pact
with the Protestants in the Netherlands.

She also sent her ambassadors to meet
with the Protestant princes of Germany

Denmark.

Elizabeth was eager to form an
international Protestant League powerful

to crush the King of Spain and the Duke
of Gizeh's Catholic League in France.

But no one in Europe dared to support
the Protestant Queen in her fight

the Catholics.

Elizabeth was alone against her French
and Spanish enemies.

She prepared to face them.

In the south of France, at the court of
Henry of Navarre, the atmosphere was

just as explosive.

The sister of the King of France and
Navarre's wife, Margaret of Valois, had

left Paris to join him, but there was a
rift between the couple.

Adultery, Betrayal and religious
differences had long poisoned their

But she had ambitions to the throne,
because if Navarre was crowned, Margot

would become queen.

It was a prospect that stirred up the
jealousy of another woman.

Vianne of Ondouin was Navarre's
mistress.

At 26...

This young, well -bred, and intelligent
widow was convinced that she would make

a far better queen than Margot.

But how to get rid of her rival?

At the court of Navarre, a rumor began
to spread that Henry and Dion were

plotting to murder Margot.

when one of her ladies' companions died
after eating soup that was intended for

her.

Margot, fearing for her life, escaped to
Agen, a Catholic bastion she held in

the southwest of France.

To take revenge on her Protestant
husband and his mistress, Margot decided

join sides with the Duke of Guise and
the Catholic League.

King Henry III considered his sister's
decision an act of treason.

He sent royal soldiers to arrest her.

excuses.

What do you want me to do with them?

But the Catholic League's military might
was far stronger than King Henry's

royal army.

I am a figure of ridicule for everyone!

For everyone!

Margot and her ally had the upper hand
over the king's troops.

Soon I'll have to go to war! Enough!

That's enough, Henry!

There is no time for anger! You have to
negotiate peace!

Catherine de' Medici feared her son
would be overthrown if this war wasn't

stopped immediately.

Catherine begged Henry to make peace
with his sister, Margot,

the Duke of Guise, and the Catholic
League.

Preserved in the National Archives of
Paris is the treaty signed by the Duke

Guise and the King of France on July 7,
1585.

To satisfy the Catholic League,
tolerance of Protestant worship was

and King Henry declared Protestantism
illegal throughout the kingdom.

Calvinists had six months to either
renounce their religion or be exiled.

And Henry of Navarre was declared no
longer heir to the throne.

In France, the Catholics were
triumphant, but 700 kilometers away.

Mary, the Catholic Queen of Scots, was
still languishing in an English prison.

For 17 years, Mary Stewart had been
living under lock and key.

On the run after being forced to
abdicate in favor of her son, She had

refuge in England. She had hoped to
receive help from Queen Elizabeth.

But her cousin had imprisoned her.

Queen Elizabeth had always mistrusted
her Catholic cousin.

After all, They were both descendants of
the Tudor King Henry VII, which meant

Mary had a legitimate claim to the
English throne.

Since the wars of religion began 26
years earlier, Mary had become an

figure for Catholics across Europe.

Your Majesty, we must be done with Mary
Stuart.

Elizabeth's advisors...

desperately wanted to rid England of the
threat posed by Mary Stuart's presence.

Gentlemen, Europe is watching us.

There must be another solution.

Since Mary had been in prison,
Elizabeth's life had been threatened on

occasions.

But she refused to kill a fellow queen,
even if she was an enemy.

But Elizabeth...

had no qualms about making her detention
a hellish ordeal.

Mary Stewart lived in deplorable
conditions.

Chartley Castle was extremely cold and
damp.

She lost all hope of ever being released
until the morning of July 6,

1586.

That day, a letter was smuggled into her
cell.

The author was Sir Anthony Babington, a
Catholic nobleman.

This is what it said.

My dear sovereign, the queen to whom I
owe my loyalty and obedience, I am

outraged by the miserable living
conditions you're subjected to.

The devilish heretic Elizabeth.

who removed Your Majesty from her home
and placed her under surveillance, is my

mortal enemy.

Please write.

My dear friend, thank you for your
letter.

Mary reflected on Babington's proposal
for a week, unsure what to do. She

eventually replied.

Asking her secretary to write in code.
Now, when all is ready, the six

gentlemen must be set to work.

And when the queen disappears, I must be
taken from this prison immediately.

The coded message was hidden in a barrel
of beer and smuggled from the castle.

A new plot to assassinate Elizabeth and
Crown Mary Stuart, Queen of England, had

been hatched.

But what Mary Stewart did not know was
that Elizabeth's cheap spy had

infiltrated Antony Babington's group.

It didn't take him long to decode the
former Queen of Scotland's message.

For

several

months, Elizabeth's spies had been
closely watching Babington's activities,

hoping that Mary Stewart would involve
herself in his plot.

Which is exactly what she did.

My queen, this document proves that your
cousin is plotting against you. Listen,

your majesty.

This act of treason can only be punished
by death.

Elizabeth was still reluctant to condemn
Mary Stuart to death. Not only were

they cousins, she also believed that
killing a queen would give her enemies

license to kill her one day.

Three months after the plot was
unmasked, Elizabeth was told by her

that the King of Spain was preparing an
invasion force to release Mary Stuart.

Elizabeth grudgingly signed Mary
Stuart's death sentence.

After 19 years of imprisonment, Mary
Stuart, the former Queen of Scotland,

brought before her executioner.

Beneath her coat, she was wearing a red
dress, a sign of martyrdom among

Catholics.

With dignity, she climbed the scaffold
specially erected for her execution

within the castle walls.

confunda inaida.

The execution of Mary Stuart was
particularly cruel.

The executioner needed three attempts to
behead the former Queen of Scotland.

Mary Stuart's execution triggered a
surge of fury throughout Europe.

The most virulent reaction came from
King Philip II.

The King of Spain resolved to invade
England, to imprison Elizabeth, and to

bring the country back to the Catholic
Church once and for all.

To this end, Philip II assembled one of
the largest military fleets of the

Renaissance.

We could bring our own men here and stop
for the night.

His strategy was simple. While 130
warships called the Invincible Armada

the English fleet, 300 smaller ships
would transport 26

,000 Spanish troops from the Netherlands
to Kent on the south coast of England.

This imposing army would then march on
London, besiege the city, and capture

Elizabeth.

Philip was convinced that his plan was
infallible.

But he wanted to be sure that the French
King Henry III would not be tempted to

come to Elizabeth's rescue.

So he asked his ally, the Duke of Guise,
to organize a diversion to occupy the

King of France during the invasion.

The Duke of Guise jumped at the
opportunity.

His plan was to first murder the Duke of
Epernon, King Henry's favorite, and

whom Guise despised.

Then storm the Louvre and capture the
king. But Henry got wind of the plot and

forbid the Duke to enter Paris.

Despite this ban, on May 9, 1588, Guise
and the Catholic League triumphantly

entered the capital.

Henry was shocked at his subject's
reaction to the incursion. He

sent 4 ,000 royal soldiers to intimidate
the Duke of Guise and the Catholic

League.

But Parisians were outraged by the
king's decision to attack Catholics.

up barricades, trapping the royal
soldiers, and then shot at them from

roofs, and balconies.

Soon, the dead and wounded were strewn
throughout the streets of the capital.

The uprising has been remembered in
history as the day of the barricades.

Henry III was blamed for the massacre
and forced to flee Paris.

He left the capital in the hands of the
Duke of Guise and the Catholic League.

The king was now helpless to prevent the
Spanish invasion of England.

The invincible armada was ready to set
sail.

On July 12, 1588, 130 ships loaded with
18 ,000 soldiers left the port of

Lisbon. A week later, they were spotted
here, off the coast of Cornwall.

On July 29, 34 British warships left
Plymouth to confront the Spanish armada.

At the same time, on the mainland,
Elizabeth of England inspired her troops

the now famous Tilbury speech.

I am resolved to live and die amongst
you all. I know I have the body of a

feeble woman, but I have the heart and
stomach of a king, and a king of

too.

I should rather risk my royal blood than
incur disorder.

I have no doubt that very shortly, a
famous victory over the enemies of God

of my kingdom shall be won, gentlemen!

For twelve days, the British and Spanish
engaged in a brutal battle.

But the lighter and more maneuverable
English gunships overcame the heavy and

slow armada.

Elizabeth had achieved the impossible
and vanquished the Spanish threat.

Throughout England and Protestant
Europe, the English victory over the

was seen as proof of God's favor.

In Spain, the news came ten days after
the Armada's defeat.

I'm sorry to disturb you, but the war is
lost.

Listen, I sent my ships to fight men.

Not the winds and the waves of God.

I hope God did not allow such
misfortune.

Indeed, all was done in his service.

Of the 130 ships sent to England, only
60 made it back to Spain.

The King of France and his mother were
told the news at the Chateau of Blois in

the Loire Valley. They were relieved.

Henry III and Catherine had always
believed that once England had fallen,

Philip II would turn his attack towards
France.

The French kingdom may be out of
immediate danger, but Henry still had to

himself of the Duke of Guise, who,
alongside the Catholic League, still

Paris.

On the morning of December 23rd, 1588,
at the Chateau of Blois, Henry, Duke of

Guise, was summoned urgently by the King
of France.

Sir, sir, a message has arrived.

On his way to the royal apartment, he
was warned that the King had ordered his

murder.

He will not dare.

Gentlemen! But the

king did dare.

Standing over the corpse of his enemy,
French history books attribute Henry

these famous words.

How tall he is.

He's taller dead than alive.

Isn't he?

Hmm?

This is the room in the Chateau of Blois
in which the Duke of Guise was

assassinated. It was unquestionably...
Henry III's greatest mistake.

Henceforth, no Catholic would recognize
his authority.

The Pope even excommunicated him.

This time, his mother, Catherine de
Medici, was powerless to help him.

Catherine had controlled the kingdom for
29 years, but now, aged 69, she was

suffering from gout, rheumatism, and
pleurisy.

In early 1589, she was struck by an
unrelenting fever.

On the morning of January 5th, she was
so weak that she asked her son to

her will.

Then, at around one o 'clock in the
afternoon, Chaplain Julien of Saint

administered Catherine de' Medici the
last rites.

Catherine de' Medici, mother of three
kings and two queens, and the power

the throne for three decades, passed
away on January 5th, 1589, at the

of Blois.

Among the French citizenry, few wept her
passing.

Most believed her responsible for the
assassination of their dear Duke of

The funeral of Catherine de' Medici took
place in Blois on February 4th, 1589,

in a private ceremony to widespread
indifference.

In contrast, five days earlier, on
January 30th, the funeral of the Duke of

Guise was held with great pomp at Notre
Dame Cathedral in Paris.

That day, the people of Paris packed
into the crowded cathedral to mourn the

Duke's passing.

Although he was dead, Paris remained in
the hands of the Catholics.

Henry III needed help to regain his
sovereignty.

To take back his throne, King Henry III
turned to another Henry, his Protestant

brother -in -law, Henry, King of
Navarre.

On April 30th, 1589, the two Henrys, who
had not seen each other for 13 years,

were reconciled and joined forces.

Navarre was happy to finally enter the
service of the kingdom.

Four years ago, I was convicted as a
heretic, unworthy to succeed to the

despite being its fiercest defender.

I know, my friend, but times have
changed.

Catholic Henry III and Protestant leader
Henry of Navarre amassed an immense

army ready to challenge the Catholic
League, who were still strong despite

death of the Duke of Guise.

While Navarre and his men set about
retaking the city of Chinon, the

League attacked Tours, where King Henry
had taken refuge.

The battle was bloody.

But while the king lost many men, the
royal army, assisted by the Huguenots,

the day.

The Royal Army and the Huguenot troops
then seized Saint -Lith, Etampes, and

Pontoise.

On July 30th, strengthened by 40 ,000
men, Henry III and Navarre prepared to

surround Paris.

Navarre set up camp in Meudon to oversee
the attack and monitor the bridges

leading to the capital.

Henry III waited in nearby Saint -Cloud.

On August 1st, 1589, at 8 o 'clock in
the morning, a young Jacobin monk

in the suburbs of Saint -Cloud.

The monk, named Jacques Clément, claimed
to have an important message he needed

to deliver to the king in person.

Ah, so.

Tell me, brother, what is so important
that it cannot wait?

Henry III, seated on his commode, was
reassured by Clement's clerical robes

beckoned him to come closer.

Jacques Clement was a fanatical member
of the Catholic League.

Villain!

You killed me!

The monk resolved to kill the king.

who he considered to be a heretic for
allying himself with Henry of Navarre.

My

dear

friend, fear not.

Despite suffering a deep wound, Henry
believed he would survive.

To reassure his wife and loyal
supporters, Henry spent the morning

letters.

But the blade had punctured his
intestines, and his optimism was not

his doctors.

At eleven that night, his condition had
worsened.

His thoughts turned to the succession.

He summoned Henry of Navarre.

Your Majesty.

You see, my brother, how my subjects
treat me, huh?

Guard well your own safety.

Justice and the principle of legitimacy
require that you succeed me.

You will know much misfortune unless, my
dear, you resolve to change your

religion.

Navarre did not answer.

King Henry then pronounced these words.
This is your king.

No one's right to the throne is greater
than that of the king of Navarre.

You have no one above him.

The kingdom is now his.

Waste no time with religious
differences.

During the night, Henry's condition
deteriorated further.

At 3 a .m. on August 2nd, 1589, after
confessing,

Henry III, the last Valois king of
France,

died at the age of 37.

With the death of Catherine de Medici's
favorite son, the entire House of Valois

had died out.

This powerful dynasty, which ascended to
the throne of France in 1328, had no

heir.

Judged extravagant and arrogant, history
remembers Henry III as the least loved

king of France.

Not for 20 years would he be transported
to Saint -Denis for internment in the

royal necropolis of French kings.

But Henry was never given his own tomb,
only an urn for his heart atop this

column, a gift from his longtime
favorite, the Duke of Epernon.

Navarre was now the legitimate heir to
the throne of France.

But he was not yet king, and few wanted
to see him crowned.

In order to enter Paris, which was still
in the hands of the Catholic League,

Navarre sought the help of Queen
Elizabeth of England.

Over the next four years, Henry of
Navarre, helped by both Protestants and

Catholic nobles, was forced to do battle
with the Catholic League.

My companion, God is with us!

Rally now to my white flume!

You will find it on the path to victory
and honor!

But

on

July 23rd, 1593, here at the Abbey of
Saint -Denis, Henry of Navarre

renounced Protestantism and converted to
Catholicism.

in order to receive the crown of France.

He did so after uttering these famous
words, Paris is well worth a math.

Henry IV would become one of the most
popular kings in the history of France.

But along the way, he too would have to
tackle enemies across Europe. The throne

wars were far from over.