Peace and quiet never appeared upon the countenance of Catherine de’ Medici—­that woman who so faithfully represents and pictures the period, the tendencies of which she shaped and fostered by her own pernicious methods; and Charles IX., her son, was no better than his mother.  Saint-Amand, in his splendid picture of the period, gives a truthful picture of Catherine as well:  “It is interesting to observe how curiously the later Valois represented their epoch.  Francis I. had personified the Renaissance; Charles IX. sums up in himself all the crises of the religious wars—­he is the true type of the morbid and disturbed society where all is violent; where the blood is scorched by the double fevers of pleasure and cruelty; where the human soul, without guide or compass, is tossed amid storms; where fanaticism is joined to debauchery, superstition to incredulity, cultured intelligence to depravity of heart.  This wholly unbalanced character—­which stretches evil to its utmost limits while preserving the knowledge of what is good, which mistrusts everybody and yet has at least the aspiration toward friendship and love, if not its experience—­is it not the symbol and living image of its time?”

Marguerite de Valois, sister of Charles IX. and wife of Henry IV., by her own actions and intrigues exercised little influence politically; she was, above all else, a woman of culture and may be taken as an example of the type which was largely instrumental in developing social life in France.  Famous for her beauty, talents, and profligacy, it seems that historians are prone to dwell too exclusively upon the last quality, overlooking her principal role—­that of social leader.

She first came into prominence through her relations with the Duke of Guise who paid assiduous court to her for some time; for a while, no topic was more discussed than that of their marriage.  When, however, Charles IX. heard that the duke had been carrying on a secret correspondence with his sister, he exclaimed, savagely:  “If it be so, we will kill him!” Thereupon, the duke hurriedly contracted a marriage with Catherine of Cleves.  That Marguerite, at this early date, had become the mistress of Henry of Guise is hardly likely and becomes even less probable when it is considered how closely she was watched by her mother, Catherine de’ Medici.

Her marriage, previously mentioned, to Henry of Navarre was a mere political match, there being absolutely no love, no affection, no sympathy.  This union was looked upon as the surest covenant of peace between Catholicism and Protestantism and put an end to the disastrous religious wars that had been carried on uninterruptedly for years; both the parties to this contract lived at court, leading an existence of pleasure and immorality.  Remarkably intelligent, Marguerite was a scholar of no mean ability; she displayed much wit and talent, but no judgment or discretion; though conveying the impression of being rather haughty and proud, she lacked both self respect and true dignity.  Her beauty was marvellous, but “calculated, to ruin and damn men rather than to save them.”