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Charles IX 1550-74
King of France

Born in St Germain-en-Laye, the second son of Henri II and Catherine de Médicis, he succeeded his brother, Francis II (1560). His reign coincided with the Wars of Religion. He was dominated by his mother, whose counsels drove him to authorize the infamous slaughter of Huguenots known as the St Bartholomew's Day Massacre (1572). Although increasingly melancholy, he was an intelligent man, and patronized the Pléiade, a literary group that included Pierre de Ronsard.