Young Francis II, the husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, reigned for less than two years, and the young couple was heavily guided in policy by Mary's uncles, Francois and Charles de Guise, who were greatly concerned with the burgeoning Protestant movement in France, who were called Huguenots.

Francis II was succeeded in 1560 by his brother, Charles IX, under the regency of his mother, Catherine deMedici, who never really relinquished control during her son's reign, and perpetrated the Saint Bartholomew's Day massacre of hundreds of Huguenots. Francis II was in turn succeeded in 1574 by his brother, Henry III, the last of the Valois kings. Backed by both his mother and the de Guise family, Henry sought to exclude the next in line to the throne, Protestant Henry of Navarre, from the succession, leading to the "war of the three Henries", and was stabbed in the ensuing battle by his last remaining male relative, Jacques Clement, leaving the realm in the chaos of civil war when he died in 1598 and was succeeded by Henry of Navarre, or Henry IV, the first Bourbon king of France, who immediately declared war on Spain and fought it to a successful conclusion in 1598.

France in this period was a wealthy country, despite the expensive wars that they indulged in. With the subjugation of most of the Italian city-states, France was the cultural center of Europe, and though the French were mistrusted and disparaged by most of the other countries of Europe, they all looked to France for inspiration in their fashion, their cuisine, and their architecture. It was during this period the breathtaking castle of Cheanceaux was built for Diane de Poitiers, Henri II's famed mistress. The land was fertile, the climate more temperate than many other parts of Europe, and France was by most accounts glorious by Renaissance standards. Major cities in France included Marseille, Orleans, Dunkerque, Valence and Paris.

Some French names include:

Girls - Adrienne, Audra, Calandre, Caroline, Cecille, Claire, Corette, Delphine, Elaine, Fanchon, Fleur, Gabrielle, Genevieve, Isabeau, Juliette, Lise, Marguerite, Mignon, Musette, Oriel, Simone, Therese, Viletta, Vivane

Boys - Andre, Charles, Christophe, Denis, Dion, Francois, Guy, Henri, Jacques, Jerard, Leon, Louis, Lucien, Maurice, Philippe, Renard

Additional Information:

Website: Le Poulet Gauche
Book: Early Modern France 1560-1715, Robin Briggs
Book: The Great Cat Massacre : And Other Episodes in French Cultural History, Robert Darnton
Book: Life in the French Country House, Mark Girouard
Book: The Style of Paris : Renaissance Origins of the French Enlightenment, George Huppert