#king charles ix

HAVE A VERY VALOIS NEW YEAR—no REALLY!

Francophiles and French historical fiction fans, when you raise your champagne glass tonight and shout, “HAPPY NEW YEAR,” you may want to toast the royal Valois family!  It was under the reign of the Valois in France that the start of the year was moved from Holy Saturday (after Vespers) to January 1, the day on which we now customarily celebrate it.

In August 1564 King Charles IX, son of Catherine de Médicis and Henri II, signed an Ordinance declaring that henceforth the year would begin on January 1st. The effective date of the proclamation was 1565, though in Paris the Parliament dragged its feet—only applying the change in 1567.  

Read more about the reign of Charles IX in my novel MEDICIS DAUGHTER. 

I don’t know about you, but come late October I WANT a little wicked in my reads … some cunning, some conniving and most definitely things that go bump in the night.  Well when it comes to WICKED nobody does it like the VALOIS ;)

AUGUST 22ND 1572 … The Attempted Assassination of Admiral Coligny.

Basking in his King’s favor (much to a jealous Catherine de Médicis’ displeasure) Coligny was returning to his residence at the rue de Béthisy after visiting with Charles IX when an assassin fired at him breaking his arm and severely wounding but not killing the Admiral. The bullet that struck him was from an Arquebus and was fired from the first floor of a house in the cloisters of Saint-Germain-l’Auxerrois.What saved the Admiral from more serious harm was the fact that he bent to adjust his shoe at the precise moment of the shot.

Coligny’s companions found the gun (smoking) but the shooter was gone—galloped off through the Porte Saint-Antoine on a horse he had ready behind the house. One of these same companions immediately rode to the Louvre to tell the King.

Was the jealous Queen Mother behind this crime?

Read my novel MEDICIS DAUGHTER for my take on this delicate question.