Amboise plot

The Amboise conspiracy, or Tumult of Amboise (1560), was a failed attempt by Huguenots and the house of Bourbon to wrest power over France, by the abduction of the young king, Francis II, and the arrest of François (the Duke of Guise), and his brother Charles (cardinal of Lorraine).

Rumors of the plot reached Charles ahead of time, and the conspirators were massacred. In the following weeks, 1200 bodies were hanging on iron hooks on the facade of Château Amboise, and from trees in the vicinity, enraging the Huguenot opponents of the house of Guise and adding to the tensions which culminated in the French Wars of Religion.

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