Jean-François Labourdette's Charles IX adopts a purely narrative approach to construct a histoire événementielle of the French Wars of Religion through the daily correspondence of Charles IX. Labourdette portrays Charles IX as educated, deliberative, and relatively decisive. The author downplays Catherine de Médicis's influence on her son, presenting Charles instead as an eager warrior king who was assertive in wielding justice. Although most historians of the French Wars of Religion have presented the theme of concord as Catherine de Médicis's signature political agenda, Labourdette emphasizes Charles's peacemaking initiatives.
The book employs a chronological organization and provides an almost daily itinerary of Charles IX, beginning with his ascension following the death of his elder brother, François II, in 1560. Labourdette quickly dispenses with the First War of Religion (1562–63), the Peace of Amboise (1563), and the royal tour of the kingdom to implement the peace (1564–66) in a prologue on the enfant-roi as an effective hostage. The author then examines Charles IX's decision-making in three parts. Part 1 presents Charles IX as “Le roi de guerre,” while chronicling the Second and Third Wars of Religion (1560–70). Part 2, “Le roi de concorde,” traces Charles IX's negotiations for the peace of Saint-Germain (1570) and his subsequent attempts to reconcile Catholics and Huguenots. Part 3, “Le roi de tragédie,” explores Charles IX's role in the Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre (1572), renewed civil warfare, and the siege of La Rochelle. The book concludes with an account of Charles's deteriorating health and his death in 1574.
Labourdette relies almost exclusively on archival evidence from the manuscript collections of the Bibliothèque nationale de France, and especially the Manuscrits français series. The focus is on Charles IX's outgoing official correspondence: circulars, personal letters, and instructions to his military commanders, provincial governors, and town and fortress governors. The author utilizes this correspondence to structure almost every paragraph with long quotations, especially from Charles's letters with the royal governors and lieutenant generals serving in provinces throughout the kingdom. The king's many letters reveal his concerns over heresy, conspiracy, sedition, rebellion, civil warfare, social disorder, international threats, and war finance. The letters amply demonstrate Charles's fears of conspiracy and his distrust of the Huguenots, especially after the Surprise at Meaux in September 1567 and the outbreak of the Second War of Religion. Meanwhile, diplomatic correspondence and ambassadorial instructions reveal the insecurity, fear, and panic of all parties during this period of dynastic rivalries, religious conflicts, civil wars, rumors, plots, and massacres.
The book remains curiously focused on the person of Charles IX and his personal correspondence, which raises crucial issues of authorship. Royal correspondence was composed through close collaboration with royal family members, councillors, and secretaries, suggesting that historians must consider the collective authorship of those letters. Catherine de Médicis's role in policy formulation and decision-making is not explored here; nor are Charles's relationships with his secretaries, courtiers, and officials. Surprisingly, Labourdette chooses to focus almost exclusively on the king's own outbound letters, rarely using the extensive correspondence of Catherine de Médicis; Henri de Valois, duc d'Anjou; Henri de Bourbon, roi de Navarre; and leading nobles.
The book, unfortunately, lacks an interpretive framework, failing to employ important historical studies by Denis Crouzet, Jean Boutier, Barbara B. Diefendorf, Arlette Jouanna, Philip Benedict, Rebecca Zorach, Penny Roberts, Jérémie Foa, and other scholars who have complicated the view of Charles IX and his reign in recent decades. Crouzet's work underlines the sacral conflict that Charles IX confronted and presents Catherine de Médicis and Michel de l'Hôpital as having forged the royal policy of concord. Diefendorf demonstrates how ultra-Catholics and radicalized civic guards stoked tensions in Paris and eagerly participated in the Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre. James B. Wood shows that Charles IX was hardly in sole control of his armed forces, suggesting a very different interpretation of the siege of La Rochelle toward the end of his reign.
Charles IX nonetheless provides a helpful corrective to typical presentations of this often-discounted king. The Black Legend of the Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre has normally laid blame on Catherine de Médicis, but Labourdette presents Charles IX as capable and rather decisive, making his ultimate responsibility for the infamous massacre seem credible.
