Gaspard II de Coligny

Gaspard de Coligny was born into French nobility in 1519 and rose through military service under Francis I and Henry II during the Italian Wars, his prominence lifted by skill and by blood - his uncle Anne de Montmorency was the king's favourite. He converted to Protestantism under Francis II and became a leading noble voice for the Reformation as Charles IX took the throne. When civil war broke out in 1562 he joined the Huguenot cause, serving as lieutenant to Louis, Prince of Condé through the first two wars, then assuming command after Condé's death in the third. In 1563 the assassin of Catholic duke Francis of Guise named Coligny, and the Guise family tried and failed to prosecute him for the murder. On 24 August 1572, as the St Bartholomew's Day massacre began, Henry, Duke of Guise - Francis's son - had him killed.