Charles IX was born in the royal palace of Saint-Germain-en-Laye in 1550, third son of King Henry II of France and Catherine de Medici, and brother of François II and Henri III. He was one of 10 children. After the death of his elder brother, Francis II, in 1560, he inherited the throne and was crowned Charles IX, King of France, in the cathedral at Reims. The politics of that era were greatly influenced by his mother, Catherine de Medici, who was regent for the ten-year-old Charles, and by the power of the opposing religious faction leaders; the Protestant-leaning House of Bourbon and the ultra-Catholic House of Guise.

Francis II, king of France, was born at Fontainebeau on January 19, 1544, to Henry II and Catherine de Medici as their eldest son. He married the famous Mary Stuart, daughter of James V of Scotland, in 1558, and he ascended the French throne on July 10, 1559, when he was fifteen years old. During his short reign Franis II, a sickly youth and of feeble understanding, was the mere tool of his uncles Francis, duke of Guise, and Charles, cardinal of Lorraine, into whose hands he virtually delivered the reins of government.

Francis II, who had always been a sickly child, died on December 5, 1560 in Orleans, Loiret, at the age of sixteen, when an ear infection worsened and caused an abscess in his brain. He is buried in Saint Denis Basilica. He was succeeded by his brother, Charles IX.

Henry II was king of France between 1547 and 1559. He was born in 1519 in the Royal Palace of Saint Germain-en-Laye near Paris. Henry II was the second son of Francis I and Claude. When he was seven years old, Henry had been sent by his father as a hostage to Spain in 1526, as surety for his father who had been captured at the Battle of Pavia. On October 28, 1533, Henry married Catherine de Medici. In 1536, his elder brother Francis died and he became heir to the throne of France. From that moment, Henry was under the influence of two characters for the rest of his life; his mistress Diane de Poitiers and Anne of Montmorency, his mentor.

On March 31, 1547, he succeeded his father and was crowned Henry II, King of France, on July 25, 1547. Henry II’s reign was characterized by wars with Austria and the persecution of the Protestant Huguenots. Henry II severely punished them, particularly the ministers, burning them at the stake or cutting off their tongues for speaking their heresies. Even those suspected of being Huguenots could be imprisoned. The Huguenots were the French Calvinists. The Edict of Chateaubriand established that the civil and ecclesiastical courts had to detect and punish all heretics, as it placed severe restrictions on Huguenots, including loss of one third of property to informers, and confiscations. It also strictly regulated the press by prohibiting the sale, importation or printing of any unapproved book.

The Habsburg-Valois War, began when Henry II declared war against Charles V with the intent of recapturing Italy and ensuring French, rather than Habsburg, domination of European affairs. Although Henry’s early offensive into Loraine was successful, he was thoroughly defeated at the Battle of Marciano of 1553 by the Spanish forces of Charles V. In 1557, Henry II was defeated again by Charles V’s son, Philip II king of Spain, at the Battle of Saint-Quentin in France. In response French armies plundered Spanish possessions in the Low Countries, but Henry was nonetheless forced to accept the Peace of Cateau-Cambresis, in which he renounced any further claims to Italy.

On June 30, 1559, at the Place des Vosges in Paris, during a match to celebrate the Peace Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis with his longtime enemies, the Habsburgs of Austria and to celebrate the marriage of his daughter Elisabeth of Valois to King Philip II of Spain, King Henry II was mortally wounded by the lance of Gabriel Montgomery, captain of the King’s Scottish Guard. The lance pierced his temple and, despite the efforts of royal surgeon Ambroise Pare, he died on July 10, 1559. Prior to his death, Queen Catherine denied his mistress Diane de Poitiers access to him, even though he repeatedly asked for her. Following his death, Catherine sent de Poitiers into exile, where she was to live in comfort on her own properties until her death.

Francis I was born at Cognac on September 12, 1494. His father, Charles d’Angoulême, was the first cousin of King Louis XII. In 1498, the four-year-old Francis, already Count of Angouleme, was created Duke of Valois. Heir presumptive of Louis XII, who could not beget sons with any of his three wives, Young Francis was, by instigation of the king himself, betrothed to Claude of France in 1506 and they got married in 1514. Claude was the daughter of Louis XII and Anne of Brittany and heiress of Brittany.

The Battle of Lepanto was the most important naval battle of the 16th century and last major naval battle fought solely between rowing vessels, saving Europe militarily and economically. The Holy League fleet decisively defeated the main fleet of the Ottoman Empire in the Mediterranean Sea on October 7, 1571. The Holy League was a coalition of nations which had been organized by the Spanish king Philip II to put a check on the Muslim encroachments upon the Italian and Spanish coasts. Signed on May 25, 1571, the Holy League was made up of Spain, the Republic of Venice, the Papal States, the Republic of Genoa, and the Hospitaller Knights of Malta. Half of its budget was funded by Spain, and the other half by Venice and the Pope.

The Christian fleet was drawn up in four divisions in a North-South line. At the northern end, closest to the coast, was the Left Division of 54 galleys, mainly Venetian, led by Agostino Barbarigo. The Centre Division consisted of 64 galleys under Don Juan of Austria himself in his Real and Alvaro de Bazan. The Right Division to the south consisted of another 54 galleys under the Genoese Giovanni Andrea Doria. Two galleasses, which had side-mounted cannon, were positioned in front of each main division, for the purpose, according to Miguel de Cervantes, who served on the galleass Marquesa during the battle, of preventing the Turks from sneaking in small boats and sapping, sabotaging or boarding the Christian vessels. A Reserve Division was stationed behind the main fleet, to lend support wherever it might be needed. This reserve division consisted of 38 galleys, 30 behind the Centre Division commanded by Alvaro de Bazan, and four behind each wing. A scouting group was formed, from two Right Wing and six Reserve Division galleys. As the Christian fleet was slowly turning around Point Scropha, Doria’s Right Division, at the off-shore side, was delayed at the start of the battle and the Right’s galleasses did not get into position.

The Turkish fleet had of 54 galleys and 2 galliots on its Right under Chulouk Bey, 61 galleys and 32 galliots in the Centre under Ali Pasha in the Sultana, and about 63 galleys and 30 galliots in the South off-shore under Uluj Ali. A small reserve existed of 8 galleys and 22 galliots, behind the Centre body.

The centre and left galleasses had been towed half a mile ahead of the Christian line, and were able to sink two Turkish galleys, and damage some more, before the Turkish fleet left them behind. Their attacks also disrupted the Ottoman formations. As the battle started, Doria found that Uluj Ali’s galleys extended further to the south than his own, and so headed south to avoid being out-flanked. This meant he was even later coming into action. He ended up being outmanœuvered by Uluj Ali, who turned back and attacked the southern end of the Centre Division, taking advantage of the big gap that Doria had left. When the battle started, the Turks mistook the Galeasses to be merchant supply vessels and set out to attack them. This proved to be disastrous, the galeasses, with their many guns, alone were said to have sunk up to 70 Turkish galleys.

During the course of the battle, the Ottoman Commander’s ship was boarded and the Spanish tercios from 3 galleys and the Turkish janissaries from seven galleys fought on the deck of the Sultana. Twice the Spanish were repelled with great loss, but at the third attempt, with reinforcements from Alvaro de Bazan’s galley, they prevailed. Müezzenzade Ali Pasha was killed and beheaded, against the wishes of Don Juan. However, when his head was displayed on a pike from the Spanish flagship, it contributed greatly to the destruction of Turkish morale. Even after the battle had clearly turned against the Turks, groups of Janissaries still kept fighting with all they had until their resistence was crushed.

When the Battle of Lepanto concluded, the Turkish fleet had suffered the loss of about 210 ships. On the Christian side 20 galleys were destroyed and 30 were damaged so seriously that they had to be scuttled. The Holy League had suffered around 7,500 soldiers, sailors and rowers dead, but freed about as many Christian prisoners. Among the Christian wounded was Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, who fought bravely, receiving three gunshot wounds – two in the chest and one which rendered his left arm useless, resulting in amputation; later he would say in one of his books that he "had lost the movement of the left hand for the glory of the right". Turkish casualties were around 25,000, and at least 3,500 were captured.