by Aurélie, Etienne G and Maude

In 1588, Henri de Guise obliged Henri III to call the States General. 500 members of parliament took part in this meeting. The majority was in favour of the Duc de Guise in order to weaken the king.

According to Henri III, the only way to get rid of his rival was to organize his assassination. Twenty men had been chosen to eliminate the duke.

Blois, 8 a.m, on the 23rd of December 1588 : eight of them, armed with knives hidden behind their coats, are in the king’s room. The king calls Guise to his study. To go into this room, he has to go through the king’s room where a few people were waiting for him. They were wearing swords. Guise wants to move back, but the men stop his way. They pounce on the duke. The duke hurts five of his attackers with his knife. He carries the men away to a corner of a room but dies next to the bed , yelling with pain : " Misere mei Deus ".

According to our guide, some twenty to thirty years ago, they used to put some rabbit’s blood on the floor for this part of the visit.