The French Wars of Religion... but Stupider | The Life & Times of Catherine de Medici

[@JackRackam]

Get 50% off your first order of hair loss treatment and support the channel by visiting keeps.com/jackrackam! Thanks for watching!

[@theprussianfemboy165]

Ya know the third french empire would still be around if you didn't betray France and here you are know insulting France even though we only asked for one city so we could make a new army so when's the next call of war sponsorship jack I'ma put you in your place and get revenge for the third french empire

[@jakespacepiratee3740]

I know I said this last time, but I would love to see a video on Adam Weisaupt, the illuminati was real and he lead it.

[@LaughingSeraphim]

Did you do a video.about crt?

[@brokenbridge6316]

Hey Jack Rackam---Yeah know I've been asking you to do a video on the name whose last name has Spicer in it. But as it turned out I got his name wrong. His full name is "Geoffrey Spicer-Simson" and he's the weirdest navy man that ever existed. Also I think you can really work with his story. It's really funny. "The Braved" and "The Great War" channels did video's on him. And I tried to give you the links but my ability to type links just sucks. Please do a video on him.

[@midshipman8654]

>uchiha illuminati it all makes sense now.

[@chimpinaneckbrace]

I believe Nostradamus once said: “Jack Rackam shall have a crappy microphone in the early days but as the tides turn and change his videos shalt have a much higher production value. So let it be written, so let it be done.”

[@hoze1235]

thou shalt like and subscribe

[@mshaqed2538]

That's not vague enough for a prophecy...

[@chimpinaneckbrace]

@@mshaqed2538 Yes, but unlike most prophecies this one came true.

[@dominicking8089]

He also predicted that, despite the new microphone, the audio would still clip constantly

[@JonatasAdoM]

"So let it be written, so let it be done" Seriously, the mic was so bad he sounded like a sound board! I thought it was a colab or him impersonating someone.

[@Artur_M.]

Yeah, Henry III, or Henryk Walezy (Valois) as we like to call him, noped out of Poland-Lithuania after barely a year of reign, literary running away and ignoring angry letters from his subjects to come back immediately or be dethroned, but still kinda wanted to keep the tittle. :) However, the stuff he was forced to sign, to get the Polish throne in the first place, became a sort of proto-Constitution of the Commonwealth, henceforth known as the Henrician Articles. The second point of the Articles obliged the King to respect and uphold the Warsaw Confederation of 1573, guaranteeing religious freedom. BTW the "flag of the Commonwealth" used in the video is a bit anachronistic. If you look closely, you can see the coats of arms of the Kingdom of Sweeden and the House of Vasa, in the middle of the Polish-Lithuanian coat of arms. That's because this image is actually based on the royal banner of Sigismund III.

[@JackRackam]

All fantastic information! And yeah, sadly I couldn't find a more accurate depiction of the flag Henry would have flown, mostly just ones either centuries older or decades later 😕

[@Artur_M.]

@@JackRackam That particular design probably became so popular because we have a nice contemporary depiction of it, on a painting from 1605 (or slightly later), presenting the parade during Sigismund's wedding. And honestly, the reason we have it is because it was looted by the Swedes during the Deluge and was laying safe in Stockholm, while things like the Partitions, uprisings and world wars were happening in Poland.

[@bartoszkosmowski7149]

@@JackRackam He was here barely a year I doubt they had time to make his flag.

[@Alec11_43]

History labels it as a brief personal Union, and while that’s technically true(feels more like a legal transition), I’m not entirely sure if Henry III was still actually ruling the commonwealth when he went to France and I’m confused as to if he was ignoring the polish nobles or they demanded he not be king of another country.

[@alicelopes4693]

Sorry for that 🐸

[@michaelsinger4638]

“The Illuminati with Naruto eyes.” Ok, that one made me spit up by drink. Lol.

[@whathell6t]

@Michael Singer It doesn’t matter. You can stop an Illuminati with Sharingan or Rinnegan eyes by sending Virgo ♍️ Shaka.

[@chrisball3778]

This barely scratches the surface. The actual history was even more bonkers and bloody. Catherine did actually put a lot of effort into trying to end the religious wars though- she got blamed unfairly for some of the massacres because she was a foreign-born woman and an easy scapegoat. She could be really ruthless when she felt she needed to be, though.

[@etiennemourez3059]

She has quite the black legend. That's true.

[@discountplaguedoctor88]

In a twisted way, Machiavelli's most infamous book was more appropriate for her rather than her loser of a dad.

[@thenablade858]

Two years late but only her approval of the assassination of the Protestant leaders (alongside other Catholic nobles such as the Guise family and her son, who approved the assassinations) can be affirmed. The massacre of civilians by Catholic militants was out of control.

[@eazy8579]

Me: I should go watch Jack’s back catalogue, he probably won’t release a video for a while; I should start with the Henry II video, that ones pretty good. Jack: Bonjour!

[@brokenbridge6316]

He releases a new video at least every two weeks. So you have to wait two weeks for the next one.

[@anniel6479]

I just love the Ottoman leader's delivery of "Cat...".

[@MaylocBrittinorum]

7:38 If I had a nickle for every time a group of Huguenots tried to kidnap a Valois king while he was retired in a castle to "free him from the influence of the Guise family" and failed miserably, I'd had two nickles, which isn't a lot but it's weird it happened twice.

[@liamjm9278]

Why is it weird that it happened twice?

[@Zeruel3]

Catherine had a fourth son who tried to marry Elizabeth I of England, he was the only one of her suitors to court her in person and she was actually pretty fond of him. He wore a frog shaped earring and she called him her frog, supposedly that's where using frog to refer to the French comes from

[@CollinMcLean]

I thought it was because of frog legs?

[@taylorwright7428]

@@CollinMcLean Maybe both? Elizabeth could've popularized it way more.

[@iniudan]

The use of frog in UK come after the revolution from what I know. There used to be a dock in Paris that was called "de la Grenouillère" (Orsay today, official name changed during the 18th century, but there is a 1780 painting by Alexandre Jean Noël that still call it la Grenouillère in its title, so old name was likely still in use, in the population, at the time of the revolution), some of Paris nobility used to call popular class grenouille due to it, as that dock in the middle of what used to be the nobility area. English picked on from the noble in exile after the revolution, as at that point it at been switched from a pet name for the third estate to a insult toward the revolutionaries.

[@silenthunteruk]

One of those Huguenot massacres, the 1572 one to be exact, managed to form the basis of an entire four-part serial of 'Doctor Who' back in 1965 and they didn't even add any aliens. Quite a few Huguenots in fact noped their way over to England and settled in London.

[@catdogfan732]

Pretty sure a Huguenot church is in Soho

[@theawesomeman9821]

sounds like the inspiration for GOT's Red Wedding massacre.

[@mortified776]

I am descended from the Rhymney valley Huguenot community in South Wales.

[@BrandonVout]

My ancestors were Huguenots who fled to England during the wars. They settled in Norfolk for centuries before spreading across the empire in the 1800s.

[@cyborgchicken3502]

Another fun fact, a bunch of Hugenots also fled to the Cape Colony in South Africa after it was discovered and established by the Portuguese and they eventually mingled with Portuguese, German and Dutch settlers who all Integrated together to become the ethnic group known as the Afrikaners in Southern Africa, there are many Afrikaners to this day who have French, German, Dutch and Portuguese surnames... majority of them are Dutch though but you can find a Theroux or Leroux or Du Plesis here and there too.

[@elirodriguez4411]

A surprise to be sure, but a welcomed one.

[@easternestal4181]

I am the senate

[@aleksandarvil5718]

@@easternestal4181 NOT YET.

[@martijnstuart95]

I like that Nostradamus death metal is just a regular thing now

[@thenordicnose8868]

I really like history, and I'm learning to become a history teacher, and people like you help. The passion you have for creating stories and telling events in a more light-hearted way is amazing. History can be very boring, but the stories hidden throughout history are priceless. Just wanted to say you're doing a good job, and I appreciate it.

[@kingbuckyduck5669]

8:43 God, I’d love to see you do a Mary Queen of Scots epidsode, she had one of the most tragic and eventful lives of any person I’ve ever heard of.

[@cthulhu43]

Jack, I've been watching your stuff since the beginning of the lockdown religiously. I'm too poor to be a patron, but I have to tell you that your content makes my day and you're one of my favorite youtubers. I appreciate all the work that you do. Thank you so much for what you do. Happy holidays man.

[@JackRackam]

Thank you so much, and happy holidays!

[@Markstrosity]

>Boss calls a 10 minute break >Opens phone to look for 10 minute video >New Jack Rackham uploaded 1 minute ago. *Illuminati Confirmed*

[@timschultz7597]

"Allllright.... guess we need to find a new king." - Jack you are the freakin best! I was laughing so hard I was crying. Thank you again for such a great video!!!

[@Artur_M.]

And then they picked a Bathory. Yes, of those Bathorys from Jack's previous video. Coincidence?

[@lucidnonsense942]

@@Artur_M. They got the competent one at least.

[@Artur_M.]

@@lucidnonsense942 Indeed.

[@CollinMcLean]

It was the "gone out for cigarettes" sign that was the icing on top

[@cgt3704]

​@@Artur_M.And he was the prince of Transylvania.

[@austinreed5805]

French history is the wildest history.

[@Jamie95326]

Please allow me to introduce western European history as a whole. We basically spent 1000 years in never ending wars, marriages, family squabbling, civil wars and dynasties in crisis. Until WW2 happened and we thought maybe we've had enough of that (mostly)

[@rameelanundoo2889]

@@Jamie95326 What is Western European in this?

[@chrisball3778]

Yeah, it's really, really underrated. The anglophone bias in history teaching in in anglophone nations really pisses me off, as there are so many amazing stories in other countries' pasts, with France being a classic case.

[@thenablade858]

@@chrisball3778 England’s got a crazy internal history too though. Scandinavia to me seems pretty calm mostly and The Netherlands too except for the Dutch Rebellion. England’s got the Civil War against Charles I, the War of the Roses, whatever was going on with Isabella of France and Edward II etc.

[@chrisball3778]

@@thenablade858 All of those countries have insane histories. I love English history, but I just wish people generally took a more international view of history, as there's so much fascinating stuff to learn if you take a broader view. Look into Scandinavia a little deeper- Sweden tried to conquer swathes of Europe during the 17th century and they had some of the most insane Witch Panics in all of Europe- it wasn't a 'calm region' by any stretch of the imagination, at least until later.

[@orpheusthepoet3149]

Watching that flash back to one of your first videos I remember it having better audio quality.

[@ianyork2655]

Honestly I would recommend how important the court of Navarre was to the development of Protestants in France. Especially Marguerite of Navarre

[@CREN13Queen]

I've seen some spectacular adds for Keeps but this one tops them all

[@nowhereman6019]

You know, maybe having two guys ride horses at high speeds while pointing long hard sticks at each other with the expressed goal of violently knocking the other off his horse isn't such a great sport.

[@Scillamar]

Sounds like a great time to me.

[@Gravora]

don't knock it until you tried it.

[@UrpleSquirrel]

*angry Marylander noises*

[@eazya1523]

American football has left the chat

[@FilosSofo]

wym?

[@Bubblegob]

when I saw the sharingan illuminati I thought it was genius and very funny then you killed it almost immediately by calling it out, but I can't be mad your videos are just too good.

[@rossbisset5636]

The Catholic league and the Guise family especially I find infinitely fascinating, would love to see a video on that

[@Anonymous-bm4be]

I really like that you respond to comments, most youtubers don't

[@n4ppin]

A new Video, my day is blessed

[@MrTheBaron]

Man, what a difference 5 years make. You've stepped up, Jack! Also, more death growls please. kthnx

[@salamandergamer2063]

Constantine Phaulkon: 17th century Greek adventurer and prime counsellor of Thailand. Would be a cool video and seems up your alley, just wanted to put that out there

[@jakelaurence30]

Best sponsor add I've seen recently

[@angelarosa6661]

this couldn't have come at a better time i have a quiz on this tomorrow and you literally saved me 😩😩 you explain it so well, please make more content !!

[@forcelightningcable9639]

I played as her in civ. Let’s see how close to history my play through was. Edit: hm. surprisingly close.

[@bryantgodin]

Just what I needed to get me through work

[@deanminchella5119]

Thank god it’s back to the norm! I was so scared all your videos would be like the last!

[@sherirobinson6867]

I really enjoyed KEEPS commercial...keeps up the good work 👍

[@dac554]

I never realized that Catherine de Medici and Queen Elizabeth are contemporaries

[@thunderwarrior2459]

The narutob eyes fucking made me laugh on the train

[@thomasrinschler6783]

Should have mentioned that the massacre in question took place during the wedding festivities of her daughter and a certain Huguenot who becomes king at the end of the video...

[@limeboiler]

I'm so early that the French haven't had their next 50 revolutions of the day yet.

[@goroakechi6126]

That one year out of 100 where Italy snorts a whole bunch of coke Also, damn, Henry was stabbed on June 30th? That’s my birthday, cool! Better than being the day the Night of the Long Knives started.

[@CollinMcLean]

My birthday was Caesar's assassination.

[@benjaminphelps561]

crazy to think that when this cliff hanger began I was in high school

[@benba8342]

Lithuania should have taken it's part of Henry's ransome in Huguenots. Alive Huguenots that is, Vytautas' style. Hundreds and thousands non-Ortodoxes living in Ukrainian steppes and intermarrying with the Cossacks would have easied so many problems.

[@Asher_LOATM]

Next time should be " Blood and Iron-the life and times of Otto von Bismarck", a sequel to the Napoleon III.

[@eldorados_lost_searcher]

Is it a sequel, an expansion, or a side-quel?

[@ieuanhunt552]

That guy was a genius. He predicted WW1 decades before it happened.

[@morganrobinson8042]

@@ieuanhunt552 So did everybody at some point after Crimea. He probably got there first, but everybody could see that disaster coming. Their very mechanisms of forestalling the war made it inevitable, and with greater buildup and less actual strategic skill in their commanders. Preventing it was the work of politics for the 19th century, and their failure was functionally inevitable because if any part of Europe lost control, everyone was going to war. I'm not taking a shot at Bismarck. Unifying Germany and keeping it stable is a heroic task. But the WWI thing, not as much of an outlier as you may think, especially because the prediction came right at the end of the Franco-Prussian war and that boondoggle had the seeds of the Great War just waiting to flower, even in the victorious Germany.

[@lavie9295]

Lmao I'm literally having a history test on this tomorrow (and also on protestantism and absolutism) what a nice way to (kinda) review it Edit: don't know if anybody cares but I aced the test:)

[@jnev5572]

How'd it go lol

[@lavie9295]

I have a good feeling about it but we'll see. We get the tests back next week so I'll keep you updated~

[@danielrestrepo1119]

Oh, a Botero painting got featured! Thanks for representing Colombia!

[@dark_fire_ice]

One step closer to History's 5 minute Krafts. Also, wft was with the subtitles in the beginning?

[@OneTrueVikingbard]

Valois? Do I have hope that Jack will do the Hundred Year war? I want to hear him talk about all the English victories, the drama of basically a French family feud lasting for a hundred years, that time there were two or three popes, too many Johns, Sigismund aka Sir-Appears-in-every-drama-of-the-late-14th-early-15th-century-as-the-villain, and of course, Joan of Arc. Also mention of a Frenchman ruling the Commonwealth? The Piasts soon too?

[@aleksandarvil5718]

Or *Italian Wars // Renaissance Wars* (1494 - 1559)

[@adamrhoda8482]

"A family shattered like the Lance that Penetrated his eyeball" lol

[@rotomfan63]

As much as i am opposed to monarchy, there is still a part of me that feel bad for Catherine. She tried everything to find a peaceful solution with the huguenots. Then they start planning to kidnap her kid. I feel like even if there is definitely a very strong argument that she went too far in retaliation, few people would not be able to see why that would be her final straw.

[@thenablade858]

Catherine and her sons, due to the extreme internal turmoil, never had the level of absolute influence over France that Philip II had over Spain or Elizabeth I over England. The massacre of thousands of civilians was out of her control and the other prominent Catholic nobles had more involvement in such massacres. Catherine was a moderate Catholic, and not an extreme one like Philip II or his father.

[@MaxwellAerialPhotography]

I will be back in five years to hold you to your word Monsieur Rackham.

[@jurriendevries]

I don't want to sound impatient, but I can't wait for Henry IV! Although there's probably some shit I don't know about him that makes him awful, he seems to be about the only person in Europe who tried to find a peaceful solution to the wars of religion (that made sense, you know, not stick the most fundamentalist people on both sides in a room to figure stuff out). The edict of Nantes was really something.

[@chrisball3778]

He had a creepy infatuation with a very young mistress of his (which unfortunately was pretty standard for the time). If you can overlook that, then yeah, he's definitely one of the best rulers of his age, with a really fascinating and dramatic life story. Pity his heirs scrapped the Edict of Nantes, as it was a really impressive achievement.

[@Gidi66]

Little fun fact it's thanks to these trouble's that some huggenots fled France and came to my country and kicked of its wine industry witch is one of the largest in the world.

[@kennyhagan5781]

Your commercial was better written than any show on regular television. 😂😂😂😂😂

[@BrockvsTV]

That was a smooth ad

[@Psychol-Snooper]

At least the Cathars were quiet! Too quiet.

[@jamcdonald120]

2:50 named Henry like his father

[@villejag5963]

Loving it as always, ngl ever since the change from fully animated to this mix of chalk/animation I want fully sold... ..but damn you seem to perfect this now and I'm loving it!! P.s. you ever heard of Joe Richardson and his monty python-esque games like Procession to Chalvary? Such a similar style one would wonder what goodies would come from cooperation. Anyway, love the content

[@JackRackam]

Oh man, his animation is really something else!

[@jasatotakouzeno4674]

Now that’s an amazing transition to an ad

[@CatroiOz]

Small correction : it's the Valois House not dynasty. The Dynasty is still the Capetian dynasty and will be for all following kings of France

[@PortaTerzo]

6:20 "Like half the nobility had become protestant" What? Huguenots themselves made only 10% of the population, seems like a stretch to assume HALF the nobility was protestant.

[@XxXtwitchXxX13]

5 Years later and now i have play your videos at 1.25x speed to get the same effect

[@thankveggie9581]

i came the day it came out, my entire month is saved.

[@greenacadian4197]

You DON'T have a subscription to the Canadian Journal of Urology? Get with the times!

[@razorramzan-inc]

Jack Calico you never disapoint

[@timthehistorian]

Have you considered a Thanksgiving episode on someone from the early years of the Plymouth Colony, like William Bardford or Increase Mathers or his son, Cotton. Or if you want to cover the Native American perspective you could cover Massasoit, the guy who was at the first Thanksgiving, or Metacom, the son of Massasoit who attempted to wage war against the Colonists.

[@TheJingles007]

I have no idea what happened, but now I feel all history-ed

[@timothyzappa2828]

He has thumbs now!! That's adorable!

[@Hayden-hm7rh]

could you please make a video on something about Portuguese history? it interests me but i dont know where to start

[@d.esanchez3351]

A sad thing about being from the new world is that you usually cant cheer for your people while reading old world history... but im also calvinist so Yeah wooooo hugonotes!!!

[@Alec11_43]

History labels it as a brief personal Union, and while that’s technically true(feels more like a legal transition), I’m not entirely sure if Henry III was still actually ruling the commonwealth when he went to France and I’m confused as to if he ignoring the polish nobles or they demanded he not be king of another country.

[@chrisball3778]

The Polish-Lithuanian nobles only elected Henry because Ivan the Terrible was threatening to invade and they thought French military support might be helpful. Henry didn't like living in Poland, didn't like the constitutional checks on his power and most of the Polish-Lithuanian nobility didn't like him. I think everyone just decided they were better splitting up. Plus it turned out that Stephen Bathory had it all covered anyway.

[@Alec11_43]

@@chrisball3778 Thanks, I’ve been looking for some more context on this for a while now.

[@prestonsmith9450]

This was a good one

[@douglaszelazny1094]

Hey Jack, when are you going to be adding your more recent videos to your playlist?

[@JoelJames2]

Spoiler: Henry of Navarre (the Huguenot at the end) becomes king eventually, but only after converting to Catholicism. He became Henry IV, the first king of the House of Bourbon. Yes, that House of Bourbon.

[@dlugi4198]

Dude imagine giving up on Polish throne for French throne, cuz the nobility is too annoying and there is too much religious tension and this happens in France. Oh, boy.

[@TAK-yj4hj]

Huguenots? More like HugueNOTs -Cathrine de Medici, 23.08.1572

[@southerncaesar3371]

Only 3 years to go until part 3

[@josephstalin2526]

He is back

[@DaisukeRikitsu]

Nice vid bro i like 👍

[@BenK-dw7gc]

I’m in a European History Class and today was day 1/2 of the test in the reformation including the French Wars of Religion

[@greenbutter3190]

Stable video 👍

[@carrie4696]

The t in Huguenot is silent kinda (nice vid tho!)

[@bengerber735]

In American English we pronounce the "t".

[@Daniel-kq4bx]

My next lecture on early Modern france will be about this. What an interesting coincidence

[@CatholicDragoon]

6:24 More precisely it was 40% of the nobility, and 5% of the entire population. Also protestants very quickly cemented a reputation top-down systems of control(and forced conversion), so seeing this much of the nobility going Huguenot is a legitimate major concern. Though that more a concern of the average still Catholic population than the Monarchy itself. And thus I conclude my preamble for the Saint Bartholomew Day's Massacre. 7:10 That worked so well the Huguenots sold the city of La Havre(the largest french port on the English Channel at the time) to the English to fund their war against the French Monarchy...I believe that counts as Treason.

[@Tbags4love]

Can one of your later Patreon goals be getting a subscription to the Canadian Journal of Urology?

[@bokoda7207]

why do i always find myself here at 1 in the morning?

[@ELSTERLING]

Loved it.

[@madocchampionmacpherson2832]

Pls make the next in 4.9999999999999 years instead of 5

[@njb1126]

Can you do the life and times of James bissonette?

[@JackRackam]

How about Kelly Moneymaker?

[@njb1126]

@@JackRackam 😆 Honestly though I would love to see a life and times of Charles II “the bad” of Navarre.

[@akinats5625]

Will you be streaming ?

[@georgeprchal3924]

I think Cesare Borgia was the inspiration for The Prince not Lorenzo II.

[@thenablade858]

There were multiple leaders discussed in The Prince, such as Ferdinand II of Aragon, but Machiavelli wrote the book for Lorenzo.

[@igloo.550]

RIP Henry

[@reallythatbad1]

I don't know why, but Stick Figure Jack having thumbs at 4:16 weirds me out.

[@greatexpectations6577]

That is not a stick finger…I mean…figure.

[@twelveangrymen1]

Glorious indeed!!

[@sebastianpijov8708]

Catherine Medici, queen of civil wars over religious reasons. Speaking of which, are we going to see a video on a blind Hussite leader.

[@heck3143]

Being stopped in tracking down a source because you dont have a membership to an obscure corner of academia like "Canadian Institute of Urology" is so real. I felt that in my bones. All academic works should be available for free. You shouldnt be able to withold info like its property and youre the info land lord.

[@beargrylls235]

When even advertisement turns into sophisticated humor...

[@Mr.PepeSilvia]

All jokes aside...you really should get a subscription to The Canadian Journal Of Urology

[@JackRackam]

Sounds like a great video title "I taught myself Urology for a year... here's what I learned"

[@Mr.PepeSilvia]

@@JackRackam lol I'd watch it

[@HeathableHeather]

That add was brilliant 😂

[@mitchellgeorge6031]

I still don’t get why Catherine de Medici was put as the French leader in Civ 6 instead of Napoleon, Charlemagne, or Louis XIV.

[@prestonjones1653]

Probably the same reason they went with Victoria instead of Elizabeth for England.

[@mitchellgeorge6031]

@@prestonjones1653 I much prefer Victoria as the leader of England.

[@prestonjones1653]

@@mitchellgeorge6031 I mean yeah she is cool but still kind of weird to break with tradition like that when it''s always been Elizabeth

[@thenablade858]

They wanted to go with lesser known rulers. Everybody knows Napoleon or Charlemagne, but few people outside of France know about Catherine de Medici, or the first Bourbon king Henry IV. I would have liked to see Edward III or Queen Anne of Britain in one of the Civ games.

[@aleksandarvil5718]

8:22 Stephen (IX) Báthory, Prince of Transylvania and Uncle of Elizabeth Báthory: *"... And I Took That Personally."*

[@orzaneerzy7463]

Jack is really the goat