It was no secret that the Church of England remained extremely diverse in the beliefs of both its members as well as its clergy and this was a large threat to both Cranmer and Seymour, as was evidenced by the attempt by the Catholics to try Cranmer as a heretic just years prior. Therefore in August 1546 the regency council, in the name of the King, called a Convocation of the English bishops in order to standardize both the rituals and the positions of the Church of England. Cranmer was to preside over the first, and what many hoped would be the only, session of the meeting and was given extensive powers by the Council in order to ensure a Protestant agenda was enforced. He was given the right to veto positions put forward by the bishops that he found incorrect or too conservative, something which caused many Catholic bishops to avoid attending all together, with them instead announcing a separate council to be held at Winchester but were prevented from actually organizing the event by the personal intervention of Seymour, who declared such an act would be treason and those who went forward would be arrested and executed.
Among the biggest opponents of the Convocation was Mary Tudor who immediately began correspondence with both the Emperor as well as her cousin James V. Initially her plan was to escape the Kingdom, but she was persuaded against doing so by Charles V, who feared that if Mary left the Catholic cause in England would receive a severe blow and she would forfeit her claim. Therefore Henry VIII's eldest daughter remained on her estates quietly biding her time and waiting for the Protestants to slip up.
Catherine Vasa landed in England just mere days after the annunciation of the Convocation, coming ashore near Ipswich. The Swedish Princess was then paraded through the English countryside alongside her tutors, Lutheran priests, and ladies-in-waiting. Catherine, despite being extremely young, was almost as devout as her future husband Edward VI, except unlike him she adhered to Lutheranism, viewing it as one piece of home she was able to keep when all else had been taken away from her and she'd been forced to come to England. This naturally gave her a disdain for both the English people as well as her betrothed, the King. She viewed his beliefs as heretical and too radical and reportedly took badly to him from the beginning. Edward, likewise, did not like his bride much either, and attempted to push her into converting to the Church of England the very first time they met in London, causing the Princess to stormily refuse and start crying. Needless to say it became clear to Seymour the couple would have to be raised separately if he was to retain any favor from his nephew and so after a week at court Catherine Vasa and her entourage were sent to stay with Edward's younger sister Elizabeth. The Swedish diplomats would view this as an insult, as Elizabeth was legally a bastard, but Catheirne would take well to her future sister-in-law, and reportedly even influenced Elizabeth to consider joining the Lutheran Church. It was Elizabeth, not Edward, with whom Catherine would find friendship within England.
Landing of Catherine Vasa at Ipswich (1546)
The death of the Dauphin and the Queen was a huge blow to not only to Henry, but also to the cause of the Legitimists (what Henry's supporters called themselves). It was whispered by many nobles that the deaths in quick succession of the King's spouse and then heir, along with the fact he had twin daughters and not sons, was the divine intervention of God himself as a way to show the people of France to join Charles' cause for the throne. The city of Orleans, the primary title of Henry's younger brother, declared its loyalty to Charles and overthrew the Henrican "Legitimist" troops in bloody riots and impromptu executions. Hearing of this caused Charles to march north with quick pace and he arrived in Orleans, the city where he had been dealt one of his biggest defeats months prior, without bloodshed or incident.
The news of Charles' movements forced Henry to act once more. The King sent envoys to Poland, England, and various Lutheran princes in the Holy Roman Empire asking for the hands of the rulers' daughters or sisters in marriage. Mary Tudor, one of the potential brides, refused to even see the envoy and reaffirmed her loyalty to her cousin, the Emperor. In Poland however, the envoys would receive the consent of the old King Sigismund for Henry to marry his daughter Catherine. Instead of a dowry, Poland would join the war against the Hapsburgs and would form a permanent alliance with France. Henry had little choice but to accept the offer and Catherine was whisked through northern Germany in secret to marry her husband to be. In the meantime news throughout France was spread by the Legitimists that Henry was looking for an Italian bride in order to distract the Hapsburgs and "Reformes" while Poland prepared for war.
On August 14th, 1546 Catherine Jagiellon arrived in Paris quietly and was married to the King in a secret ceremony presided over by the Cardinal of Guise. Henry then performed his marital duties before rejoining his men late in the evening and marching off to expel his brother from Orleans.
Sigismund, true to his word, launched a surprise attack on Bohemia from Poland with his fresh and newly mobilized men and took much of the northern half of the country. This stunning and surprising action threw the Hapsburgs into a tailspin as their homelands were suddenly being raided. Charles V immediately moved out of France upon hearing the news and began the long winter trek west to free Bohemia in October 1546. Many of the lands abandoned by the Holy Roman troops in the autumn of 1546 immediately professed their loyalty to Henry once more and enacted the systematic murder of Protestants in the cities they controlled. While they may have been loyal to Henry II, the cities were governed by either mob rule or anarchy, and not by the King himself. Troyes fell into chaos and Nancy saw a group of local clergy set up a theocratic city state in the name of the King.
Charles and Henry fought each other in the city of Chartes as the Duke of Orleans moved to take Paris. Henry was expecting to fight in Orleans oand was caught off guard by his brother's movement out of the city thereby immediately giving him a disadvantage. The battle was brief and although the Legitimists roughly had 2,000 more men than the Duke of Orleans, they were routed by 11 in the morning. Henry II himself was forced to retreat with only a small contingent of guards while the remainder of his forces, and nobles, were crushed. The King fled towards Brittany, which was staunchly in favor of Catholicism and Henry, in shame while his brother marched on Paris in December 1546.
When the people of Paris heard of the defeat at the Battle of Chartes, they resolved to be besieged rather than give the throne up to Charles, who they feared would implement Protestantism in France. Catherine Jagiellon was sent to her husband several hours prior to the enemy's arrival and surrounding of the city. The siege of Paris was officially underway with Charles Valois himself commanding the starvation of the city and Henry's hold on the throne seemed to be at an end. For roughly 73 days the people of Paris remained firm in closing the gates but an attack in mid February finally saw Charles' men climb upon the walls and open the gates. The city fell into anarchy as the clergy, refusing to crown Charles, barricaded themselves within the Cathedral of Notre Dame alongside the most devout of the citizens while the city was lightly sacked. Charles entered the city in triumph and upon reaching Notre Dame and, seeing that it was barricaded, ordered his men to assault and take the Cathedral, telling them to spare neither clergy nor layperson. The sack of Notre Dame was both bloody and insulting to the Church with cardinals, priests, and citizens who had sought refuge in the church massacred by the Valois men. This would be just one of many hamfisted political moves undertaken by the impulsive and easily influenced Valois brother.
Upon seeing the Cathedral emptied Charles had one of his wife's chaplains crown him and her the King and Queen of France in the Cathedral where blood still stained the walls. He was now Charles IX, the King of France, and had gained the upper hand in the Civil War which was swiftly coming to a close. Although the Northern half of France remained heavily resistant, with the fears of a Protestant King seemingly verified by the sack of Notre Dame, the King was able to subdue Normandy and then Champagne in quick succession by defeating the House of Guise in the battles of Rouen and Reims, the latter which saw the Duke of Guise himself slain.
The House of Guise came to heel following the death of Claude, their leader, and with their surrender the only area of France still outwardly loyal to Henry II was Brittany. Henry sent his wife and mistress to Poland to ensure their safety and assembled an army consisting of peasants and prisoners near Brest. Charles IX, now commanding thousands more men than this brother was eager to end the war and unite the Kingdom and so moved with haste towards Henry, meeting the onetime King near Nantes where they did Battle.
The Battle of Nantes was a slaughter as the weak troops of Henry II proved to be no match for his brother's seasoned forces. Henry himself was killed in an attempt to break the lines of his brothers men at around midday and as word of his death spread, his men began to rout. Charles IX ordered his cavalry to run down those retreating and within weeks moved towards Brittany, receiving the province's loyalty on January 11th, 1547. Henry II was dead and now Charles was universally recognized as the King of France. The rest of the country soon came to heel and the King was officially crowned in a repaired an undamaged Reims Cathderal in a ceremony which noticeably omitted several Catholic aspects, causing confusion and worry, most prominently by the Queen, Mary Hapsburg.
Capture of Paris by Charles IX (1547)
The Council of Mantua, along with Pope Paul III, would react with horror over the actions of Charles IX during the sack of Paris and the brutal seizure of Notre Dame. All of those killed in the Cathedral were beatified in a clear political move by Paul while the Council (French cardinals included) condemned the attack officially and requested Charles to do an act of penance such as donating to the Church or perhaps giving some of his land to it, something which the proud and stubborn new King refused to do. This would alienate even Charles V, the man who had arguably put Charles IX on the throne, and the brief period of reconciliation between France and the Hapsburgs was ended despite the fact Mary Hapsburg remained the Queen of France and was once more pregnant with what many thought would be a second son for Charles IX and another grandson for Charles V.
In Scotland, with the defeat of Henry II, it was widely agreed that Charles IX was not to be trusted and it was clear Scotland was now had no allies and a big enemy to the south. Envoys were sent to Charles V upon hearing of his rift with his son-in-law over the sack of Notre Dame, but this was mainly posturing by James V in order to prevent an English attack on Scotland. In the meantime the King began to sow seeds of dissent in Ireland, and quietly funded rebels against Edward VI as another way to keep English attention off Scotland, although this would prove to be an unnecessary measure as England remained focused on religion and domestic policy, not on diplomacy and foreign relations.
A surprise would come to Stirling when it became clear Marie d'Guise, despite several years without pregnancy and rumors of infertility, was with child once more. The pregnancy was publicly announced on December 6th, 1546 and went relatively smoothly. When Marie went into labor her children the Princess Mary (now 4) and Prince James (3 years old) were sent to their father. The labor, unlike the pregnancy however, was rather difficult and after 6 hours it became clear that something was wrong. Marie would remain in labor throughout the entire night before finally giving birth to another child, a girl, who was named Margaret, in honor of her grandmother. James, while disappointed, comforted his wife in person and Marie recovered soon enough although it would soon become clear to all at court that there was something "off" with the newborn princess who had clearly lacked oxygen during a portion of her birth.