{{Other uses, Malcontents (disambiguation){{!Malcontents The Malcontents were a faction of gentlemen in the Fifth French War of Religion (1574–1576). It opposed the policy of Henry of Valois, duc d'Anjou, who had become king under the name Henry III on 30 May 1574, and allied itself to the

Huguenots The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

. The leader was the King's brother Francis, Duke of Alençon (made Duke of Anjou in 1576). The main goal of the Malcontents was to oppose the absolutist ambitions of the King. They were unhappy (''malcontent'') with the way the King treated the old French nobility. The Malcontent movement has been compared to the

Fronde The Fronde () was a series of civil wars in France between 1648 and 1653, occurring in the midst of the Franco-Spanish War, which had begun in 1635. King Louis XIV confronted the combined opposition of the princes, the nobility, the law cour ...

, 70 years later.

Members

The Malcontents had both Catholic and Huguenot members. The leaders were: * The Duke of Alençon, Catholic and the King's younger brother * Henri I de Montmorency, Catholic * Guillaume de Montmorency-Thoré, Catholic * Henri, Prince of Condé, Protestant * Henri de Navarre, Protestant and future King Henry IV of France *

John Casimir of the Palatinate-Simmern John Casimir, Count Palatine of Simmern (German: ''Johann Casimir von Pfalz-Simmern'') (7 March 1543 – Brockhaus Geschichte Second Edition) was a German prince and a younger son of Frederick III, Elector Palatine. A firm Calvinist, he was a lead ...

, German Protestant supporter of the Huguenots in France

Result

The conspiracy was a success. King Henry III of France was forced to sign the

Edict of Beaulieu The Edict of Beaulieu (also known at the time as the Peace of Monsieur) was promulgated from Beaulieu-lès-Loches on 6 May 1576 by Henry III of France, who was pressured by Alençon's support of the Protestant army besieging Paris that spring. ...

on 6 May 1576, because he needed their support against the Catholic League under Henry I, Duke of Guise. Political history of the Ancien Régime French Wars of Religion