[Born at St. Germain, 1550. Died there, 1574. Aged 24.]
The son of Henry II. and Catherine de Medici. He was brought up under
the tutelage of his mother; and at an early age, gave promise of a good
career, exhibiting a taste for literature, princely courage, and a love
of glory. But under the influence of his pernicious mother, he became
profligate and cruel. His unenviable reign is notorious for the horrible
Massacre of St. Bartholomew, when thousands of Protestants were
deliberately murdered. Remorse for this tremendous crime followed
Charles IX. to his grave, into which he was prematurely cast by
diseases, the result of his debaucheries.
[From a marble in the Louvre, attributed to Germain Pilon. It
represents the king in his youth. The pedestal is inscribed, Carolus
IX. 1568.]