Excerpts from Books and Wikipedia
"A tournament was held in Paris to celebrate the end of France's war with Spain and the marriage of French King Henry II's daughter Elisabeth to Philip II of Spain. . . . Henry wanted to end all military commitments so that he could concentrate his efforts on the battle against Protestantism, which had spread rapidly in France through the writings of the French-born Genevan reformer John Calvin. . . . On June 2, 1559, he published the Edict of Ecouen, declaring war on Protestants. He did not live to see it enacted, but it opened the way to the Wars of Religion that would divide France for forty years." [Furtado: 1001 Days]