Charles de Lorraine Mayenne, duc de

Charles de Lorraine Mayenne, duc de , 1554-1611, French Catholic general in the Wars of Religion (see Religion, Wars of ); brother of Henri, 3d duc de Guise , and Louis de Lorraine, Cardinal de Guise. After the murder of his brothers (1588), he became the head of the Catholic League . Defeated by King Henry IV of France at Arques (1589) and Ivry (1590), he nevertheless raised Henry's siege of Paris (1590). For a time he wielded almost royal power over the parts of France that supported the League. He became estranged from the pro-Spanish faction, which supported the claim to the French crown of the Spanish infanta Isabella, a granddaughter of King Henry II of France. In 1596, Mayenne made his final peace with Henry IV, who had previously abjured Protestantism.