In France, a Catholic faction headed by the triumvirate of Montmorency, Guise and St. Andre provokes militant opposition from Huguenot leaders Condé and Coligny. However, at a meeting of the States-General at Orleans, the Chancellor Michel de L'Hopital appeals to moderates to rally to the Crown, and the new figurehead of eleven-year-old Charles IX, who succeeded to the throne the previous year after the deah of his brother Francis II.