Henry M. Baird · 271 of 379

CHAPTER XI · Opening of the States General, Dec. 13, 1560.

A brief delay in the opening of the sessions of the States General was necessitated by the sudden change in the administration. At length, on the thirteenth of December, the pompous ceremonial took place in the city of Orleans. It was graced by the presence of the boy-king, Charles the Ninth, and of his mother, his brother, the future Henry the Third, and his sister Margaret. The King of Navarre, the aged Renée of Ferrara, and other members of the royal house, also figured here with all that was most distinguished among the nobility of the realm.