On December 23, 1588, Henry III invited the Catholic Duke of Guise, Henry, and his brother Louis de Lorraine, the Cardinal of Guise, to his château, ostensibly for the purpose of negotiation. The Guise brothers were warned not to accept the king's invitation, since he was still extremely angry over their recent political behavior. Several months earlier in May, the Catholic League, the radical political organization of which they were titular leaders, had seized control of Paris. Henry managed to elude capture and retreated to his palace at Blois, but seven months later he was no closer to regaining control of the most important city of France. Brushing off concerns about the safety of such a visit, the Guise brothers made their way to the château at Blois where, perhaps to their own astonishment or perhaps not, they were met by the royal guards. The duke of Guise died immediately, and his brother the following day.

Since the League openly declared its opposition to a Protestant succession to the French throne (Henry of Navarre), and the Guise family eagerly vied with other noble clans for control of the same institution, one can well understand why Henry III considered these men a threat to his authority. But for French subjects who were already suspicious of the religious motivations of their own ruler, the assassinations of the Guise brothers looked much more like tyranny in action than political justice.