Henry II of France was involved with the cause of a French war about religion between Protestants and Catholics.
The French Wars of Religion , or Huguenot Wars of the 16th century , are names for a period of civil infighting , military operations and religious war primarily fought between Roman Catholics and Huguenots ( Reformed Protestants ) in the Kingdom of France . Henry II of France . Henry pursued his father 's policies in matter of arts , wars and religion . He persevered in the Italian Wars against the House of Habsburg and tried to suppress the Protestant Reformation , even as the Huguenot numbers were increasing drastically in France during his reign . He was succeeded in turn by three of his sons , whose ineffective reigns helped to spark the French Wars of Religion between Protestants and Catholics .