In France, the dauphin succeeded his father as King Henry II. The Guise family were among his chief advisers; the result was that Henry at once declared himself to be the “protector” of Scotland. He decided to spare no expense to safeguard the “auld alliance” and ensure that Mary would marry no one except his own son, the Dauphin Francis. He flatly countered Somerset’s idea of an Anglo-British union with his own master plan for a Franco-British empire. Moreover, his level of commitment far exceeded anything shown by his father, Francis I, whose chief concern had been to frustrate and rival
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