On this day in Tudor history, 18th February 1563, a Huguenot assassin shot Francis, Duke of Guise, at Orléans in France. The duke died six days later.

The Catholic Guise was a prominent leader during the French Wars of Religion, and there had been attempts on his life previously. Guise was wounded by Huguenot, Jean de Poltrot de Méré, at the Siege of Orléans, and it is thought that the treatment he received from his physicians, bloodletting, contributed to his death.