 He ascended the throne of France at the age of fifteen after the accidental death of his father, Henry II, in 1559.His short reign was dominated by the first stirrings of the French Wars of Religion.Although the royal age of majority had been set at fourteen, his mother, Catherine de' Medici, entrusted the reins of government to his wife's uncles from the House of Guise, staunch supporters of the Catholic cause.