The film takes place in 1572, during the French Renaissance. Marguerite de Valois (Cécile de France), the beautiful and cultured sister of King Charles IX, is forced to marry Henri de Navarre (Vincent Perez), a Protestant leader, in an attempt to broker peace between Catholics and Protestants. However, the marriage is complicated by the fact that Marguerite is already in love with a young nobleman, La Cocque (Guillaume Depardieu).