Henry IV of France

Henry IV (1553-1610) was king of France from 1589 to 1610. The first Bourbon monarch, he faced internal discord caused by the Wars of Religion and the economic disasters of the late 16th century and external danger posed by the powerful Hapsburg monarchy of Spain.

Born at Pau in Béarn on Dec. 14, 1553, Henry IV was the son of Antoine, Duc de Bourbon, and Jeanne d'Albret, daughter of the king of Navarre. Henry's parents were sympathetic to the Huguenot (Calvinist) faith, and Henry was raised a Huguenot. Through his father, Henry was a descendant of King Louis IX of France and hence a prince of the blood royal, next in succession to the French throne should the children of Henry II and Catherine de Médicis have no issue.

Henry's early childhood was supervised by his grandfather, Henri d'Albret, the king of Navarre, and, after his grandfather's death in 1555, by his mother, now queen of Navarre. He was trained in physical as well as intellectual disciplines, and his later career showed the results of both aspects of his early life. His physical endurance and vigor were matched by a quick and tolerant mind, his skill as a soldier matched by his diplomatic and political astuteness in the course of his reign.

Historical Background

From 1559 to 1590 France was the scene of internal political and religious conflicts exacerbated by the constant threat of military intervention by Spain, the greatest military power in Europe. During this period France was ruled by the three children of Henry II and Catherine de Médicis in succession: Francis II (1559-1560), Charles IX (1560-1574), and Henry III (1574-1589). All three were weak-willed, and the first two had political minorities, thus making political power a prize to be controlled either by the queen mother, Catherine, or by one of the rival aristocratic factions, whose dynastic rivalry was further embittered by their religious differences.

The greatest of these rival clans were the ducal house of Lorraine, the family of Guise, and the house of Bourbon, led by Antoine of Navarre, Henry's father, and Antoine's brother, Louis, Prince of Condé. The Guise faction was the champion of orthodox Roman Catholicism, while the Bourbon faction spoke for French Protestantism. During the reign of Francis II the Guise faction acquired greater influence. Catherine's regency during the minority of Charles IX, however, favored playing off one faction against the other, and the French Wars of Religion began in 1562 and continued until 1598. The rival aristocratic houses used warfare or the threat of warfare to increase their own political power, calling for aid from their coreligionists outside France - Spain, the papacy, England, or the Protestant princes of Germany. Warfare, religious hatred, economic disorder, and the continual threat of outside intervention dominated the late 16th century in France.

The Reformation and its ensuing political complications thus struck France in a different way from that in which it had affected Germany and England. Exacerbating political rivalries, playing upon the instability and minority of French kings, and affording all dissident social elements the opportunity of evening old scores, the Reformation in France was not so much the arguing of theological points (as in Germany) or the vehicle of increasing royal authority (as in England), but the unleashing of political forces which the French monarchy was unable to contain. It was to be the task of Henry IV to create a monarchical state out of political and religious anarchy.

King of Navarre

Henry was brought into the center of political infighting before he was 20. Catherine de Médicis arranged for a marriage between Henry and her daughter, Margaret of France. Henry's mother, Jeanne, was in Paris to be persuaded that her son should marry the Catholic princess but died in 1572. Henry then became King Henry III of Navarre. He and Margaret were married in August 1572, a week before Catherine, fearful of Huguenot influence over Charles IX, ordered the execution of Huguenots in Paris and other French cities. Henry himself was spared, but he was kept a prisoner in various degrees of security from 1572 to 1576, when he escaped to his own kingdom.

Henry's appearance and personality in these years made him a favorite not only of his own subjects but even of many people at court who had every reason to wish him dead. A description of him in 1567 reads: "He demeans himself towards all the world with so easy a carriage that people crowd around wherever he is. He enters into conversation as a highly polished man. He is well informed and never says anything which ought not to be said. … He loves play and good living." Henry's physical skill and military prowess brought him the friendship of many men, and his passionate nature brought him the love of many women (too many, his wife and subjects often thought).

Between his amorous adventures (which continued all his life) and his new role as king of Navarre and leader of French Huguenots, Henry's life moved out of Navarre exclusively and out of the choking world of the court into France itself. From 1576 to his conversion to Catholicism in 1594, Henry was the center of opposition both to Catholic persecution of Huguenots and to the powerful political League, which the Duke of Guise had created to control the crown of France under the semblance of defending it from Protestants.

King of France

In 1584 the Duke of Anjou, the youngest son of Catherine de Médicis, died, thus making Henry of Navarre the heir apparent to the reigning king, Henry III. The League immediately became more powerful, fearing a Protestant king. The League, allied with Philip II of Spain, exceeded in power even Henry III, who in despair arranged the assassination of the Duke of Guise and allied himself with Henry of Navarre.

When Henry III was assassinated in 1589, France faced the prospect of a Protestant king, kept from most of his kingdoms by a League of Catholics backed by the power of Spain. Henry had to fight his way to his own throne. But Henry IV refused to fight in the way his predecessors had done. Although he agreed to be instructed in the Catholic faith, he promised his coreligionists that he would end persecution on both sides, and from the death of Henry III to his own death, Henry IV had to create a political state over the skepticism of both Catholics and Protestants and in the presence of bitter memories of a kind that few states have been able to survive.

Between 1589 and 1594 Henry fought his way to the throne. He slowly wore down the Catholic front, declared war on Philip II of Spain in 1595, and guaranteed his earlier promises of religious toleration with the Edict of Nantes in 1598, the first successful attempt in modern European history to reconcile the presence of two religions within a single kingdom. Henry's actions were dictated by political necessity as well as personal conviction. France was in dire economic straits and in the midst of a social crisis. He was aided by a strong civil service and by a minister of exceptional talents, Maximilien de Bethune, Duc de Sully, his director of finance. In 1599 Henry IV divorced his wife and in 1600 married Marie de Médicis, who in 1601 bore him a son, his successor Louis XIII.

In the course of his reign Henry turned his attention vigorously to those aspects of the kingdom which had virtually been ignored during the period of the civil wars: justice, finance, agriculture, the exploitation of foreign acquisitions in Canada, the calming of old religious and social hatreds, and the perennial task of the 16th-century French monarchy, the control of Spain and Hapsburg Austria through alliances with England and the United Provinces. In the case of Hapsburg power, Henry devised a general program for checking the ambitions of this great imperial house. Whether or not Henry was responsible for the famous "Grand Design" which Sully later attributed to him is doubtful, but his last act in the area of foreign affairs was to launch an invasion of the Spanish Netherlands.

As he left Paris for the new war, Henry IV was stabbed by the assassin Ravaillac on May 14, 1610. He died before he could be brought back to the Louvre. Henry's reign had witnessed the worst of the civil wars which had been fought in many parts of Europe in the name of religion. It had witnessed the immense threat of Spanish power as well as the fire of internal rebellion. It had begun the slow political, social, and economic reconstruction of France. Much of the success of the reign was directly the result of Henry's personality and political and military ability. In an age when monarchy is no longer considered a viable form of government, it is well to be aware of a point in European history when a victory for absolute monarchy meant social and political reform on a scale that no other form of government could provide - and meant, too, a victory for a monarch who was as personally appealing as any other figure in those 2 centuries his life touched.

Further Reading

The most recent, and the best, biography in English of Henry IV is Desmond Seward, The First Bourbon (1971). A well-balanced study is Henry D. Sedgwick, Henry of Navarre (1930). Other biographies are Paul F. Willert, Henry of Navarre and the Huguenots in France (1893), and Quentin Hurst, Henry of Navarre (1938). The best account of the period in recent literature is The New Cambridge Modern History, vol. 4: R.B. Wernham, ed., The Counter-Reformation and Price Revolution, 1559-1610 (1968). The complex political and diplomatic affairs of the period are brilliantly described in Garrett Mattingly, The Armada (1959).

Additional Sources

Provinces et pays du Midi au temps d'Henri de Navarre, 1555-1589: colloque de Bayonne, Pau: Henri IV 1989, 1989.

For more information on Henry IV, visit Britannica.com.

Early Life

Raised as a Protestant, he was recognized (1569) by the Huguenot leader Gaspard de Coligny as the nominal head of the Huguenots. As a result of the temporary reconciliation (1570) between the Huguenots and the crown, Henry was betrothed to Margaret of Valois, sister of King Charles IX. A few days after his marriage (Aug. 18, 1572) the massacre of the Huguenots (see Saint Bartholomew's Day, massacre of) took place. Henry saved his life by abjuring Protestantism; however, he remained a virtual prisoner of the court until 1576, when he escaped, returned to the Protestant faith, and joined the combined Protestant and moderate Roman Catholic forces in the fifth of the Wars of Religion (see Religion, Wars of).

Struggle for Succession

Henry became the legal heir to the French throne upon the death (1584) of Francis, duke of Alençon, brother and heir to King Henry III, who had succeeded Charles IX in 1574. The Catholic League, led by Henri, 3d duc de Guise, refused to recognize a Protestant as heir and persuaded the king to revoke concessions to the Protestants and to exclude Henry of Navarre from the succession. In the resulting war, known as the War of the Three Henrys, Henry of Navarre defeated (1587) the king's forces at Coutras but was reconciled with Henry III when the League revolted against him (1588).

After Henry III's death (1589), Henry IV defeated the League forces under the duc de Mayenne at Arques (1589) and Ivry (1590) but was forced to abandon the siege of Paris when the League received Spanish aid. In 1593 he again abjured Protestantism, allegedly with the remark, “Paris is well worth a Mass.” He was received in Paris in 1594. His conciliatory policy soon won him general support. To rid France of Spanish influence, Henry declared war on Spain (1595) and brought it to a successful conclusion with the Treaty of Vervins (1598).

Internal and Foreign Policy

Henry soon turned to the internal reconstruction of his war-ravaged kingdom. With the Edict of Nantes (1598; see Nantes, Edict of), he established political rights and a measure of religious freedom for the Huguenots. Aided by baron de Rosny (later duc de Sully), Henry restored some measure of financial order, encouraged agriculture, founded new industries, built roads and canals, expanded foreign trade through commercial treaties with Spain, England, and the Ottoman Empire, and encouraged colonization of Canada. Anxious to see prosperity reach all classes, he is reputed to have said, “There should be a chicken in every peasant's pot every Sunday.” In his foreign policy Henry sought to weaken the Spanish and Austrian Hapsburgs. He was preparing to oppose them on the question of the succession to the duchies of Cleves and Jülich when he was stabbed to death by a fanatic, François Ravaillac.

Personal Life

Henry's marriage to Margaret of Valois was annulled in 1599. His mistresses included Gabrielle d'Estrées and Henriette d'Entragues. In 1600 he married Marie de' Medici, who was regent during the minority of their son Louis XIII. Numerous anecdotes and legends about Henry bear witness to his gallantry, his Gallic wit, and his concern for the common people, which have made him probably the most popular king among the French.

Bibliography

See biographies by P. G. Willert (1893), Q. Hurst (1938), H. Mann (2 vol., tr. 1937–39), and D. Seward (1971); R. Mousnier, The Assassination of Henry IV (tr. 1973).

Henry IV (France) (1553–1610; ruled 1589–1610), king of France and Navarre. Henry IV helped to end the Wars of Religion and established the foundation for France's emergence as a major power in early modern Europe. He was the first of the Bourbon kings, and his family ruled until the French Revolution of 1789 and again during the Restoration (1815–1830). Much admired by contemporaries for his bravery and his gallantry, Henry IV was known as the Gallic Hercules and endures to this day as one of France's most popular rulers.

Family and Early Life (1553–1572)

Henry was born 14 December 1553 at thechâteau of Pau in Béarn. His father, Antoine de Bourbon, the duke of Vendôme (1518–1562), was a prince of the blood and headed the powerful Bourbon-Vendôme household, whose vast domains stretched from central to southwestern France. The Bourbons' lineage went back to Robert, count of Clermont (1256–1318), the sixth son of Louis IX (ruled 1226–1270). This remote royal ancestry assumed huge significance as Henry II's (ruled 1547–1559) sons each failed to sire an heir to continue the Valois dynasty. Henry IV's mother, Jeanne d'Albret, queen of Navarre (ruled 1555–1572), ruled a tiny kingdom straddling the Pyrenees. Her public embrace of Calvinism in 1555 soon introduced her young son and her daughter, Catherine, to the faith. Members of the Condé branch of the Bourbon-Vendôme family also converted, most notably Louis, Prince of Condé, who led the Huguenot movement until his violent death in 1569. Henry received his formal education from Pierre Victor Palma-Cayet and François de La Gaucherie, whoreinforced his Calvinistupbringing in what was otherwise a typical Renaissance curriculum that combined book learning with training in horsemanship and the handling of arms. He also frequented the royal court, which schooled him in the ways of intrigue and gallantry. Although not intellectually inclined, Henry matured to become a keen judge of character andprone to decisive, frequently impulsive acts of will to overcome the many obstacles that he faced during his eventful life. These qualities served him well as the country slipped into the chaos of the Wars of Religion (1562–1598).

Huguenot Leader and Heir to the Throne (1572–1589)

In a bid to end factional strife, the queen mother, Catherine de Médicis (1510–1589), arranged a marriage between her daughter, Marguerite of Valois (1553–1615), and Henry on 17 August 1572. The wedding, which was held in Paris, instead led to the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, during which thousands of Huguenots died, including the movement's leader, Gaspard de Coligny (1519–1572), admiral of France. Henry escaped death by renouncing his Calvinist faith and becoming a prisoner at the Valois court until his escape in February 1576. After recanting his forced conversion, Henry consolidated his leadership of the Huguenots during the course of the three wars that broke out over the next eight years. Henry's status dramatically changed when, according to the Salic law of succession, he became heir presumptive to the French throne as a result of the death on 10 June 1584 of Francis, Duke of Alençon (1555–1584). The specter of a Huguenot succession caused a clash between the rules governing a hereditary succession and the monarchy's long and close affiliation with Catholicism. As a result, the question of Henry of Navarre's confessional allegiances became the central issue of the day. Militant Catholics rallied to the Holy League revived in 1584 by Henry of Lorraine, duke of Guise (1550–1589), especially after Pope Sixtus V (ruled 1585–1590) excommunicated Navarre the next year. The inability of Henry III (ruled 1574–1589) to maintain order following his humiliating expulsion from Paris on the Day of the Barricades (12 May 1588) culminated in his calamitous decision on 24 December 1588 to order the murders of Henry, duke of Guise, and his brother, Louis, the cardinal of Guise. Rather than restore royal authority, the move sparked a general insurrection across the kingdom that eventually resulted in the king's own assassination at the hands of a fanatical monk on 1 August 1589. The regicide brought Henry of Navarre to the throne as Henry IV, though it was five years before he was able to command the obedience of his rebellious Catholic subjects.

Winning the Kingdom (1589–1598)

Henry IV's promise in the Declaration of St. Cloud (4 August 1589) to consider in the near future a possible Catholic conversion, coupled with decisive military victories at Arques (21 September 1589) and Ivry (14 March 1590), shored up public support for him. The grueling siege of Paris (summer 1590) demonstrated that Catholic League resistance could not be overcome by sheer force, however. Three years later, while an Estates-General met in Leaguer Paris to contemplate the election of a new French ruler, Henry IV finally decided to convert to Catholicism amidst much fanfare on 25 July 1593 at St. Denis. The advice of Maximilien de Béthune, baron of Rosny and duke of Sully (1559–1641), himself a Protestant, and of Henry IV's Catholic mistress, Gabrielle d'Estrées (1573?–1599), are thought to have heavily influenced the king's decision to make this "perilous leap." The famous phrase "Paris is worth a Mass" actually came from Catholics who wanted to impugn the sincerity of Henry IV's conversion. Crowned in accordance with Catholic ceremony on 27 February 1594 at Chartres, Henry IV triumphantly entered Paris on 24 March 1594. In 1595, Pope Clement VIII affirmed the converted king's standing as a Catholic by bestowing a papal absolution upon him. Assassination attempts came close to ending Henry IV's life on several occasions and eventually resulted in the expulsion of the Jesuits from the kingdom in 1595. Over the next three years, Henry IV gradually pacified the kingdom more by kindness than by force, winning the allegiance of former Catholic Leaguers through generous peace accords and allaying Huguenot fears in 1598 with the royal guarantees enshrined in the celebrated Edict of Nantes. The year 1598 also saw the signing of the Treaty of Vervins, which brought to a favorable conclusion France's long war with Spain.

Recovery and Renewal (1598–1610)

With peace finally at hand, Henry IV initiated a program to restore the kingdom's well-being and the monarchy's authority. First he had to secure his dynasty's future. Against the better judgment of his advisors, Henry IV actively pursued the possibility of making Gabrielle his queen after the pope annulled his marriage to Marguerite of Valois in February 1599. Gabrielle had borne the king three children, all of whom he had legitimized by acts of the parliament. They were César, duke of Vendôme (1594–1665), Catherine-Henriette (1596–1663), and Alexandre, later grand prior of France (1598–1629). Gabrielle's death in childbirth on 10 April 1599, however, dashed Henry's hopes of marrying the woman he most adored and had come to rely upon during the early years of his reign. The king instead married Marie de Médicis (1573–1642), daughter of the Duke of Tuscany, in October 1600. On 27 September 1601, she bore him the future Louis XIII (d. 1643), who continued the Bourbon line.

Henry IV's military successes and dashing manner won him strong admiration from the nobility, whose support was crucial in pacifying the country. With the aid of Sully, who served as surintendant of finances, the king put the crown's fiscal house back in order through prudent expenditures, an overhaul of municipal finance, and the consolidation of the state's debt. By 1608, Sully estimated that the royal treasury had accumulated reserves totaling 32.5 million livres. Henry IV also introduced a ministerial style of government that restricted the judicial prerogatives claimed by the parlements and provincial privileges claimed by local representative assemblies. In 1604, Henry IV regularized the heritable nature of venal offices by the payment of a special fee known as the Paulette. He also cultivated close relations with the old nobility by showering them with pensions and titles; those aristocrats who conspired against him felt his full wrath, however, as demonstrated by the execution of Charles, duke of Biron (1562–1602). Henry IV also encouraged the beginnings of Catholic reform among both churchmen and the lay public, working hard at the same time to uphold the protections recently granted to the Huguenots. On the economic front, the king entrusted to Barthélemy de Laffemas (c. 1545–1611) the execution of innovative measures to restore commerce and living standards—a campaign reflected in the contemporary slogan of a "chicken in every pot" (la poule au pot).

Henry also initiated a major urban renewal project in Paris with the building of the Pont-Neuf, the Place Royale (now Place des Vosges), the Place Dauphine, a new Hôtel de Ville, the great gallery of the Louvre, and the completion of the Tuileries garden. During his reign, the eclecticism of the late French Renaissance gradually gave way to the more grandiose, royally inspired movement known as Classicism. Militarily, the king secured territorial gains for France in the southeast at the expense of the Duchy of Savoy; with Sully's help, he also substantially upgraded the country's armaments industry and invested heavily in fortification construction along the frontiers in the north and east.

As France became more unified and strengthened under his leadership, Henry thought it increasingly necessary to challenge Habsburg hegemony in Europe. An occasion to do so arose in 1609 in the lower Rhineland over the disputed succession to Jülich-Clèves. On the eve of his planned invasion, 14 May 1610, however, the king was struck down in the streets of Paris by the blade of a fanatical Roman Catholic assassin. He died a martyr in the eyes of his subjects and of later writers, such as Voltaire and Jules Michelet, who came to identify Henry IV as the very embodiment of what was best about the French. The style of rule and policy directions introduced by Henry IV led to France's rise under his successors as Europe's preeminent power during the next century.

Bibliography

Buisseret, David. Henry IV. London and Boston, 1984. An excellent biography that traces the course of Henry IV's life and contributions.

Finley-Croswhite, S. Annette. Henry IV and the Towns: The Pursuit of Legitimacy in French Urban Society, 1589–1610. Cambridge, U.K., and New York, 1999. Studies the problems and eventual solutions shaping Henry IV's relations with urban elites during times of war and peace.

Greengrass, Mark. France in the Age of Henri IV: The Struggle for Stability. 2nd ed. London and New York, 1995. A brilliant analysis of France's evolution under the first Bourbon king.

Love, Ronald. Blood and Religion: The Conscience of Henry IV, 1553–1593. Montreal and Ithaca, N.Y., 2001. A sensitive study that argues Henry IV remained a lifelong Calvinist even after 1593.

Wolfe, Michael. The Conversion of Henri IV: Politics, Power, and Religious Belief in Early Modern France. Cambridge, Mass., 1993. Examines the struggles sparked by the issue of Henry IV's religion during the 1580s and 1590s.

—MICHAEL WOLFE

Henry IV
King of France
Reign	2 August 1589 – 14 May 1610
Coronation	27 February 1594
Predecessor	Henry III
Successor	Louis XIII
King of Navarre (as Henry III)
Reign	9 June 1572 – 14 May 1610
Predecessor	Joan III
Successor	Louis II
Spouse	Margaret de France Marie de' Medici
Issue
Louis XIII Elisabeth, Queen of Spain Christine, Duchess of Savoy Nicholas Henri, Duke of Orléans Gaston, Duke of Orléans Henrietta Maria, Queen of England and Scotland
Father	Antoine de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme
Mother	Joan III of Navarre
Born	13 December 1553(1553-12-13) Pau, France
Died	14 May 1610 (aged 56) Paris, France
Burial	Saint Denis Basilica, France

Henry de Bourbon (Pau, 13 December 1553 – Paris, 14 May 1610), ruled as Henry III, King of Navarre, from 1572 to 1610, and as Henry IV, King of France, from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarch of the Bourbon branch of the Capetian dynasty in France. His parents were Antoine de Bourbon, duc de Vendôme, and Jeanne d'Albret, who was to become queen of Navarre on 25 May 1555.

As a Huguenot, Henry was involved in the Wars of Religion before ascending the throne in 1589. Before his coronation as king of France at Chartres, he changed his faith from Calvinism to Catholicism, and in 1598 he enacted the Edict of Nantes, which guaranteed religious liberties to the Protestants and thereby effectively ended the civil war. One of the most popular French kings, both during and after his reign, Henry showed great care for the welfare of his subjects and displayed an unusual religious tolerance for the time. He was assassinated by a fanatical Catholic, François Ravaillac.

Henry was nicknamed Henry the Great (Henri le Grand), and in France is sometimes called le bon roi Henri ("good king Henry") or le Vert galant ("the Green gallant"), a reference to his constant womanising. He also gave his name to the Henry IV style of architecture, which he patronised. He is the eponymous subject of the royal anthem of France, Marche Henri IV.

Contents 1 Life 2 Assassination and aftermath 3 Genealogy 3.1 Ancestors 4 Marriages and legitimate children 5 Notes 6 References 7 External links

Life

Henri de Bourbon was born in Pau, the capital of the French province of Béarn. Although baptised as a Roman Catholic, Henry was raised as a Protestant by his mother Jeanne d'Albret; Jeanne declared Calvinism the religion of Navarre. As a teenager, Henry joined the Huguenot forces in the French Wars of Religion. On 9 June 1572, upon Jeanne's death, he became King Henry III of Navarre.

It had been arranged, before Jeanne's death, that Henry would marry Marguerite de Valois, daughter of Henry II and Catherine de' Medici. The wedding took place in Paris on 19 August 1572 on the parvis of Notre Dame cathedral. It was for that reason that Henry was in Paris during the Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre, on 24 August, when several thousand Protestants were killed in Paris and thousands more throughout the country. Henry narrowly escaped death thanks to the help of his wife. He was made to live at the court of France, but escaped in early 1576; on 5 February of that year, he abjured Catholicism at Tours and rejoined the Protestant forces in the military conflict.

Henry of Navarre became the legal heir to the French throne upon the death in 1584 of François, Duke of Alençon, brother and heir to the Catholic King Henry III, who had succeeded Charles IX in 1574. Because Henry of Navarre was a descendant of King Louis IX, King Henry III had no choice but to recognise him as the legitimate successor. Salic law disinherited the king's sisters and all others who could claim descent by the distaff line. However, since Henry of Navarre was a Huguenot, this set off the War of the Three Henries phase of the French Wars of Religion. The third Henry, Duke Henry of Guise, pushed for complete suppression of the Huguenots, and had much support among Catholic loyalists. This set off a series of campaigns and counter-campaigns culminating in the battle of Coutras. In December 1588, Henry III had Henry of Guise murdered, along with his brother, Louis Cardinal de Guise. This increased the tension further, and Henry III was assassinated shortly thereafter by a fanatic monk.

Coin of Henry IV, demi écu, Saint Lô, 1589.

On the death of Henry III on 2 August 1589, Henry of Navarre nominally became the king of France. But the Catholic League, strengthened by support from outside, especially from Spain, was strong enough to force him to the south, and he had to set about winning his kingdom by military conquest, aided by money and troops bestowed by Elizabeth I of England. The League proclaimed Henry's Catholic uncle Charles, the Cardinal de Bourbon, King as Charles X, but the Cardinal himself was Henry's prisoner. Henry was victorious at Ivry and Arques, but failed to take Paris.

Henry IV at the Battle of Ivry, by Peter Paul Rubens.

After the death of the old Cardinal in 1590, the League could not agree on a new candidate. While some supported various Guise candidates, the strongest candidate was probably Infanta Isabella, the daughter of Philip II of Spain, whose mother Elisabeth had been the eldest daughter of Henry II of France. The prominence of her candidacy hurt the League, which thus became suspect as agents of the foreign Spanish, but nevertheless Henry remained unable to take control of Paris.

With the encouragement of the great love of his life, Gabrielle d'Estrées, on 25 July 1593 Henry declared that Paris vaut bien une messe ("Paris is well worth a mass")^[1][2][3] and permanently renounced Protestantism, thus earning the resentment of the Huguenots and his former ally, Queen Elizabeth. However, his entrance into the Roman Catholic Church secured for him the allegiance of the vast majority of his subjects, and he was crowned King of France at the Cathedral of Chartres on 27 February 1594. In 1598, however, he declared the Edict of Nantes, which gave circumscribed toleration to the Huguenots.

Royal styles of King Henry IV Par la grâce de Dieu, Roi de France et de Navarre
Reference style	His Most Christian Majesty
Spoken style	Your Most Christian Majesty
Alternative style	Monsieur Le Roi

Henry IV, as Hercules vanquishing the Lernaean Hydra (i.e. the Catholic League), by Toussaint Dubreuil, circa 1600.

Henry's first marriage was not a happy one, and the couple remained childless. Henry and Marguerite had separated even before Henry had succeeded to the throne in August 1589, and Marguerite lived for many years in the château of Usson in Auvergne. After Henry became king of France, it was of the utmost importance that he provide an heir to the crown in order to avoid the problem of a disputed succession. Henry himself favoured the idea of obtaining an annulment of his marriage to Marguerite, and taking as a bride Gabrielle d'Estrées, who had already borne him three children. Henry's councilors strongly opposed this idea, but the matter was resolved unexpectedly by Gabrielle's sudden death in the early hours of 10 April 1599, after she had given birth prematurely to a stillborn son. His marriage to Marguerite was annulled in 1599, and he then married Marie de Médicis in 1600.

Henry IV proved to be a man of vision and courage. Instead of waging costly wars to suppress opposing nobles, Henry simply paid them off. As king, he adopted policies and undertook projects to improve the lives of all subjects, which made him one of the country's most popular rulers ever.

A declaration often attributed to him is:

“

Si Dieu me prête vie, je ferai qu’il n’y aura point de laboureur en mon royaume qui n’ait les moyens d’avoir le dimanche une poule dans son pot! (If God spares me, I will ensure that there is no working man in my kingdom who does not have the means to have a chicken in the pot every Sunday!)

”

This egalitarian statement epitomises the peace and relative prosperity Henry brought to France after decades of religious war, and demonstrates how well he understood the plight of the French worker or peasant farmer. Never before had a French ruler even considered the importance of a chicken or the burden of taxation on his subjects, nor would one again until the French Revolution. After generations of domination by the extravagant Valois dynasty, which had caused the French people to pay to the point of starvation for the royal family's luxuries and intrigue, Navarre's charisma won the day.

Henry's forthright manner, physical courage and military successes also contrasted dramatically with the sickly, effete languor of the last tubercular Valois kings, as evinced by his blunt assertion that he ruled with "weapon in hand and arse in the saddle" (on a le bras armé et le cul sur la selle).

Henry IV of France by Frans Pourbus the younger

During his reign, Henry IV worked through his faithful right-hand man, the minister Maximilien de Béthune, duc de Sully (1560-1641), to regularise state finance, promote agriculture, drain swamps to create productive crop lands, undertake many public works, and encourage education, as with the creation of the Collège Royal Henri-le-Grand in La Flèche (today Prytanée Militaire de la Flèche). He and Sully protected forests from further devastation, built a new system of tree-lined highways, and constructed new bridges and canals. He had a 1200 m canal built in the park at the royal Château at Fontainebleau (which can be fished today), and ordered the planting of pines, elms and fruit trees.

The king renewed Paris as a great city, with the Pont Neuf, which still stands today, constructed over the River Seine to connect the Right and Left Banks of the city. Henry IV also had the Place Royale built (since 1800 known as Place des Vosges), and added the Grande Galerie to the Louvre. More than 400 meters long and thirty-five meters wide, this huge addition was built along the bank of the Seine River, and at the time was the longest edifice of its kind in the world. King Henry IV, a promoter of the arts by all classes of people, invited hundreds of artists and craftsmen to live and work on the building’s lower floors. This tradition continued for another two hundred years, until Emperor Napoleon I banned it. The art and architecture of his reign have since become known as the Henry IV style.

King Henry's vision extended beyond France, and he financed several expeditions of Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Monts and Samuel de Champlain to North America that saw France lay claim to Canada.

Assassination and aftermath

François Ravaillac brandishing his dagger, in a 17th-century engraving

Assassination of Henry IV, an engraving by Gaspar Bouttats

Although he was a man of kindness, compassion, and good humor, and was much loved by his people, Henry was the subject of several murder attempts (for example by Pierre Barrière and Jean Châtel). On 14 May 1610, King Henry IV was assassinated in Paris by a fanatically passionate Catholic, François Ravaillac, who stabbed the king to death while he rode in his coach. Henry was buried at the Saint Denis Basilica. His widow, Marie de Médicis, served as Regent to their 9-year-old son, Louis XIII, until 1617.

The reign of Henry IV made a lasting impact on the French people living there for generations after. A statue of him was built in his honor at the Pont Neuf in 1614, only four years after his death. Although this statue - as well as those of all the other French kings - was torn down during the French Revolution, it was the first to be rebuilt, in 1818, and it still stands today on the Pont Neuf. A cult surrounding the personality of Henry IV emerged during the Restoration. The restored Bourbons were keen to downplay the contested reigns of Louis XV and Louis XVI, and instead emphasised the reign of the benevolent Henry IV. The song "Vive Henri IV" ("Long Live Henry IV") was used during the Restoration as an unofficial anthem of France, played in the absence of the king. In addition, when Princess Maria Carolina of the Two Sicilies gave birth to a male heir to the throne of France, seven months after the assassination of her husband Charles Ferdinand, duc de Berry by a Republican fanatic, the boy was conspicuously called Henri in reference to his forefather Henry IV (see Henri, comte de Chambord). The boy was also baptised in the traditional way of Béarn/Navarre, with a spoon of Jurançon wine and some garlic, as had been done when Henry IV had been baptised in Pau, although this custom had not been followed by any Bourbon king after Henry IV.

Genealogy

Main article: Henry IV of France's succession

Henry IV was the son of Antoine de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme and Jeanne d'Albret, Queen of Navarre. He was born in the Château de Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, in the southwest of France (former province of Béarn). Henry's mother was the daughter of Marguerite d'Angoulême, a sister of King Francis I of France, making him a second cousin of Kings Francis II, Charles IX and Henry III. However, it was to his father, a tenth-generation descendant of King Louis IX, that Henry owed his succession to the French throne: in application of the Salic Law, which disregarded all female lines, Henry was the senior descendant of the senior surviving male line of the Capetian dynasty. At the death of Henry III of France, who had no son, the crown passed to Henry IV. The new king, however, had to fight for some years to be recognised as the legitimate king of France by the Catholics, who were opposed to his Protestant faith.

Ancestors

Ancestors of Henry IV of France^[4]

16. Jean VIII de Bourbon, Count of Vendôme

8. François de Bourbon, Count of Vendôme

17. Isabelle de Beauveau

4. Charles de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme

18. Pierre II de Luxembourg

9. Marie de Luxembourg

19. Margaret of Savoy

2. Antoine de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme

20. John II of Alençon

10. René of Alençon

21. Marie of Armagnac

5. Françoise of Alençon

22. Frederic VI de Vaudemont

11. Marguerite de Lorraine

23. Yolande d'Anjou

1. Henry IV of France

24. Alain I d'Albret

12. John III of Navarre

25. Francoise of Châtillon-Limoges

6. Henry II of Navarre

26. Gaston of Foix, Prince of Viana

13. Catherine of Navarre

27. Magdalena of Valois

3. Jeanne d'Albret, Queen of Navarre

28. John, Count of Angoulême

14. Charles, Count of Angoulême

29. Marguerite de Rohan

7. Marguerite d'Angoulême

30. Philip II, Duke of Savoy

15. Louise of Savoy

31. Margaret of Bourbon

Marriages and legitimate children

Main articles: Descendants of Henry IV of France and Henry IV of France's wives and mistresses

On 18 August 1572, Henry married his second cousin Marguerite de Valois; their childless marriage was annulled in 1599. His subsequent marriage to Marie de' Medici on 17 December 1600 produced six children:

Name	Birth	Death	Notes
Louis XIII, King of France	27 September 1601	14 May 1643	Married Anne of Austria in 1615.
Elizabeth, Queen of Spain	22 November 1602	6 October 1644	Married Philip IV, King of Spain in 1615.
Christine Marie, Duchess of Savoy	12 February 1606	27 December 1663	Married Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy in 1619.
Nicholas Henri de France, duc d'Orléans	16 April 1607	17 November 1611	.
Gaston, Duke of Orleans	25 April 1608	2 February 1660	Married (1) Marie de Bourbon, Duchess of Montpensier in 1626. Married (2) Margaret of Lorraine in 1632.
Henrietta Maria, Queen of England	25 November 1609	10 September 1669	Married Charles I, King of England in 1625.

Henri, his wife Marie and their children

Notes

1. ^ Alistair Horne, Seven Ages of Paris, Random House, 2004
2. ^ F.P.G. Guizot (1787-1874) A Popular History of France..., gutenberg.org
3. ^ Janel Mueller & Joshua Scodel, eds, Elizabeth I, University of Chicago Press, 2009
4. ^ Robert Knecht, Renaissance France, genealogies; Baumgartner, genealogicl tables.

References

• Baumgartner, Frederic J. France in the Sixteenth Century. London: Macmillan, 1995. ISBN 0333620887.
• Briggs, Robin. Early Modern France, 1560–1715. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1977. ISBN 0192890409.
• Bryson, David M. Queen Jeanne and the Promised Land: Dynasty, Homeland, Religion and Violence in Sixteenth-century France. Leiden and Boston, MA: Brill Academic, 1999. ISBN 9004113789.
• Buisseret, David. Henry IV, King of France. New York: Routledge, 1990. ISBN 0044456352.
• Cameron, Keith, ed. From Valois to Bourbon: Dynasty, State & Society in Early Modern France. Exeter: University of Exeter, 1989. ISBN 0859893103.
• Finley-Croswhite, S. Annette. Henry IV and the Towns: The Pursuit of Legitimacy in French Urban Society, 1589–1610. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. ISBN 0521620171.196
• Frieda, Leonie. Catherine de Medici. London: Phoenix, 2005. ISBN 0173820390.
• Greengrass, Mark. France in the Age of Henri IV: The Struggle for Stability. London: Longman, 1984. ISBN 0582492513.
• Holt, Mack P. The French Wars of Religion, 1562–1629. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. ISBN 9780521547505.
• Knecht, R. J. Catherine de' Medici. London and New York: Longman, 1998. ISBN 0582082412.
• Knecht, R. J. The French Religious Wars, 1562–1598. Oxford: Osprey, 2002. ISBN 1841763950.
• Knecht, R. J. The Rise and Fall of Renaissance France, 1483-1610. Oxford: Blackwell, 2001. ISBN 0631227296.
• Lee, Maurice J. James I & Henri IV: An Essay in English Foreign Policy, 1603–1610. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1970. ISBN 0252000846.
• LLoyd, Howell A. The State, France, and the Sixteenth Century. London: George Allen and Unwin, 1983. ISBN 0049400665.
• Lockyer, Roger. Habsburg and Bourbon Europe, 1470–1720. Harlow, UK: Longman, 1974. ISBN 0582350298.
• Love, Ronald S. (2001). Blood and Religion: The Conscience of Henri IV, 1553-1593. McGill-Queen's University Press. 
• Major, J. Russell. From Renaissance Monarchy to Absolute Monarchy: French Kings, Nobles & Estates. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997. ISBN 0801856310.
• Moote, A. Lloyd. Louis XIII, the Just. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991. ISBN 0520075463.
• Mousnier, Roland. The Assassination of Henry IV: The Tyrannicide Problem and the Consolidation of the French Absolute Monarchy in the Early Seventeenth Century. Translated by Joan Spencer. London: Faber and Faber, 1973. ISBN 0684133571.
• Pettegree, Andrew. Europe in the Sixteenth Century. Oxford: Blackwell, 2002. ISBN 063120704X.
• Salmon, J. H. M. Society in Crisis: France in the Sixteenth Century. London: Ernest Benn, 1975. ISBN 0510263518.
• Sutherland, N. M. Henry IV of France and the Politics of Religion, 1572–1596. 2 vols. Bristol: Elm Bank, 2002. ISBN 1841508462.
• Sutherland, N. M. The Huguenot Struggle for Recognition. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1980. ISBN 0300023286.
• Sutherland, N. M. The Massacre of St Bartholomew and the European Conflict, 1559–1572. London: Macmillan, 1973. ISBN 0333136292.
• Sutherland, N. M. Princes, Politics and Religion, 1547–1589. London: Hambledon Press, 1984. ISBN 0907628443.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Henri IV de France

• Description of Henry IV's assassination (in Spanish).

Henry IV of France House of Bourbon Cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty Born: 13 December 1553 Died: 14 May 1610
Regnal titles
Preceded by Jeanne III	King of Navarre as Henri III 9 June 1572 – 14 May 1610	Succeeded by Louis XIII
	Co-Prince of Andorra 9 June 1572 – 14 May 1610
Preceded by Henri III	King of France 2 August 1589 – 14 May 1610
French nobility
Preceded by Antoine de Bourbon	Duke of Vendôme Duke of Beaumont Count of Marle Count of La Fère Count of Soissons 17 November 1562 – 1607	Merged into the crown
Preceded by Henri III	Count of Diois 2 August 1589 – 27 September 1601
	Count of Provence and Forcalquier Count of Valentinois Dauphin of Viennois 2 August 1589 – 14 May 1610
Navarrese royalty
Preceded by Jeanne III	Duke of Albret Count of Limoges Count of Foix Count of Armagnac Count of Comminges Count of Bigorre Count of Périgord 9 June 1572 – 1607	Merged into the crown
	Viscount of Béarn Lord of Donezan 9 June 1572 – 14 May 1610

v • d • e List of French monarchs Carolingians (843–888, 898–922, 936–987) Pepin (751–768) • Carloman I (768–771) • Charlemagne (768–814) • Louis I (814–840) • Charles I (843–877) • Louis II (877–879) • Louis III (879–882) • Carloman II (879–884) • Charles II (885–888) • Charles III (898–922) • Louis IV (936–954) • Lothair (954–986) • Louis V (986–987) Robertians (888–898, 922–936) Odo of Paris (888–898) • Robert I (922–923) • Rudolph (923–936) House of Capet (987–1328) Hugh (987–996) • Robert II (996–1031) • Henry I (1031–1060) • Philip I (1060–1108) • Louis VI (1108–1137) • Louis VII (1137–1180) • Philip II (1180–1223) • Louis VIII (1223–1226) • Louis IX (1226–1270) • Philip III (1270–1285) • Philip IV (1285–1314) • Louis X (1314–1316) • John I (1316) • Philip V (1316–1322) • Charles IV (1322–1328) House of Valois (1328–1498) Philip VI (1328–1350) • John II (1350–1364) • Charles V (1364–1380) • Charles VI (1380–1422) • Charles VII (1422–1461) • Louis XI (1461–1483) • Charles VIII (1483–1498) House of Lancaster (1422–1453) Henry VI of England (1422–1453) (disputed) House of Valois-Orléans (1498–1515) Louis XII (1498–1515) House of Valois-Angoulême (1515–1589) Francis I (1515–1547) • Henry II (1547–1559) • Francis II (1559–1560) • Charles IX (1560–1574) • Henry III (1574–1589) House of Bourbon (1589–1792) Henry IV (1589–1610) • Louis XIII (1610–1643) • Louis XIV (1643–1715) • Louis XV (1715–1774) • Louis XVI (1774–1792) • Louis XVII (claimant, 1792–1795) House of Bonaparte First Empire (1804–1814, 1815) Napoleon I (1804–1814, 1815) • Napoleon II (1815) House of Bourbon Bourbon Restoration (1814, 1815–1830) Louis XVIII (1814–1815, 1815–1824) • Charles X (1824–1830) • Louis XIX (1830) (disputed) • Henry V (1830) (disputed) House of Orléans July Monarchy (1830–1848) Louis-Philippe I (1830–1848) House of Bonaparte Second Empire (1852–1870) Napoleon III (1852–1870)

v • d • e House of Bourbon   Henry IV of France Spouse(s) HH Marguerite de Valois  · Lady Marie de' Medici Children Louis XIII  · Elisabeth, Queen of Spain  · Christine Marie, Duchess of Savoy  · Nicholas Henri, Duke of Orléans  · Gaston, Duke of Orléans  · Henriette Marie, Queen of England, Ireland and Scotland Siblings Henri, Duke of Beaumont (1551–1553)  · Louis, Count of Marle (1555–1557)  · Madeleine (1556)  · Catherine, Duchess of Lorraine Illegitimate Children César, Duke of Vendôme  · Catherine Henriette, Duchess of Elbeuf  · Alexandre, Chevalier de Vendôme  · Henri, Duke of Verneuil  · Gabrielle Angelique, Duchess of La Valette and Epernon  · Antoine, Count of Moret · Jeanne Baptiste, Abess of Fontevraud  · Marie Henriette, Abess of Chelles Grandchildren Anne Marie Louise, Duchess of Montpensier  · Marguerite Louise, Grand Duchess of Tuscany  · Élisabeth Marguerite, Duchess of Alençon and Angoulême  · Françoise Madeleine, Duchess of Savoy  · Princess Marie Anne  · Gaston, Duke of Valois  · Louis XIV of France  · Philippe, Duke of Orléans   Louis XIII of France Spouse(s) HRH Infanta Ana Maria Mauricia of Spain*** Children Louis XIV of France  · Philippe I, Duke of Orléans Grandchildren Louis, Dauphin of France  · Princess Anne Élisabeth  · Princess Marie Anne  · Princess Marie Therèse, Madame Royale  · Philippe Charles, Duke of Anjou · Louis François, Duke of Anjou  · Marie Louise, Queen of Spain  · Philippe Charles, Duke of Valois  · Anne Marie, Queen of Sardinia  · Alexandre Louise, Duke of Valois  · Philippe Charles, Duke of Orléans  · Élisabeth Charlotte, Duchess of Lorraine Great grandchildren Louis, Duke of Burgundy  · King Felipe of Spain  · Charles, Duke of Berry  · Louis, Duke of Orléans   Louis XIV of France Spouse(s) HRH Infanta María Teresa of Spain***  · Françoise d'Aubigné, Madame de Maintenon Children Louis, Dauphin of France  · Princess Anne Élisabeth  · Princess Marie Anne  · Princess Marie Therèse, Madame Royale  · Philippe Charles, Duke of Anjou · Louis François, Duke of Anjou Illegitimate Children Charles de Bourbon  · Philippe de Bourbon  · Marie Anne, Princess of Conti  · Louis, Count of Vermandois  · Louis Auguste, Duke of Maine  · Louis César, Count of Vexin  · Louise Françoise, Princess of Condé  · Louise Marie Anne, Mademoiselle de Tours  · Françoise Marie, Duchess of Orléans  · Louis Alexandre, Count of Toulouse  · Louise, Baroness of La Queue Grandchildren Louis, Duke of Burgundy  · King Felipe of Spain  · Charles, Duke of Berry Great grandchildren Louis, Duke of Brittany  · Louis, Duke of Brittany  · Louis XV of France  · Louis I of Spain*  · Felipe of Spain*  · Felipe of Spain*  · Ferdinand VI of Spain*  · Charles III of Spain*  · Francisco of Spain*  · Mariana Víctoria, Queen of Portugal*  · Philip, Duke of Parma*  · Maria Teresa Rafaela, Dauphine of France*  · Luis, Count of Chinchón*  · Maria Antonietta, Queen of Sardinia*  · Louise de Berry  · Charles, Duke of Alençon  · Marie Louise Élisabeth de Berry   Louis XV of France Spouse(s) Maria Carolina Sophia Felicity Leszczyńska Children Marie Louise Élisabeth, Duchess of Parma  · Princess Henriette Anne  · Princess Marie Louise  · Louis, Dauphin of France  · Philippe, Duke of Anjou  · Marie Adélaïde, Duchess of Louvois  · Princess Victoire  · Sophie Philippine, Duchess of Louvois  · Princess Thérèse Félicité  · Princess Louise Marie Grandchildren Princess Marie Therèse, Madame Royale  · Princess Marie Zéphyrine  · Louis, Duke of Burgundy  · Xavier, Duke of Aquitaine  · Louis XVI of France  · Louis XVIII of France  · Charles X of France  · Clothilde, Queen of Sardinia  · Princess Élisabeth Illegitimate children included Charles de Vintimille  · Agathe Louise de Saint-Antoine  · Philippe, Duke of Narbonne-Lara  · Louis, Count of Narbonne-Lara   Louis XVI of France Spouse(s) HI&RH Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria** Children Marie Thérèse, Duchess of Angoulême  · Louis Joseph, Dauphin of France  · Louis XVII of France  · Princess Sophie Hélène   Louis XVII of France Note Louis had no children; he died aged 10 in 1795. His uncle, future Louis XVIII of France proclaimed himself regent but both titles were disputed. See Bourbon Restoration.   Louis XVIII of France Spouse(s) HRH Princess Marie Josephine Louise of Savoy   Charles X of France Spouse(s) HRH Princess Maria Teresa of Savoy Children Louis Antoine, Duke of Angoulême  · Sophie, Mademoiselle  · Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry Grandchildren Princess Louise Élisabeth  · Prince Louis  · Louise Marie Thérèse, Duchess of Parma  · Henri, Count of Chambord *also an Infante or Infanta of Spain **also an Archduchess of Austria ***both

Persondata
NAME
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION
DATE OF BIRTH
PLACE OF BIRTH
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)