Henry IV
(13 December 1553 ? 14 May 1610),
Henri-Quatre
, was
King of France
from 1589 to 1610 and
King of Navarre
from 1572 to 1610. He was part of the
Capetian dynasty
and the first king of the
Bourbon
family in France.
Henry IV was born in
Pau
. He was the son of
Antoine de Bourbon
and
Jeanne of Navarre
. He was baptised in a
Catholic
ceremony, but as he grew up, his mother led him to become a
Protestant
. On 18 August 1572, Henry married
Margaret of Valois
. She was the sister of
Charles IX
. He became the
King
of
Navarre
in the same year.
Since 1562, there had been a
a series of wars in France
which were mostly fought between Catholics and Protestants, and sometimes with more than one groups of Catholics fighting each other. In 1584, Henry became the heir to the throne of France. Most people in France were Catholics, and many of them did not want a Protestant king. This led to the
War of the Three Henrys
between Henry of Navarre, the existing Catholic king
Henry III
and
Catholic League
leader
Henry, Duke of Guise
. Although both Henry III and Guise were Catholics, they did not get on with each other. Guise was murdered in 1588 and Henry III was murdered the following year.
Henry of Navarre could now be crowned King of France, but he still faced opposition from the Catholic League. After four years of fighting, he decided to convert to being Catholic. He supposedly said "Paris is well worth a
Mass
." After this, the opposition to Henry died down. In 1598, Henry made the
Edict of Nantes
. This law allowed people in France to be Protestant, even though most people were Catholic. In Europe at the time, a policy like this was unusual. Most countries forced people to be either Catholic or Protestant. However, the Edict did not make the Protestants fully equal.
Henry's children were
Louis XIII
and
Henrietta Maria of France
, who married
Charles I
and became the
Queen of England
. He was a friend of
Michel of Montaigne
.
During his reign, he built the
Grande Galerie
onto the
Louvre
. Two landmarks in
Paris
were started during his reign: the
Pont Neuf
and the
Place des Vosges
.
Henry was murdered by a Catholic fanatic on a street in Paris on 14 May 1610.
At first, many people in France did not want Henry to be king, because he was a Protestant. Although this mostly ended once he joined the Catholic Church, some Catholics called him a liar, while some Protestants called him a traitor. It was only after his death that he became known as
Good King Henry
(in French,
le bon roi Henri
) and one of France's most popular kings. During the early years of the
French Revolution
, Henry IV was celebrated as an example of what a king should be. He was also celebrated during the
Bourbon Restoration
.
Henry IV is remembered for being the king who ended the
French Wars of Religion
, and for his policy of allowing more than one church in his country, which was unusual in those days. He was also known for trying to make sure that poor people had enough to eat. He once said he wished that there could be "a chicken in every pot on a Sunday."
In 2010 scientists found part of his embalmed head and used
forensic
tests to prove that it was his. It had been stolen from the
tombs
of the French kings and queens in Saint Denis in 1793 at the time of the
French Revolution
.
[1]
Name
|
Birth
|
Death
|
Notes
|
Louis XIII, King of France
|
27 September 1601
|
14 May 1643
|
Married
Anne of Austria
in 1615.
|
Elisabeth, 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.
|
Nicolas Henri, Duke of Orleans
|
16 April 1607
|
17 November 1611
|
.
|
Gaston, Duke of Orleans
|
25 April 1608
|
2 February 1660
|
Married (1)
Marie de Bourbon
in 1626.
Married (2)
Marguerite of Lorraine
in 1632.
|
Henrietta Maria, Queen of England, Queen of Scots, and Queen of Ireland
|
25 November 1609
|
10 September 1669
|
Married
Charles I, King of England, King of Scots and King of Ireland
in 1625.
|
- ↑
"Found at last: 400-year-old head of Henri IV; The Independent 16 December 2010 p.21