Henry IV the Great, king of France

Portrait of Henry IV as Hercules slaying the Lernaean Hydra by the circle of Toussaint Dubreuil French, c. 1600 oil on canvas Musée du Louvre

Added by Janet Milburn 1/31/21 (A rather humorous depiction of Henry IV) ________________________________________________________________

Henry III the Good King of Navarre, also known as
Henry IV the Great 1st Bourbon King of France also known as
Henry the Co-Prince of Andorra

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Henry IV (French: Henri IV) (13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), ruled as King of France from 1589 to 1610 and, as Henry III, King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610. He was the first monarch of the Bourbon branch of the Capetian dynasty in France. His parents were Jeanne III of Navarre and her husband, Antoine de Bourbon, duc de Vendôme.

As a Huguenot, Henry was involved in the Wars of Religion before ascending the throne in 1589. Once crowned, he changed his faith from Calvinism to Catholicism, but 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 murdered 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 womanizing). He also gave his name to the Henry IV style of architecture, which he patronized.

Although baptized 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.

On 18 August 1572, Henry married Marguerite de Valois, sister of King Charles IX. Henry's marriage was believed by most to be an effort to bring religious peace to the kingdom. However, leading Catholics (possibly including Catherine de' Medici, mother of the bride) secretly planned a massacre of Protestants gathered in Paris for the wedding, which served as the lure. In the resulting Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre, on 24 August, several thousand Protestants were killed in Paris and thousands more in the countryside. Henry narrowly escaped death by pretending to convert to Roman Catholicism. He was kept in confinement, 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.

Henri 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 Henri 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 recognize 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 Henri, Duke Henri 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 Henri 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.

On the death of Henri III in 1589, Henri 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. Henri was victorious at Ivry and Arques, but failed to take Paris.

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 Henri 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 Henri declared that Paris vaut bien une messe ("Paris is well worth a Mass") (cite?) 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.

Henry's first marriage was not a happy one, and the couple remained childless. The two had separated, even before Henri had succeeded to the throne, in August, 1589 and Marguerite de Valois lived for many years in the chateau of Usson in Auvergne. After Henry had become king, various advisers impressed upon him the desirability of providing an heir to the French Crown, in order to avoid the problem of a disputed succession. Henri himself favored the idea of obtaining an annulment of his first marriage, and taking Gabrielle d'Estrées as a bride, who had already borne him three children. Henry's councilors strongly opposed this idea, but the matter was resolved unexpectedly by Gabrielle d'Estrées' sudden death in 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.

Henri IV proved to be a man of vision and courage. Instead of waging costly wars to suppress opposing nobles, Henri 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! ”

(God willing, 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 epitomizes 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.

Henri's forthright manner, physical courage and military success 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).

During his reign, Henri IV worked through his right-hand man, the faithful Maximilien de Bethune, duc de Sully (1560-1641), to regularize state finance, promote agriculture, drain swamps to create productive crop lands, undertake many public works, and encourage education, as with the creation of the College Royal Louis-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. Henri 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 Henri IV, a promoter of the arts by all classes of peoples, 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 has since become known as the Henri IV style.

King Henri'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.

Although he was a man of kindness, compassion, and good humor, and was much loved by his people, he was the subject of many 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. Henry's 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 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 destroyed 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 Henri IV emerged during the Restoration. The restored Bourbons were keen to downplay the contested reigns of Louis XV and Louis XVI, and instead emphasized 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 baptized 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 baptized in Pau, although this custom had not been followed by any Bourbon king after Henry IV.

Henri IV, né Henri de Bourbon (13 décembre 1553 à Pau - 14 mai 1610 à Paris) fut roi de Navarre (Henri III de Navarre, 1572-1610) puis roi de France (1589-1610), premier souverain français de la branche dite de Bourbon de la dynastie capétienne.

Il était le fils de Jeanne III, dite Jeanne d'Albret, reine de Navarre et d'Antoine de Bourbon, chef de la maison de Bourbon, descendant du roi Louis IX et premier prince de sang[1]. En vertu de la « loi salique » cette filiation fera d'Henri le successeur naturel du roi de France à la mort de François, duc d'Anjou (frère et héritier du roi Henri III), en 1584.

Contemporain d'un siècle ravagé par les guerres de religion, il y fut d'abord lourdement impliqué en tant que prince de sang et chef protestant avant d'accéder au trône de France. Pour être accepté comme roi, il se convertit au catholicisme, et signa l'Édit de Nantes, énième traité de paix qui autorisait tout en la limitant la liberté de culte pour les protestants mais mit fin aux guerres de religion. Il fut assassiné le 14 mai 1610 par un fanatique, François Ravaillac, rue de la Ferronnerie à Paris.

Sommaire

1 Biographie

1.1 Jeunesse

1.2 Roi de Navarre

1.2.1 A la cour de France

1.2.2 La cour de Nérac

1.2.3 Héritier du trône de France

1.3 Roi de France

1.3.1 La conquête du royaume de France

1.3.2 À la conquête d'un nouveau royaume de France

1.3.3 Le mariage

1.3.4 Reconstruction et pacification du royaume

1.3.5 L'assassinat

2 Enfants

2.1 Descendants illégitimes

3 La légende du bon roi Henri

4 Notes et références

5 Voir aussi

6 Bibliographie

6.1 Cinéma

7 Liens externes

Biographie

Jeunesse
Henri IV est né au château de Pau. La légende dit qu'il aurait été baptisé avec une gousse d'ail et une goutte de vin de Jurançon, et que son berceau était une carapace de tortue. Par la volonté de son grand-père Henri d'Albret, Henri passe sa petite enfance dans la campagne de son pays où il s'amuse avec les enfants des paysans du coin. Il grandit au château de Coarraze[2]. Il est éduqué dans la plus grande rectitude morale. Fidèle à l'esprit du calvinisme, sa mère prend soin de l'instruire selon les préceptes de la Réforme. À la mort du roi François II en 1560, son père l'amène à la cour de France où il l'élève dans la religion catholique. Henri grandit à Saint-Germain-en-Laye aux côtés du petit roi et des princes royaux. Protégé par Renée de France durant la première guerre de religion, il reçoit après la mort de son père en 1563, les charges que celui-ci avait. Il accompagne la famille royale durant son grand tour de France. C'est à cette occasion qu'il retrouve sa mère qu'il n'avait pas vue depuis plusieurs années. Après le grand tour de France, il retourne vivre avec sa mère et retourne à la religion protestante[3].

Roi de Navarre

A la cour de France
En 1572, succédant à sa mère Jeanne d'Albret, Henri de Navarre devient roi de Navarre sous le nom d'Henri IV. Certains auteurs prétendent toutefois qu'il l'aurait déjà été de manière titulaire dès 1562 (mort d'Antoine de Bourbon, roi consort) alors même que le trône de Navarre ne venait pas du côté paternel. Jeanne d'Albret était protestante, et avait élevé son fils selon cette religion. Elle avait de plus déclaré le calvinisme religion officielle en Navarre.

Le 18 août 1572, Henri est marié à Marguerite de France, sœur du roi Charles IX, aussi connue sous le nom de « reine Margot ». Ce mariage auquel s'était opposée Jeanne d'Albret, a été arrangé pour favoriser la réconciliation entre catholiques et protestants, créant un problème car Margot, étant catholique, ne peut se marier que devant un prêtre, et Henri, lui, ne peut entrer dans une église. Mais les reines mères trouvent la solution. Margot et Henri célèbreront leur mariage sur le parvis de Notre-Dame. S'ensuivent dix jours de fête. Cependant, dans un climat très tendu à Paris, et suite à un attentat contre Gaspard de Coligny, le mariage est suivi quelques jours plus tard du massacre de la Saint-Barthélemy. Épargné par les massacres, Henri est contraint de se convertir au catholicisme.

Interdit de quitter la cour, il suit le roi dans ses déplacements, il participe au siège de La Rochelle et se lie politiquement avec le duc d'Alençon. Après sa participation aux complots des Malcontents, il est fait prisonnier au côté d'Alençon (1574). Si la clémence du roi lui fait éviter la peine de mort, il reste prisonnier. À l'avènement d'Henri III, il recouvre un semblant de liberté mais la suspicion royale maintient la surveillance sur sa personne. Il reçoit à Lyon le pardon du nouveau roi et participe à la cérémonie du sacre à Reims.

La cour de Nérac

Quatre années après son mariage, il profite des troubles pour s'enfuir. Ayant regagné son royaume de Navarre et son gouvernement de Guyenne, il renoue avec le protestantisme (le 5 février 1576) et installe sa cour au château de Nérac. Pour devenir chef des protestants, il rivalise avec son cousin le prince de Condé, avec qui il ne s'entend pas. En 1578, la reine mère, Catherine de Médicis lui rend visite pour lui ramener son épouse Marguerite et ainsi pacifier le royaume.

La prise de Cahors, en mai 1580, où il réussit à éviter pillage et massacre malgré trois jours de combats de rue, lui vaut un grand prestige à la fois pour son courage et son humanité[4].

Le couple Navarre mène un bon train de vie, ce dont se plaignent les pasteurs. Les aventures féminines du roi créent la discorde au sein du couple et provoquent le départ de Marguerite à Paris. Le coup d'éclat de Marguerite à Agen (1585) consomme leur rupture.

Héritier du trône de France

Henri III, obligé malgré lui de faire la guerre contre Henri de NavarreEn 1584, le frère du roi de France, François d'Alençon meurt sans héritier et le roi Henri III lui-même n'en a pas. Celui-ci envoie alors à Nérac une ambassade extraordinaire dirigée par le duc d'Épernon pour confirmer Henri de Navarre comme son héritier légitime. Seulement quelques mois plus tard contraint par les Guise de signer le traité de Nemours, il lui déclare la guerre et met hors la loi tous les protestants. La rumeur dit qu'en une nuit, la moitié de la moustache d’Henri IV blanchit[5].

Commence alors un conflit où Henri de Navarre affronte à plusieurs occasions le duc de Mayenne. Henri se fait de nouveau excommunier par le pape, puis doit affronter l'armée royale qu'il bat à la bataille de Coutras en 1587.

Plusieurs revirements apparaissent en 1588. La mort du prince Henri de Condé le place à la tête des protestants. L'assassinat surprise du duc de Guise l'amène à se réconcilier avec Henri III. Les deux rois se retrouvent tous les deux au château de Plessis-lez-Tours et signent un traité le 30 avril 1589. Alliés contre la Ligue qui contrôle Paris et la plus grande partie du royaume de France, ils parviennent à mettre le siège devant Paris en juillet. Le 1er août 1589, quelques instants avant de mourir des blessures infligées par le moine fanatique Jacques Clément, le roi Henri III reconnaît formellement son beau-frère et cousin le roi de Navarre comme son successeur légitime, et celui-ci devient le roi Henri IV.

Pour Henri IV commence la longue reconquête du royaume, car les trois quarts des Français ne le reconnaissent pas pour roi. Les catholiques de la Ligue refusent de reconnaître la légitimité de cette succession.

Roi de France

La conquête du royaume de France
Henri IV vainqueur de la Ligue représenté en Mars, par Jacob Bunel (Conservé au musée national du château de Pau.)Conscient de ses faiblesses, Henri IV doit d’abord commencer par conquérir les esprits. Les royalistes catholiques lui demandent d’abjurer le protestantisme, lui qui à neuf ans avait déjà changé trois fois de religion. Il refuse, mais dans une déclaration publiée le 4 août, il indique qu’il respectera la religion catholique. Beaucoup hésitent à le suivre, certains protestants comme La Trémoïlle quittent même l’armée, qui passe de 40 000 à 20 000 hommes.

Affaibli, Henri IV doit abandonner le siège de Paris car les seigneurs rentrent chez eux, ne voulant pas servir un protestant. Appuyés par l'Espagne, les ligueurs relancent les hostilités, le contraignant à se replier personnellement à Dieppe, en raison de l'alliance avec la reine Élisabeth Ire d'Angleterre, tandis que ses troupes refluent partout.

Cependant, Henri IV est victorieux de Charles de Lorraine, duc de Mayenne le 29 septembre 1589 lors de la bataille d'Arques. Au soutien des nobles, huguenots et politiques rassurés par ce chef de guerre solide et humain, s’ajoutent ceux de Conti et Montpensier (princes du sang), Longueville, Luxembourg et Rohan-Montbazon, ducs et pairs, des maréchaux Biron et d’Aumont, et d’assez nombreux nobles (Champagne, Picardie, Ile-de-France)[6]. Il échoue par la suite à reprendre Paris, mais prend d’assaut Vendôme. Là aussi, il veille à ce que les églises restent intactes, et à ce que les habitants ne souffrent pas du passage de son armée. Grâce à cet exemple, toutes les villes entre Tours et le Mans se rendent sans combat[7]. Il bat à nouveau les Ligueurs et les Espagnols à Ivry le 14 mars 1590, affame Paris, mais ne peut prendre la ville, qui est ravitaillée par les Espagnols.

Les protestants lui reprochent de ne pas leur donner la liberté de culte : en juillet 1591, il rétablit par l’Édit de Mantes les dispositions de l’édit de Poitiers (1577), qui leur donnait la liberté de culte[8]. Le duc de Mayenne, alors en guerre contre Henri IV, convoque les États généraux en janvier 1593, dans le but d’élire un nouveau roi. Mais il est déjoué : les États négocient avec le parti du roi, obtiennent une trêve, puis sa conversion. Encouragé par l'amour de sa vie, Gabrielle d'Estrées, et surtout très conscient de l'épuisement des forces en présence, tant au niveau moral que financier, Henri IV, en fin politique, choisit d'abjurer la foi calviniste. Le 4 avril 1592, par une déclaration connue sous le nom d'« expédient », Henri IV annonce son intention d'être instruit dans la religion catholique.

Henri IV abjure solennellement le protestantisme, le 25 juillet 1593 en la basilique Saint-Denis. On lui a prêté, bien à tort, le mot selon lequel « Paris vaut bien une messe » (1593), même si le fond semble plein de sens[9]. D’autre part, il garde la confiance des protestants, réunis à Mantes du 8 octobre 1593 au 22 janvier 1594 : il leur garantit l’édit de 1577, avec le culte autorisé partout, y compris à la Cour et dans les camps militaires[10]. Afin d’accélérer le ralliement des villes et des provinces (et de leurs gouverneurs), il multiplie les promesses et les cadeaux, pour un total de 25 000 000 de livres. L’augmentation des impôts consécutive (multiplication par 2,7 de la taille) provoque la révolte des croquants dans les provinces les plus fidèles au roi, Poitou, Saintonge, Limousin et Périgord[11].

Henri IV est sacré le 27 février 1594 en la cathédrale de Chartres. Son entrée dans Paris le 22 mars 1594 et, pour finir, l'absolution accordée par le pape Clément VIII le 17 septembre 1595, lui assurent le ralliement progressif de toute la noblesse et du reste de la population, malgré des réticences très fortes des opposants les plus exaltés, tel ce Jean Châtel qui tente d'assassiner le roi près du Louvre le 27 décembre 1594. Il bat de manière définitive l'armée de la Ligue à Fontaine-Française[12].

En 1595, Henri IV déclare officiellement la guerre contre l'Espagne. Le roi éprouve alors d'énormes difficultés à repousser les attaques espagnoles en Picardie. La prise d'Amiens par les Espagnols et le débarquement d'une troupe hispanique en Bretagne où le gouverneur Philippe Emmanuel de Lorraine, duc de Mercoeur, cousins des Guise et beau-frère du feu roi Henri III ne reconnaît toujours pas Henri IV pour roi, laisse celui-ci dans une situation périlleuse.

Après avoir soumis la Bretagne, Henri IV signe le 30 avril 1598, l'Édit de Nantes. Les deux armées étant à bout de forces, le 2 mai 1598 est signée la paix de Vervins entre la France et l'Espagne. Après plusieurs décennies de guerres civiles, la France connaît enfin la paix.

À la conquête d'un nouveau royaume de France

Dès 1599, le roi accorde le monopole du commerce des fourrures à Tadoussac, au Canada, à François Dupont-Gravé et à Pierre Chauvin. Par la suite, Henri IV donne le monopole du commerce des fourrures et charge Pierre Dugua de Mons (un protestant) de monter une expédition, sous les ordres de Samuel de Champlain, d'établir un poste français en Acadie. Ce sera en premier sur l'île Sainte-Croix (maintenant Dochet Island au Maine), en 1604 et par la suite à Port-Royal, en Nouvelle-France au printemps 1605. Malheureusement, le monopole est révoqué en 1607 et ce qui mettra fin à la tentative de peuplement. Le roi charge Samuel de Champlain de lui faire rapport de ses découvertes. En 1608, le monopole est rétabli pour seulement... un an! Champlain est envoyé, avec François Dupont-Gravé, pour fonder Québec, qui est le départ de la colonisation française en Amérique, pendant que de Mons reste en France pour faire prolonger le monopole.

Le mariage

Portrait d'une dame de la cour d'Henri IVHenri IV approche de la cinquantaine et n'a toujours pas d'héritier légitime. Depuis quelques années, Gabrielle d'Estrées partage sa vie mais elle n'a pas assez de noblesse pour prétendre devenir reine. Se comportant tout de même comme telle, Gabrielle fait l'objet de dévotion des courtisans mais suscite également les critiques de l'entourage royal. Sa mort survenue brutalement en 1599, soulage la conscience du roi et lui permet de prendre une nouvelle épouse digne de son rang.

En décembre 1599, il obtient l'annulation de son mariage avec la reine Marguerite, et épouse, à Lyon, le 17 décembre 1600, Marie de Médicis (26 avril 1573 - 3 juillet 1642), fille de François de Médicis grand-duc de Toscane et de Jeanne d'Autriche. La naissance d'un dauphin l'année suivante stabilise l'autorité du nouveau roi.

Henri IV compromet son mariage et sa couronne en poursuivant sa relation extraconjugale avec Henriette d'Entragues, jeune femme ambitieuse, qui n'hésite pas à faire du chantage au roi, pour légitimer les enfants qu'elle a eus de lui. Ses requêtes repoussées, Henriette d'Entragues complote à plusieurs reprises contre son royal amant.

Reconstruction et pacification du royaume

Henri IV s'appuie, pour gouverner, sur des ministres et conseillers compétents comme le baron de Rosny, futur duc de Sully et Barthélemy de Laffemas. Les années de paix permettent de renflouer les caisses. Henri IV fait construire la grande galerie du Louvre qui relie le palais aux Tuileries. Il met en place une politique d'urbanisme moderne. Il poursuit ainsi la construction du Pont Neuf commencé sous son prédécesseur. Il fait bâtir à Paris deux nouvelles places, la place Royale (aujourd'hui Place des Vosges) et la place Dauphine.

Son règne voit le soulèvement massif des paysans dans le centre du pays et le roi doit intervenir à la tête de son armée. En 1601, il intervient également contre le duc de Savoie qui pendant les guerres de religion s'était permis de prendre possession de la Bresse et du Bugey. Après l'avoir remis à sa place, Henri IV doit faire face à plusieurs complots dirigés depuis l'Espagne et la Savoie. Il fait ainsi exécuter le duc de Biron et embastiller le duc d'Angoulème, le dernier des Valois.

Pour rassurer les anciens partisans de la Ligue, Henri IV favorise également l'entrée en France des jésuites qui pendant la guerre avaient appelé à l'assassinat du roi, crée une « caisse des conversions » en 1598[13]. Il se réconcilie avec le duc de Lorraine Charles III et marie avec le fils de celui-ci, sa sœur Catherine de Bourbon. Henri IV se montre fervent catholique -sans être dévot- et pousse sa sœur et son ministre Sully à se convertir (aucun d'eux ne le fera).

Petit à petit, la France doit être remise en état. La production agricole retrouve son niveau de 1560 en 1610. Le désir de paix est unanime : il favorise la mise en place de l’édit de Nantes, la reconstruction, dans le Languedoc et le Nord de la France, a un effet d’entraînement sur toute l’économie.

La société reste cependant violente : les soldats congédiés forment des bandes organisées militairement qui écument les campagnes, et qui doivent être poursuivies militairement pour disparaître progressivement dans les années 1600. La noblesse reste elle aussi violente : 4 000 morts par duel en 1607, les enlèvements de jeunes filles à marier provoquent des guerres privées, où là aussi le roi doit intervenir[14].

L'assassinat

La fin du règne d'Henri IV est marquée par les tensions avec les Habsbourg et la reprise de la guerre contre l'Espagne. Henri IV intervient dans la querelle qui oppose l'empereur de confession catholique aux princes allemands protestants qu'il soutient, dans la succession de Clèves et de Juliers. La fuite du prince de Condé en 1609 à la cour de l'infante Isabelle ravive les tensions entre Paris et Bruxelles. Henri IV estime son armée prête à reprendre le conflit qui s'était arrêté dix ans plus tôt.

Le déclenchement d'une guerre européenne, ne plaît ni au pape soucieux de la paix entre princes chrétiens, ni aux sujets français inquiets de leur tranquillité. En désaccord avec le roi, les prêtres catholiques ressortent leurs sermons virulents qui ravivent les anciens esprits dérangés de la Ligue. Le roi voit également un parti qui s'oppose à sa politique au sein même de l'entourage de la reine. Le roi est dans une position fragile qui n'est pas seulement le fait des catholiques, puisque les protestants cherchent à maintenir en dépit de l'édit de Nantes leurs privilèges politiques.

Tout en préparant la guerre, on s'apprête au couronnement officiel de la reine à Saint-Denis qui se déroule le 13 mai 1610. Le lendemain, Henri IV meurt assassiné par François Ravaillac, un catholique fanatique. Il est enterré à la basilique Saint-Denis le 1er juillet 1610, à l'issue de plusieurs semaines de cérémonies funèbres. Son fils aîné Louis (Louis XIII), âgé de neuf ans, lui succède, sous la régence de sa mère la reine Marie de Médicis.

Enfants

Henri IV eut six enfants de son mariage avec Marie de Médicis :

Louis XIII (27 septembre 1601 - 14 mai 1643)

Élisabeth de France (22 novembre 1602 - 6 octobre 1644), épouse Philippe IV roi d'Espagne le 25 novembre 1615 à Bordeaux

Christine Marie (10 février 1606 - 27 décembre 1663), épouse Victor-Amédée Ier de Savoie (1587 - 1637) le 10 février 1619 à Paris

Nicolas Henri (13 avril 1607 - 17 novembre 1611)

Gaston de France (24 avril 1608 - 2 février 1660), duc d'Anjou

Henriette de France (25 novembre 1609 - 10 septembre 1669), épouse Charles Ier d'Angleterre le 13 juin 1625, à la Cathédrale de Cantorbéry.

Descendants illégitimes

Henri IV eut également 10 enfants illégitimes :

Un seul avec Louise Borré[15] :

Hervé Borré (1576-1634)

Trois avec sa maîtresse Gabrielle d'Estrées :

César (1594 - 1665), duc de Vendôme

Catherine Henriette (1596 - 1663), dite Mademoiselle de Vendôme, mariée à Charles II de Lorraine, duc d'Elbeuf.

Alexandre (1598 - 1629), dit le Chevalier de Vendôme

Trois également avec Catherine Henriette de Balzac d'Entragues, marquise de Verneuil :

Un fils, né en 1600, Henri de Verneuil

Henri de Bourbon-Verneuil (1601-1682), évêque de Metz

Gabrielle-Angélique (1602-1627), mademoiselle de Verneuil

Un seul avec Jacqueline de Bueil :

Antoine de Bourbon (1607-1632), comte de Moret

Deux avec Charlotte des Essarts :

Jeanne-Baptiste de Bourbon (1608-1670), abbesse de Fontevrault

Marie Henriette (1608-1629), abbesse de Chelles

La légende du bon roi Henri

Statue équestre d'Henri IV, au Pont Neuf (fondue en 1818)C'est au XVIIIe siècle que s'est développée la légende du bon roi Henri qui est devenue si populaire qu'elle en est restée une image d'Épinal. En l'honneur d'Henri IV, Voltaire écrit en 1728 un poème intitulé La Henriade.

Malgré cette image positive, son tombeau de Saint-Denis n'échappe pas à la profanation en 1793, due à la haine des symboles monarchiques sous la Révolution française. La Convention avait ordonné l'ouverture de toutes les tombes royales pour en extraire les métaux. Le corps d'Henri IV est le seul de tous les rois à être trouvé dans un excellent état de conservation. Il est exposé aux passants, debout, durant quelques jours. Les dépouilles royales sont ensuite jetées, pêle-mêle, dans une fosse commune au nord de la basilique. Louis XVIII ordonnera leur exhumation et leur retour dans la crypte, où elles se trouvent aujourd'hui.

Dès 1814, on pense à rétablir la statue équestre du roi détruite sous la Révolution. Fondue en 1818, la nouvelle statue équestre a été réalisée à partir du bronze de la statue de Napoléon de la colonne Vendôme. Le siècle romantique pérennise la légende d'un roi galant et bonhomme, jouant à quatre pattes avec ses enfants.

Le château de Pau continue de cultiver la légende du bon roi Henri. On peut encore y voir son berceau fait d'une coquille de tortue de mer. C'est dans la tradition béarnaise que son premier baptême se fit : ses lèvres furent humectées de vin de Jurançon et frottées d'ail, ceci pour lui donner force et vigueur. Son surnom de « Vert-galant », qu'il doit à son ardeur envers ses nombreuses maîtresses, semble confirmer cela[16].

Henry IV of France

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[edit] Further reading

* Baumgartner, Frederic J. France in the Sixteenth Century. London: Macmillan, 1995. ISBN 0-333-62088-7.
* Briggs, Robin. Early Modern France, 1560–1715. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1977. ISBN 0-19-289040-9.
* Bryson, David M. Queen Jeanne and the Promised Land: Dynasty, Homeland, Religion and Violence in Sixteenth-century France. Leiden and Boston, Massachusetts: Brill Academic, 1999. ISBN 90-04-11378-9.
* Buisseret, David. Henry IV, King of France. New York: Routledge, 1990. ISBN 0-04-445635-2.
* Cameron, Keith, ed. From Valois to Bourbon: Dynasty, State & Society in Early Modern France. Exeter: University of Exeter, 1989. ISBN 0-85989-310-3.
* 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 0-521-62017-1.196
* 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 0-582-49251-3.
* Holt, Mack P. The French Wars of Religion, 1562–1629. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. ISBN 978-0-521-54750-5.
* Lee, Maurice J. James I & Henri IV: An Essay in English Foreign Policy, 1603–1610. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1970. ISBN 0-252-00084-6.
* LLoyd, Howell A. The State, France, and the Sixteenth Century. London: George Allen and Unwin, 1983. ISBN 0-04-940066-5.
* Lockyer, Roger. Habsburg and Bourbon Europe, 1470–1720. Harlow, UK: Longman, 1974. ISBN 0-582-35029-8.
* 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 0-8018-5631-0.
* 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 0-684-13357-1.
* Pettegree, Andrew. Europe in the Sixteenth Century. Oxford: Blackwell, 2002. ISBN 0-631-20704-X.
* Salmon, J. H. M. Society in Crisis: France in the Sixteenth Century. London: Ernest Benn, 1975. ISBN 0-510-26351-8.
* Sutherland, N. M. Henry IV of France and the Politics of Religion, 1572–1596. 2 vols. Bristol: Elm Bank, 2002. ISBN 1-84150-846-2.
* Sutherland, N. M. The Huguenot Struggle for Recognition. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1980. ISBN 0-300-02328-6.
* Sutherland, N. M. The Massacre of St Bartholomew and the European Conflict, 1559–1572. London: Macmillan, 1973. ISBN 0-333-13629-2.
* Sutherland, N. M. Princes, Politics and Religion, 1547–1589. London: Hambledon Press, 1984. ISBN 0-907628-44-3.

I'm a Hugenot

EDICT OF NANTES (1598)

"Paris is worth a mass"

Assassinated by Jesuit priest

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, thereby effectively ending 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.[1]

Henri de Bourbon was born in Pau, the capital of the French province of Béarn.[2] His parents were Queen Jeanne III and King Antoine of Navarre.[3] Although baptised as a Roman Catholic, Henry was raised as a Protestant by his mother; Jeanne declared Calvinism the religion of Navarre. As a teenager, Henry joined the Huguenot forces in the French Wars of Religion. On June 9, 1572, upon Jeanne's death, he became King Henry III of Navarre.[4]

Henry III on his deathbed designating Henri de Navarre as his successor in 1589.[edit] First marriage and Saint Bartholomew’s Day MassacreIt had been arranged, before Jeanne's death, that Henry would marry Margaret of Valois, daughter of Henry II and Catherine de' Medici. The wedding took place in Paris on 18 August 1572[5] on the parvis of Notre Dame Cathedral. On 24 August, the Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre began in Paris and several thousand Protestants who had come to Paris for Henry's wedding were killed, as well as thousands more throughout the country in the days that followed. Henry narrowly escaped death thanks to the help of his wife and promised to convert to Catholicism. He was made to live at the court of France, but escaped in early 1576; on 5 February of that year, he formally abjured Catholicism at Tours and rejoined the Protestant forces in the military conflict.[6]

Henry IV, as Hercules vanquishing the Lernaean Hydra (i.e. the Catholic League), by Toussaint Dubreuil, circa 1600. Henry IV at the Battle of Ivry, by Peter Paul Rubens

Henry of Navarre became the legal heir to the French throne in 1584 upon the death of Francis, Duke of Alençon, brother and heir to the Catholic King Henry III, who had succeeded Charles IX in 1574. Because Henry of Navarre was the next senior agnatic descendant of King Louis IX, King Henry III had no choice but to recognise him as the legitimate successor.[7] 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, the Duke 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.[8] In December 1588, Henry III had Henry I of Guise murdered,[9] along with his brother, Louis Cardinal de Guise.[10] This increased the tension further and Henry III was assassinated shortly thereafter by a fanatic monk.[11]

Upon the death of Henry III on 2 August 1589, Henry of Navarre nominally became king of France. But the Catholic League, strengthened by support from outside, especially from Spain, was strong enough to force him to the south. He had to set about winning his kingdom by military conquest, aided by money and troops sent by Elizabeth I of England. Henry's Catholic uncle, Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon, was proclaimed king by the League, but the Cardinal himself was Henry's prisoner.[12] Henry was victorious at Ivry and Arques, but failed to take Paris after laying siege to the city in 1590.[13]

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 Isabella Clara Eugenia, the daughter of Philip II of Spain, whose mother Elisabeth had been the eldest daughter of Henry II of France.[14] The prominence of her candidacy hurt the League, which became suspect as agents of the foreign Spanish. Nevertheless Henry remained unable to take control of Paris.

Entrance of Henry IV in Paris, 22 March 1594, with 1,500 cuirassiers. "Paris is well worth a Mass"

On 25 July 1593, with the encouragement of the great love of his life, Gabrielle d'Estrées, Henry permanently renounced Protestantism, thus earning the resentment of the Huguenots and of his former ally, Queen Elizabeth I of England. He was said to have declared that Paris vaut bien une messe ("Paris is well worth a Mass"),[15][16][17] but there is much doubt whether he actually said this himself.[18][19] 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.[20]

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's first marriage was not a happy one, and the couple remained childless. Henry and Margaret had separated even before Henry had succeeded to the throne in August 1589, and Margaret 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 Margaret, 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 Margaret was annulled in 1599, and he then married Marie de' Medici in 1600.

For the royal entry of Marie into Papal Avignon, 19 November 1600, the Jesuit scholars bestowed on Henry the title of the Hercule Gaulois ("Gallic Hercules", illustration), justifying the extravagant flattery with a genealogy that traced the origin of the House of Navarre to a nephew of Hercules' son Hispalus.[21]

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,[22] which still stands today, constructed over the Seine river 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 metres long and thirty-five metres 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.[23]

The reign of Henry IV saw the continuation of the rivalry between France and the Habsburgs of Spain and the Holy Roman Empire for the mastery of Western Europe, which would only be resolved after the end of the Thirty Years' War.

During Henry's struggle for the crown, Spain had been the principal backer of the Catholic League, trying to thwart Henry. A Spanish army from the Spanish Netherlands, under Alexander Farnese intervened in 1590 against Henry and foiled his siege of Paris. Another Spanish army helped the nobles opposing Henry to win the Battle of Craon against his troops in 1592. After Henry's coronation, the war continued as an official tug-of-war between the French and Spanish states, until terminated by the Peace of Vervins in 1598.

This enabled Henry to turn his attention to Savoy, fighting a war against this duchy, that was ended by the Treaty of Lyon in 1601 which effected territorial exchanges between France and the Duchy of Savoy.

In 1609 Henry's intervention helped to settle diplomatically the War of the Jülich succession.

It was widely believed that in 1610 Henry was preparing for a war against the Holy Roman Empire, however the preparations were terminated by his assassination and the subsequent rapprochement with Spain under the regency of Marie de' Medici.

[edit] Ottoman Empire Bilingual Franco-Turkish translation of the 1604 Franco-Ottoman Capitulations between Sultan Ahmed I and Henry IV of France, published by François Savary de Brèves in 1615.[24]Even before Henry's accession to the throne, the French Huguenots were in contact with the Moriscos in plans against Habsburg Spain in the 1570s.[25] Around 1575, plans were made for a combined attack of Aragonese Moriscos and Huguenots from Béarn under Henri de Navarre against Spanish Aragon, in agreement with the king of Algiers and the Ottoman Empire, but these projects foundered with the arrival of John of Austria in Aragon and the disarmament of the Moriscos.[26][27] In 1576, a three-pronged fleet from Constantinople was planned to disembark between Murcia and Valencia while the French Huguenots would invade from the north and the Moriscos accomplish their uprising, but the Ottoman fleet failed to arrive.[26]

After his crowning, Henry IV continued the policy of Franco-Ottoman alliance and received an embassy from Mehmed III in 1601.[28][29] In 1604, a "Peace Treaty and Capitulation" was signed between Henry IV and the Ottoman Sultan Ahmet I, giving numerous advantages to France in the Ottoman Empire.[29]

In 1606–7, Henry IV sent Arnoult de Lisle as Ambassador to Morocco, in order to obtain the observance of past friendship treaties. An embassy was sent to Tunisia in 1608, led by Savary de Brêves.[30]

Coin of Henry IV, demi écu, Saint Lô, 1589.[edit] Far-East AsiaFurther information: France-Asia relations

Itinerary of François Pyrard de Laval, from 1601 to 1611. Henry IV, Versailles Museum.During the reign of Henry IV, various enterprises were set up to develop trade to faraway lands. In December 1600, a company was formed through the association of Saint-Malo, Laval and Vitré to trade with the Moluccas and Japan.[31] Two ships, the Croissant and the Corbin, were sent around the Cape in May 1601. One was wrecked in the Maldives, leading to the adventure of François Pyrard de Laval, who managed to return to France in 1611.[31][32] The second ship, onboard which was François Martin de Vitré, reached Ceylon and traded with Acheh in Sumatra, but was captured by the Dutch on the return leg at Cape Finisterre.[31][32] François Martin de Vitré was the first Frenchman to write an account of travels to the Far East in 1604, at the request of Henry IV, and from that time numerous accounts on Asia would be published.[33]

From 1604 to 1609, following the return of François Martin de Vitré, Henry IV of France developed a strong enthusiasm for travel to Asia and attempted to set up a French East India Company on the model of England and the Netherlands.[32][33][34] On 1 June 1604, he issued letters patent to Dieppe merchants to form the Dieppe Company, giving them exclusive rights to Asian trade for 15 years. No ships were sent, however, until 1616.[31] In 1609, another adventurer, Pierre-Olivier Malherbe returned from a circumnavigation and informed Henry IV of his adventures.[33] He had visited China and in India had an encounter with Akbar.[33]

[edit] CharacterHenry 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 hen in the pot every Sunday!)

” 

This statement epitomizes 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. This real concern for the living conditions of the 'lowly' population - who in the final analysis provided the economic basis on which the power of the king and the great nobles rested - was perhaps without parallel among the Kings of France. It also made Henry IV extremely popular with the population.

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). He was also a great womanizer, fathering many children by a number of his mistresses.

Henry IV of France by Frans Pourbus the younger[edit] NicknamesHenry was nicknamed Henry the Great (Henri le Grand), and in France is also called le bon roi Henri ("the good king Henry") or le Vert galant ("the Green gallant"), a reference to both his dashing character and his attractiveness to women.[35] In English he is most often referred to as Henry of Navarre.

[edit] Assassination François Ravaillac, assassin of King Henry IV, brandishing his dagger, in a 17th-century engraving Assassination of Henry IV, an engraving by Gaspar Bouttats Henri IV, Marie de' Medici and familyAlthough he was a man of kindness, compassion and good humor, and was much loved by his people, Henry was the subject of attempts on his life by Pierre Barrière in August 1593[36] and Jean Châtel in December 1594.[37]

King Henry IV was ultimately assassinated in Paris on 14 May 1610 by a Catholic fanatic, François Ravaillac, who stabbed the king to death while his coach's progress was stopped by traffic congestion for the Queen's coronation ceremony,[38][39] as depicted in the engraving by Gaspar Bouttats. Hercule de Rohan, duc de Montbazon was with him when he was killed; Montbazon himself was wounded but survived. Henry was buried at the Saint Denis Basilica.

His widow, Marie de' Medici, served as regent for their 9-year-old son, Louis XIII, until 1617.[40]

[edit] Legacy Royal Monogram This section includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (December 2010)

The reign of Henry IV had a lasting impact on the French people for generations afterwards. 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 stands today on the Pont Neuf. A cult surrounding the personality of Henry IV emerged during the Restoration. The restored Bourbons were keen to play down 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 Caroline of Naples and Sicily (a descendant of his) 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 named Henri, in reference to his forefather Henry IV. 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 was baptised in Pau (although this custom had not been followed by any later Bourbon king).

Henry IV's popularity continued, when the first edition (in French) of his biography, Histoire du Roy Henry le Grand, was published in Amsterdam in 1661. It was written by Hardouin de Péréfixe de Beaumont, successively Bishop of Rhodez and Archbishop of Paris, primarily for the edification of Louis XIV, grandson of Henry IV. A translation into English was made by James Dauncey for another grandson, King Charles II of England. An English edition came of this, published at London two years later in 1663. Numerous French editions have been published. However, only one more (with disputable accuracy) English edition was published, before 1896, when a new translation was published.

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".

[edit] Missing headThe head of his embalmed body was lost after revolutionaries ransacked the Basilica of St Denis and desecrated his grave in 1793.[41] An embalmed head, reputed to be that of Henry IV, was passed among private collectors until French journalist Stephane Gabet followed leads to track down the head to the attic of a retired tax collector, Jacques Bellanger, in January 2010. According to Gabet, a couple purchased the head at a Paris auction in the early 1900s, and Bellanger bought it from the wife in 1955.[42] In 2010, a multidisciplinary team led by Philippe Charlier, a forensic medical examiner at Raymond Poincaré University Hospital in Garches, confirmed that it was the lost head of Henry IV, using a combination of anthropological, paleopathological, radiological, and forensic techniques.[41][43] The head had a light brown colour and excellent preservation.[41] A lesion just above the nostril, a hole in the right earlobe indicating a long-term use of an earring, and a healed facial wound, which Henry IV would have received from a previous assassination attempt by Jean Châtel in 1594, were among the identifying factors.[41][43] Radiocarbon dating gave a date of between 1450 and 1650, which fits the year of Henry IV's death, 1610.[41] The team was not able to recover uncontaminated mitochondrial DNA sequences from the head, so no comparison was possible with other remains from the king and his female-line relatives.[41] The head will be reinterred in the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Denis after a national Mass and funeral in 2011.[43]

[edit] GenealogyMain article: Henry IV of France's succession Henry IV was the son of Antoine de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme and Queen Jeanne III 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 de Navarre, a sister of King Francis I of France, making him a second cousin of Kings Francis II, Charles IX and Henry III. It was to his father, however, a tenth-generation descendant of King Louis IX, that Henry owed his succession to the throne of France: 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. Upon the death of Henry III of France, who had no son to succeed him, 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.

[edit] AncestorsAncestors of Henry IV of France[44][show]

 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. Françoise 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
[edit] Marriages and legitimate childrenMain 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 Margaret of 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. 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 Orléans 16 April 1607 17 November 1611 . Gaston, Duke of Orléans 25 April 1608 2 February 1660 Married (1) Marie de Bourbon, Duchess of Montpensier, 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.

Henri IV, Roi de France1 M, #101385, b. 13 December 1553, d. 14 May 1610

Henri IV, Roi de France|b. 13 Dec 1553\nd. 14 May 1610|p10139.htm#i101385|Antoine, Rey de Navarre|b. 22 Apr 1518\nd. 17 Nov 1562|p10186.htm#i101857|Jeanne III, Reina de Navarre|b. 7 Jan 1528\nd. 9 Jun 1572|p11366.htm#i113659|Charles I. de Bourbon, Duc de Vendôme|b. 2 Jun 1489\nd. 25 Mar 1537|p11372.htm#i113720|Françoise d'Alençon|b. bt 1490 - 1491\nd. 14 Sep 1550|p11373.htm#i113721|Enrique I., Rey de Navarre|b. 18 Apr 1503\nd. 29 Mar 1555|p11366.htm#i113658|Marguerite d'Angoulême|b. 11 Apr 1492\nd. 21 Dec 1549|p10309.htm#i103081|

Last Edited=31 Dec 2009 Consanguinity Index=0.61%

King Henri IV of France2 Henri IV, Roi de France was born on 13 December 1553 at Pau, Armagnac, France.4 He was the son of Antoine, Rey de Navarre and Jeanne III, Reina de Navarre.1 He married, firstly, Marguerite d'Angoulême, daughter of Henri II, Roi de France and Catherine de Medici, on 18 August 1572 at Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, France.4 He married, secondly, Marie de Medici, daughter of Francesco I de Medici, Granduca di Toscana and Joanna Erzherzogin von Österreich, on 27 December 1600 at Lyon, France.5 He died on 14 May 1610 at age 56 at Paris, France, murdered in his carriage.6,5 He was buried at Saint-Denis, Île-de-France, France.5

    Henri IV, Roi de France was a member of the House of Bourbon.1 He succeeded to the title of Duc de Vendôme on 17 November 1562.4 Henri IV, Roi de France also went by the nick-name of Henri 'le Grand'.1 He succeeded to the title of Rey Enrique III de Navarre on 9 June 1572.7,4 He held the office of Governor of Guienne in 1576.4 He succeeded to the title of Roi Henri IV de France on 2 August 1589.1 He was invested as a Knight, Order of the Garter (K.G.) on 24 April 1590.4 He and Gabrielle d'Estrées, Duchesse de Beaufort were associated between 1593 and 1597.5 He was crowned King of France on 27 February 1594 at Chartres, France.4 On 13 April 1598 he promulgated the Edict of Nantes.4 His marriage to Marguerite d'Angoulême was annulled on 17 December 1599.4 He and Catherine Henriette de Balzac, Marquise de Verneuil were associated from 1601 to 1602.8 He and Jacqueline de Bueil, Comtesse de Moret were associated circa 1606.8 He and Charlotte des Essarts, Comtesse de Romorantin were associated from 1607 to 1608.8 Children of Henri IV, Roi de France and Gabrielle d'Estrées, Duchesse de Beaufort 1.César de Bourbon, Duc de Vendôme+5 b. 3 Jun 1594, d. 22 Oct 1665 2.Catherine Henriette de Bourbon+8 b. 26 Mar 1596, d. 20 Jun 1663 3.Alexandre de Bourbon, Chevalier de Vendôme8 b. 23 Apr 1598, d. 8 Feb 1629 4.stillborn son d'Estrées2 b. 1599, d. 1599 Children of Henri IV, Roi de France and Marie de Medici 1.Louis XIII, Roi de France+1 b. 27 Sep 1601, d. 14 May 1643 2.Elisabeth Isabel de Bourbon, Princesse de France+9 b. 22 Nov 1602, d. 6 Oct 1644 3.Marie Christine de Bourbon, Princesse de France+5 b. 10 Feb 1606, d. 27 Dec 1663 4.Nicolas, Duc d'Orléans5 b. 16 Apr 1607, d. 17 Nov 1611 5.Jean-Baptiste Gaston, Duc d'Orléans+5 b. 25 Apr 1608, d. 2 Feb 1660 6.Henriette Marie de Bourbon, Princesse de France+5 b. 26 Nov 1609, d. 31 Aug 1669 Children of Henri IV, Roi de France and Catherine Henriette de Balzac, Marquise de Verneuil 1.Henri de Bourbon, Duc de Verneuil8 b. 3 Nov 1601, d. 28 May 1682 2.Gabrielle Angélique de Bourbon8 b. 21 Jan 1603, d. 24 Apr 1627 Child of Henri IV, Roi de France and Jacqueline de Bueil, Comtesse de Moret 1.Antoine de Bourbon, Comte de Moret8 b. 9 May 1607, d. 1 Sep 1632 Children of Henri IV, Roi de France and Charlotte des Essarts, Comtesse de Romorantin 1.Jeanne Baptiste de Bourbon8 b. b 11 Jan 1608, d. 16 Jan 1670 2.Marie Henriette de Bourbon8 b. 1609, d. 10 Feb 1629 Citations 1.[S38] John Morby, Dynasties of the World: a chronological and genealogical handbook (Oxford, Oxfordshire, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 1989), page 78. Hereinafter cited as Dynasties of the World. 2.[S130] Wikipedia, online http;//www.wikipedia.org. Hereinafter cited as Wikipedia. 3.[S3409] Caroline Maubois, "re: Penancoet Family," e-mail message to Darryl Roger Lundy, 2 December 2008. Hereinafter cited as "re: Penancoet Family." 4.[S36] Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd, editor, Burke's Royal Families of the World, Volume 1: Europe & Latin America (London, U.K.: Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1977), page 83. Hereinafter cited as Burke's Royal Families of the World, Volume 1. 5.[S36] Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd, Burke's Royal Families of the World, Volume 1, page 84. 6.[S16] Jirí Louda and Michael MacLagan, Lines of Succession: Heraldry of the Royal Families of Europe, 2nd edition (London, U.K.: Little, Brown and Company, 1999), table 67. Hereinafter cited as Lines of Succession. 7.[S38] John Morby, Dynasties of the World, page 115. 8.[S36] Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd, Burke's Royal Families of the World, Volume 1, page 85. 9.[S45] Marcellus Donald R. von Redlich, Pedigrees of Some of the Emperor Charlemagne's Descendants, volume I (1941; reprint, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2002), page 58. Hereinafter cited as Pedigrees of Emperor Charlemagne, I.

More info including his spouses, children, parents, his reign, etc. can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_IV_of_France

Henrik IV oli alun perin protestantti Henrik Navarralainen, joka nuoruudessaan esiintymällä katolisena vältti täpärästi joutumasta pärttylinyön verilöylyn uhriksi. Henrik IV:stä tuli laillinen kruununperijä Anjoun herttuan kuoleman jälkeen 1584, koska hän oli Ludvig IX:n jälkeläinen ja viimeinen Kapeting-suvun miespuolinen perillinen. Puoliso: Margaret of Valois (v. 1572) Lapset: Ludvig XIII, Henrietta Maria of France, Gaston Orléans, Lisää Vanhemmat: Anton Bourbonilainen, Jeanne III of Navarre Sisarus: Catherine de Bourbon

Kapetingit (ransk. Les Capétiens, virallisesti maison de France) on Euroopan vanhin ja laajin hallitsijasuku. Kapetingit muodostivat kolmannen ranskalaisten dynastian merovingien ja karolingien jälkeen.[1]

Kapeting-dynastia: Dynastian yleisesti käytetty (vaikkakin epävirallinen) nimi Les Capetiens tulee sen kantaisäksi katsotulta ensimmäiseltä hallitsijalta Hugo I:ltä, jota kutsuttiin lisänimellä Capet hänen käyttämänsä kaavun mukaan. Jo ennen Hugo Capet’a oli kaksi suvun jäsentä kuitenkin ollut Frankkien valtakunnan hallitsijana, Eudes I (noin 860 – 898) ja Robert I (865–923). He hallitsivat kahden karolingihallitsijan välissä. Hugo Capet'n edeltäjiä kutsuttiin Robertien-dynastiaksi. Vuonna 987 tapahtuneesta Hugo Capet’n valinnasta ja voitelusta frankkien kuninkaaksi kapetingien dynastia hallitsi Ranskaa keskeytyksettä vuoteen 1792 eli Ranskan vallankumoukseen saakka. Kapetingien dynastian kausi Ranskan kuninkaina jaetaan kolmeen jaksoon. Suoraa kapetingien dynastiaa (888–1328) seurasi Valois-dynastia (1328–1589) ja sitä Bourbon-suku (1589–1792, 1814–1830).[1]

Henrik IV löi katolisen liigan joukot vuonna 1589 Arquesissa ja vuonna 1590 Ivryssä, mutta joutui luopumaan Pariisin piirityksestä, kun katolinen liiga liittoutui espanjalaisten kanssa. Lopulta Henrik suostui ainakin nimellisesti luopumaan protestanttisuudesta - hänen kerrotaan sanoneen "Pariisi on aina yhden messun arvoinen" - ja tuli käytännössäkin kuninkaaksi 1594.

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The Edict of Nantes (French: édit de Nantes) was signed in April 1598 by King Henry IV and granted the minority Calvinist Protestants of France, also known as Huguenots, substantial rights in the nation, which was predominantly Catholic.

Henry IV of France, By the Grace of God, Most Christian King of France and Navarre

The Edict of Nantes
It granted religious toleration to the Protestant Huguenots, who had been waging a long and bloody struggle for their rights in France. The main contents were:[1][2]

Freedom of conscience and the right to practice their religion (Protestantism) in certain specified towns and cities throughout France.
The right to hold public office, including the right to serve as judges and administrators, without having to renounce their religion.
The right to maintain their own schools and universities, and to receive government funding for them.
The right to fortify their towns and cities for their own protection.
The right to maintain their own military forces (known as the "Huguenot militia"), which were to be paid for by the French government.
The right to engage in certain specified trades and professions, including the manufacture and sale of textiles and arms.
The right to travel freely throughout France, without being subject to searches or seizures of their property.
The right to bury their dead in their own cemeteries.
The Edict of Nantes helped to end the Wars of Religion in France, which had been raging for decades. It also ensured that the Protestant minority in France would have a measure of religious and political freedom, and helped to establish France as a more tolerant and pluralistic society. However, the Edict was eventually revoked by King Louis XIV in 1685, leading to a mass exodus of Huguenots from France and a loss of talent and resources for the country.

In this edict, Henry aimed primarily to promote civil unity.[a] The edict separated civil from religious unity, treated some Protestants for the first time as more than mere schismatics and heretics and opened a path for secularism and tolerance. In offering a general freedom of conscience to individuals, the edict offered many specific concessions to the Protestants, such as amnesty and the reinstatement of their civil rights, including the right to work in any field, even for the state, and to bring grievances directly to the king. It successfully marked the end of the French Wars of Religion, which had afflicted France during the second half of the 16th century.

The Edict of St. Germain, promulgated 36 years earlier by Catherine de Médici, had granted limited tolerance to Huguenots but was overtaken by events, as it was not formally registered until after the Massacre of Vassy on 1 March 1562, which triggered the first of the French Wars of Religion.

The Edict of Fontainebleau, which revoked the Edict of Nantes in October 1685, was promulgated by Louis XIV, the grandson of Henry IV. This act drove an exodus of Protestants and increased the hostility of Protestant nations bordering France.

• Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Jan 11 2016, 8:19:49 UTC