Western Europe
76-513: Western Europe Western Europe Western Europe Western Europe Western Europe Western Europe East Indies Western Europe European waters Americas East Indies The " French Fury " was a failed attempt by Francis, Duke of Anjou , to conquer the city of Antwerp by surprise on 17 January 1583. During the Eighty Years' War the States-General had asked in 1581
152-515: A French army to support the Protestant claimants. Maximilien de Béthune, Duke of Sully , his financial advisor, was particularly keen on joining the war, as France's finances at the time were secure. Henry declared that he was defending the rights of the Imperial princes, and also that he was honoring his previously agreements to defend the Protestant claimants. Henry also was seeking to curb the power of
228-498: A circumnavigation of the globe and informed Henry of his adventures. He had visited China and India, and met with Emperor Akbar . Historians have assessed that Henry IV was a convinced Calvinist , and only changed his formal religious confession to achieve his political goals. Henry IV was baptized as a Catholic on 5 January 1554. He was raised in the Reformed Tradition by his mother Jeanne III of Navarre . In 1572, after
304-502: A few believe this nickname arose from a frog-shaped earring he had given her, "frog" has been an unflattering slang nickname for the French for centuries. Whether or not Elizabeth truly planned to marry Anjou is a hotly debated topic. She was quite fond of him, knowing that he was probably going to be her last suitor. The match was controversial among the English public: English Protestants warned
380-710: 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 built the Place Royale (known since 1800 as Place des Vosges ), and added the Grande Galerie to the Louvre Palace . Stretching more than 400 metres along the Seine river bank, at the time it was the longest edifice of its kind in
456-559: A potential leader of the Dutch. In these years, Walsingham became friends with the diplomat of Henry of Navarre in England, the anti-monarchist Philippe de Mornay . Walsingham was sent to France in mid-1581 to discuss an Anglo-French alliance, but the French wanted the marriage agreed first, and Walsingham had instructions to obtain a treaty before committing to the marriage. He returned to England without an agreement. Personally, Walsingham opposed
532-702: A significant Protestant leader, who then sought to facilitate an agreement between Wolfgang and Johann Sigismund. When peace was negotiated in the Treaty of Dortmund , Henry sent congratulatory messages to the Protestant claimants, and voiced his support, particularly against the Habsburgs who were likely to challenge the treaty. When Habsburg forces invaded Jülich, starting the War of the Jülich Succession , Henry decided to act. On 29 July, after consulting his advisors, Henry ordered
608-465: A universal recognition of his new title. Pope Sixtus V excommunicated Henry and declared him ineligible to inherit the crown. Most of the Catholic nobles who had joined Henry III for the siege of Paris also refused to recognize Henry of Navarre, and abandoned him. He set about winning his kingdom by force of arms, aided by English money and German troops. Henry's Catholic uncle Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon
684-667: The Catholic League , which refused to accept a Protestant monarch. After four years of military stalemate, Henry converted to Catholicism, reportedly saying, "Paris is well worth a mass." As a pragmatic politician he promulgated the Edict of Nantes (1598), which guaranteed religious liberties to Protestants, thereby effectively ending the French Wars of Religion . An active ruler, Henry worked to regularize state finance, promote agriculture, eliminate corruption and encourage education. He began
760-662: The Collège Royal Henri-le-Grand in La Flèche (today the Prytanée Militaire de la Flèche ). He and Sully protected forests from further devastation, built a system of tree-lined highways, and constructed bridges and canals. He had a 1200-metre canal built in the park at the Château Fontainebleau (which may be fished today) and ordered the planting of pines, elms, and fruit trees. The King restored Paris as
836-605: The Duke of Parma feared that the Dutch would now gain the upper hand. However, Anjou himself, dissatisfied with his limited power, decided to take control of the Flemish cities of Antwerp , Bruges , Dunkirk , and Ostend by force. He would personally lead the attack on Antwerp. To fool the citizens of Antwerp, Anjou proposed that he should make a "Joyous Entry" into the city, a grand ceremony in which he would be accompanied by his French troops. On 18 January 1583, Anjou entered Antwerp, but
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#1732848795351912-521: The Edict of Nantes which granted them many concessions. Henry was nicknamed Henri le Grand (the Great), and in France is also called le bon roi Henri (good king Henry) and le vert galant (The Green Gallant) for his numerous mistresses. In English he is most often referred to as Henry of Navarre. In 1609, Henry had grown infatuated with Charlotte Marguerite de Montmorency , Princess of Condé , much to
988-596: The Edict of Nantes , which granted circumscribed liberties to the Huguenots. Henry IV successfully ended the civil wars. He and his ministers appeased Catholic leaders using bribes of about 7 million écus, a sum greater than France's annual revenue. In combination with other fiscal problems, the king was faced with a financial crisis by the middle of the 1590s. In response to this crisis, Henry resolved to convene an Assembly of Notables in November 1596 that he hoped would approve
1064-640: The Siege of Antwerp (1584-1585) . 51°13′N 4°24′E / 51.217°N 4.400°E / 51.217; 4.400 Francis, Duke of Anjou Monsieur François, Duke of Anjou and Alençon ( French : Hercule François ; 18 March 1555 – 10 June 1584) was the youngest son of King Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici . He was scarred by smallpox at age eight, and his pitted face and slightly deformed spine did not suit his birth name of Hercule . He changed his name to Francis in honour of his late brother Francis II of France when he
1140-620: The Alps. In January 1601, Henry accepted another offer of papal arbitration and gained not only Bresse, but Bugey and Gex . Savoy retained a narrow corridor through the Val de Chézery . This still allowed Spanish troops to cross from Lombardy to Franche Comté without going through France, but it created a choke point where the Spanish Road was a single bridge across the Rhône River . The Saluzzo conflict
1216-682: The Catholic League nobles opposing Henry to win the Battle of Craon in 1592. The Spanish war was not ended with Henry's coronation, but after his victory at the Siege of Amiens in September 1597, the Peace of Vervins was signed in 1598. This freed his armies to settle the dispute with the Duchy of Savoy , ending with the Treaty of Lyon of 1601 , which arranged territorial exchanges. One of Henry's major problems
1292-710: The Dey of Algiers and the Ottoman Empire , but this project floundered with the arrival of John of Austria in Aragon and the disarmament of the Moriscos. In 1576, a three-pronged Ottoman 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 fleet failed to arrive. After his crowning, Henry continued
1368-610: The Duke of Anjou was dead. He was 29. His premature death meant that the Huguenot Henry of Navarre became heir-presumptive, thus leading to an escalation in the French Wars of Religion . Henry IV of France Henry IV ( French : Henri IV ; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great , was King of Navarre (as Henry III ) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He
1444-667: The Duke to become head of state of the Seventeen Provinces , to obtain French support in expelling the Spanish troops. Anjou did not have much influence in the Netherlands, and attempted to seize more power. He decided to try to occupy Antwerp, the largest city of the Seventeen Provinces, by surprise. Antwerp had already been comprehensively sacked by Spanish troops in the "Spanish Fury" of 1576. Unfortunately for Anjou his plan
1520-609: The Emperor's brother, also a member of the House of Habsburg . In case of such opposition, Philip indicated that princes of the House of Lorraine would be acceptable to him: the Duke of Guise; a son of the Duke of Lorraine; and the son of the Duke of Mayenne. The Spanish ambassadors selected the Duke of Guise, to the joy of the League. However, at that moment of seeming victory, the envy of the Duke of Mayenne
1596-752: The French Wars of Religion. On 9 June 1572, upon his mother's death, the 19-year-old became King of Navarre . At the death of his mother Queen Jeanne, it was arranged for Henry to marry Margaret of Valois , daughter of Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici . The wedding took place in Paris on 18 August 1572 on the parvis of Notre Dame Cathedral . On 24 August, the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre began in Paris. Several thousand Protestants who had come to Paris for Henry's wedding were killed, as well as thousands more throughout
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#17328487953511672-421: The Habsburgs. Henry's actions faced critique. Some saw him as a warmonger. The Papacy in particular was concerned that Henry was supporting Protestant princes. Henry responded to the papacy declaring that he was keeping the peace. When Habsburg ambassadors told Henry that he was contributing to the decline of Catholicism by supporting the Protestant claimants, Henry declared that he was merely trying to contain
1748-506: The Habsburgs. He also warned the Papacy to keep religion out of succession affairs. France assured the Protestant princes of the Empire that despite being Catholic, the French would still provide aid. Henry also sought to gain the aid of the English and Dutch. Henry greatly pressured the Dutch for support, appealing directly to states-general. Despite Henry's defense of the Protestant princes during
1824-511: The Huguenots including the exact places where worship may or may not take place, the recognition of three Protestant universities, and the allowance of Protestant synods. The king also issued two personal documents (called brevets ) which recognized the Protestant establishment. The Edict of Nantes signed religious tolerance into law, and the brevets were an act of benevolence that created a Protestant state within France. Despite this, it would take years to restore law and order to France. The Edict
1900-571: The Jülich War, many of the German states distrusted him. Afterall, Henry had converted to Catholicism in 1593. Also, France owed debts to some German states, which France struggled to repay. There were also concerns that Henry sought to become Emperor. It was widely believed that in 1610 Henry was preparing to escalate the war against the Holy Roman Empire , which was prevented by his assassination and
1976-692: The King of Navarre as a true subject and Frenchman, not a fanatic Huguenot aiming to subjugate Catholics, and Catholic royalist nobles also rallied to them. With this combined force, the two kings marched to Paris. The morale of the city was low, and even the Spanish ambassador believed the city could not hold out longer than a fortnight. However, on 2 August 1589, a monk infiltrated Henry III's camp and assassinated him. When Henry III died, his ninth cousin once removed, Henry of Navarre, nominally became king of France. The Catholic League, however, strengthened by foreign support—especially from Spain—was strong enough to prevent
2052-668: The Liberty of the Netherlands" and become the sovereign. He did not arrive until 10 February 1582, when William officially welcomed him in Flushing . In spite of the Joyous Entries he was accorded in Bruges and Ghent and his ceremonious installation as Duke of Brabant and Count of Flanders , Anjou was not popular with the Dutch and Flemish, who continued to see the Catholic French as enemies;
2128-514: The Queen that the "hearts [of the English people] will be galled when they shall see you take to husband a Frenchman, and a Papist ... the very common people well know this: that he is the son of the Jezebel of our age," referring to the Duke's mother, Catherine de' Medici . Among members of Elizabeth's Privy Council , only William Cecil, Lord Burghley , and Thomas Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex , supported
2204-467: The Three Henrys (1587–1589). The Duke of Guise pushed for complete suppression of the Huguenots and had much support among Catholic loyalists. Political disagreements among the parties set off a series of campaigns and counter-campaigns that culminated in the Battle of Coutras . In December 1588, King Henry III had the Duke of Guise murdered, along with his brother Louis, Cardinal of Guise, thinking
2280-405: The advantage of surprise, the small French army found itself hopelessly trapped within the city as it was bombarded from windows and rooftops with stones, rocks, logs, and even heavy chains. The city's experienced garrison then opened up with a deadly, point-blank fire on the troops. Only a few Frenchmen, including the Duke of Anjou, escaped. Over 1,500 troops perished, many of them hacked to death by
2356-499: The allegiance of the vast majority of his subjects. Since Reims , traditional coronation place of French kings, was still occupied by the Catholic League, Henry was crowned King of France at the Cathedral of Chartres on 27 February 1594. Pope Clement VIII lifted excommunication from Henry on 17 September 1595. He did not forget his former Calvinist coreligionists, however, and was known for his religious tolerance. In 1598 he issued
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2432-518: The capital of the joint Kingdom of Navarre with the sovereign principality of Béarn . His parents were Jeanne III of Navarre (Jeanne d'Albret) and her husband, Antoine de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme, King of Navarre . Although baptised as a Catholic, Henry was raised in the Calvinist faith by his mother, who had declared Calvinism the religion of Navarre. As a teenager, Henry joined the Huguenot forces in
2508-621: The chagrin of her husband, Henry II, Prince of Condé . On 28 November 1609, the Prince and Princess fled to Brussels in the Spanish Netherlands . King Henry was furious, and believed that the Prince was conspiring against him, so he threatened to raise an army of 60,000 to capture him and bring back the princess. This corresponded with the War of the Jülich Succession, so it added to the tension, especially with Spain. Though generally well-liked, Henry
2584-543: The citizens had not been deceived. The city militia ambushed and destroyed Anjou's force in the French Fury . Anjou barely escaped with his life. The debacle at Antwerp marked the end of Anjou's military career. His mother, Catherine de' Medici , is said to have written to him that "would to God you had died young. You would then not have been the cause of the death of so many brave gentlemen." Another insult followed when Elizabeth I formally ended her engagement to him after
2660-470: The claims of France and the Duke of Savoy. The Duke offered to cede Bresse to France if he could retain Saluzzo. Henri IV accepted this, but Spain objected that Bresse was a vital part of the Spanish Road, and persuaded the Duke to reject the decision. Henry IV was already at Lyon and had soldiers ready, and four days later he marched fifty thousand men against the duchy, occupying almost all of its area west of
2736-439: The country in the days that followed. Henry narrowly escaped death thanks to the help of his wife and his promise to convert to Catholicism. He was forced to live at the court of France, but he 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. He named his 16-year-old sister, Catherine de Bourbon , regent of Béarn. Catherine held
2812-454: The creation of new royal revenues. The assembly approved the creation of a new tax on goods entering towns that would be known as the pancarte , however in 1597 the crown was again rocked by military crisis when the Spanish seized Amiens . Huguenot leaders were placated by the Edict of Nantes , which had four separate sections. The articles laid down the tolerance which would be accorded to
2888-492: The encouragement of his mistress, Gabrielle d'Estrées , Henry permanently renounced Protestantism and converted to Catholicism to secure his hold on the French crown, thereby earning the resentment of the Huguenots and his ally Elizabeth I of England . He was said to have declared that Paris vaut bien une messe ("Paris is well worth a Mass "), although the attribution is doubtful. His acceptance of Catholicism secured
2964-505: The enraged citizens of Antwerp. One contemporary account is by Jean Bodin , an adviser to Anjou who also escaped the slaughter. The position of Anjou after this attack became untenable and he left the country in June 1583. His departure also discredited William the Silent , who had always supported Anjou. The city was eventually conquered by the Spanish under Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma after
3040-760: The first successful French colonization of the Americas . He promoted trade and industry, and prioritized the construction of roads, bridges, and canals to facilitate communication within France and strengthen the country's cohesion. These efforts stimulated economic growth and improved living standards. While the Edict of Nantes brought religious peace to France, some hardline Catholics and Huguenots remained dissatisfied, leading to occasional outbreaks of violence and conspiracies. Henry IV also faced resistance from certain noble factions who opposed his centralization policies, leading to political instability. His main foreign policy success
3116-456: The kings of France had resisted the interference of the pope in political matters, and that he should not raise a foreign prince or princess to the throne of France under the pretext of religion. Mayenne was angered that he had not been consulted prior to this admonishment, but yielded, since their aim was not contrary to his present views. Despite these setbacks for the League, Henry remained unable to take control of Paris. On 25 July 1593, with
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3192-407: The marriage scheme wholeheartedly. Most notable councillors, foremost among them Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester , and Sir Francis Walsingham , strongly opposed it, even warning the Queen of the hazards of childbirth at her age. Between 1578 and 1581, the Queen resurrected attempts to negotiate a marriage with the Duke of Alençon. The Duke put himself forward as a protector of the Huguenots and
3268-415: The marriage, perhaps to the point of encouraging public opposition. Alençon was a Catholic, and as his elder brother, Henry III, was childless, he was heir presumptive to the French throne. Elizabeth was probably past the age of childbearing, and had no clear successor. If she died while married to the French heir, her realms could fall under French control. By comparing the match of Elizabeth and Alençon with
3344-416: The massacre of French Calvinists, he was forced by Catherine de' Medici and the royal court to convert. In 1576, after escaping from Paris, he abjured Catholicism and returned to Calvinism. In 1593, to gain recognition as King of France , he converted again to Catholicism. Although a formal Catholic, he valued his Calvinist upbringing and was tolerant toward the Huguenots until his death in 1610, and issued
3420-570: The massacre. The position of Anjou after this attack became impossible to hold, and he eventually left the country in June. His departure also discredited William, who nevertheless maintained his support for Anjou. Soon Anjou fell seriously ill with "tertian ague", malaria . Catherine de' Medici brought him back to Paris, where he reconciled with his brother, King Henry III of France , in February 1584. Henry even embraced his brother, whom he had famously called le petit magot ("little macaque"). By June,
3496-725: The match of the Protestant Henry of Navarre and the Catholic Margaret of Valois, which occurred in the week before the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre , the "most horrible spectacle" he had ever witnessed, Walsingham raised the spectre of religious riots in England in the event of the marriage proceeding. According to the Earl of Leicester, Elizabeth tolerated his blunt opinions and often unwelcome advice, referring to Walsingham as "her Moor who cannot change his colour" with regard to his strong beliefs. Eventually, Elizabeth pragmatically judged
3572-525: The night of 13 September 1575, Alençon fled from the French court after being alienated from his brother King Henry III as they had had some differences. Both Henry III and Catherine de' Medici feared he would join the Protestant rebels . These fears proved well-founded; Francis joined the prince of Condé and his forces in the south. In February 1576, Henry, King of Navarre escaped from the French court, whereupon his forces also joined Condé. This combined army
3648-542: The notion that she may really have been prepared to go through with the match. Anjou continued on to the Netherlands. In 1579 William the Silent had invited him to become hereditary sovereign of the United Provinces , and on 29 September 1580 the Dutch States General (with the exception of Zeeland and Holland) had signed the Treaty of Plessis-les-Tours with the Duke, who would assume the title "Protector of
3724-528: The policy of a Franco-Ottoman alliance and received an embassy from Sultan Mehmed III in 1601. In 1604, a "Peace Treaty and Capitulation " was signed between Henry IV and the Ottoman Sultan Ahmed I , granting France numerous advantages in the Ottoman Empire. In 1606–07, Henry IV sent Arnoult de Lisle as Ambassador to Morocco to request the observance of past friendship treaties. An embassy
3800-523: The provinces of Zeeland and Holland refused to recognise him as their sovereign, and William, the central figure of the " Politiques " who worked to defuse religious hostilities, came under extensive criticism for his "French politics". He is now thought to have been the patron behind the " Valois tapestries " presented to Catherine de' Medici, which depicted major figures in Catherine's court against scenes of festivity. When Anjou's French troops arrived in late 1582, William's plan seemed to pay off, as even
3876-415: The regency for nearly thirty years. Henry became heir presumptive to the French throne in 1584 upon the death of Francis, Duke of Anjou , brother and heir to the Catholic Henry III , who had succeeded Charles IX in 1574. Given that 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. A conflict for
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#17328487953513952-491: The reign of Henry IV, rivalry continued among France, Habsburg Spain, and the Holy Roman Empire for the mastery of Western Europe. The conflict was not resolved until after the Thirty Years' War . During Henry's struggle for the crown, Spain had been the principal backer of the Catholic League, and it tried to thwart Henry. Under the Duke of Parma , an army from the Spanish Netherlands intervened in 1590 against Henry and foiled his siege of Paris. Another Spanish army helped
4028-437: The removal of the brothers would restore his authority. However, the populace was horrified and rose against him. The King was no longer recognized in several cities; his effective power was limited to Blois , Tours, and the surrounding districts. In the general chaos, Henry III relied on Henry of Navarre and his Huguenots. The two kings were united by a common interest—to win France from the Catholic League. Henry III recognized
4104-457: The request of Henry IV. From 1604 to 1609, following the return of François Martin de Vitré, Henry attempted to set up a French East India Company on the model of England and the Netherlands. 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, but no ships were sent until 1616. In 1609, another adventurer, Pierre-Olivier Malherbe , returned from
4180-408: The strongest candidate was probably the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain , daughter of Philip II of Spain , whose mother Elisabeth had been the eldest daughter of Henry II of France . In the religious fervor of the time, the Infanta was considered a suitable queen, provided she married a suitable husband. The French overwhelmingly rejected Philip's first choice, Archduke Ernest of Austria ,
4256-418: The subsequent rapprochement with Spain under the regency of Marie de' Medici . Even before Henry's accession to the French throne, the French Huguenots were in contact with Aragonese Moriscos in plans against the Habsburg government of Spain in the 1570s. Around 1575, plans were made for a combined attack of Aragonese Moriscos and Huguenots from Béarn under Henry against Spanish Aragon , in agreement with
4332-450: The succession of the wealthy Duchies were in dispute. Henry aimed to maintain peace among the Protestant princes of the Holy Roman Empire to present a united front against the Habsburgs. To achieve this, Henry encouraged a peaceful settlement over the succession between the two main protestant claimants: Wolfgang Wilhelm of Palatinate-Neuburg and Johann Sigismund of Brandenburg . He communicated this with Maurice, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel ,
4408-402: The throne of France then ensued, contested by these three men and their respective supporters: Salic law barred inheritance by the king's sisters and all others who could claim descent through only the female line. However, since Henry of Navarre was a Huguenot, many Catholics refused to acknowledge the succession, and France was plunged into a phase of the Wars of Religion known as the War of
4484-446: The throne of Navarre in 1572 on his mother's death. As a Huguenot (Protestant), Henry was involved in the French Wars of Religion , barely escaping assassination in the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre . He later led Protestant forces against the French royal army. Henry inherited the throne of France in 1589 upon the death of Henry III . Henry IV initially kept the Protestant faith (the only French king to do so) and had to fight against
4560-406: The union an unwise one, after considering the overwhelming opposition of her advisors. She continued, however, to play the engagement game, if only to warn Philip II of Spain , another of her suitors, what she might do, if it became necessary. Finally, Elizabeth bade him farewell in 1581. On his departure she penned a poem, " On Monsieur's Departure ", which, taken at face value, has lent credence to
4636-666: The use of imported gold and silver cloth. He also built royal factories to produce luxuries such as crystal glass, silk, satin, and tapestries (at Gobelins Manufactory and Savonnerie manufactory workshops). The king re-established silk weaving in Tours and Lyon , and increased linen production in Picardy and Brittany . He had distributed 16,000 free copies of the practical manual The Theatre of Agriculture by Olivier de Serres. 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. France laid claim to New France (now Canada). During
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#17328487953514712-465: The world. He promoted the arts among all classes of people, and 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 ended by Napoleon I . The art and architecture of his reign have become known as the Henry IV style . Economically, Henry IV sought to reduce imports of foreign goods to support domestic manufacturing . To this end, new sumptuary laws limited
4788-403: The writer Jean de La Gessée as a secretary. In 1579, negotiations commenced for marrying Anjou to Elizabeth I of England . The Duke of Anjou was in fact the only one of Elizabeth's foreign suitors to court her in person. He made two visits to England, in 1579 and 1581. He was 24 and Elizabeth was 46. Despite the age gap, the two soon became very close, Elizabeth dubbing him her "frog." While
4864-441: Was confirmed . The royal children were raised under the supervision of the governor and governess of the royal children, Claude d'Urfé and Françoise d'Humières , under the orders of Diane de Poitiers . In 1574, following the death of his brother Charles IX of France and the accession of his other brother Henry III of France , he became heir to the throne. In 1576 he was made Duke of Anjou , Touraine , and Berry . During
4940-455: Was Henry IV's last major military operation, but he continued to finance Spain's enemies. He generously assisted the Dutch Republic with over 12 million livres between 1598 and 1610. In some years, the payment was 10% of France's total annual budget. France also sent subsidies to Geneva after the Duke of Savoy attempted to capture the city in 1602. In 1609, the death of the childless Johann William , Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg , meant that
5016-442: Was aroused, and he blocked the proposed election of a king. The Parlement of Paris also upheld the Salic law. They argued that if the French accepted natural hereditary succession, as proposed by the Spaniards, and accepted a woman as their queen, then the ancient claims of the English kings would be confirmed, and the monarchy of centuries past would be rendered illegal. The Parlement admonished Mayenne, as lieutenant-general, that
5092-421: Was considered a heretical usurper by some Catholics and a traitor to their faith by some Protestants. Henry was the target of at least 12 assassination attempts, including by Pierre Barrière in August 1593 and by Jean Châtel in December 1594. Henry was killed in Paris on 14 May 1610 by François Ravaillac , a Catholic zealot who stabbed him while his coach was stopped on Rue de la Ferronnerie . The carriage
5168-445: Was discovered. The inhabitants, still traumatised by the Spanish plunder seven years earlier, were determined to prevent another occupation by foreign troops by all means possible. On 17 January 1583, in a ploy to deceive the citizens of Antwerp, Anjou asked to be permitted to enter the city in order to honour them with a Royal Entry . As soon as his troopers had entered the city, the city gates were slammed shut behind them. Having lost
5244-412: Was enough to force Henry III, without a pitched battle of any sort, to capitulate and sign the very pro-Protestant "peace of Monsieur", or Edict of Beaulieu , on 6 May 1576. By "secret treaties" which formed part of this peace settlement, many on the Protestant side were rewarded with land and titles. Francis was awarded the Duchy of Anjou (along with other lands) and thus became the Duke of Anjou. He had
5320-445: Was met by opposition from the parlements , which objected to the guarantees offered to Protestants. The Parlement de Rouen did not formally register the edict until 1609, although it begrudgingly observed its terms. During his reign, Henry IV worked through the minister Maximilien de Béthune, Duke of Sully , to regularize state finance, promote agriculture, drain swamps, undertake public works, and encourage education. He established
5396-443: Was proclaimed king by the League, but the Cardinal was Henry's prisoner at the time. Henry was victorious at the Battle of Arques and the Battle of Ivry , but failed to take Paris after besieging it in 1590. When Cardinal de Bourbon died in 1590, the League could not agree on a new candidate at the Estates General called to settle the question, also attended by the envoys of Spain. While some supported various Guise candidates,
5472-650: Was sent to Ottoman Tunisia in 1608 led by François Savary de Brèves . Under Henry IV, various enterprises were set up to develop long-distance trade. In December 1600, a company was formed through the association of Saint-Malo , Laval , and Vitré to trade with the Moluccas and Japan. Two ships, the Croissant and the Corbin , were sent around the Cape of Good Hope in May 1601. The Corbin
5548-554: Was the Peace of Vervins in 1598, which made peace in the long-running conflict with Spain. He formed a strategic alliance with England. He also forged alliances with Protestant states, such as the Dutch Republic and several German states, to counter the Catholic powers. His policies contributed to the stability and prominence of France in European affairs. Henry de Bourbon was born in Pau ,
5624-627: Was the Spanish Road which traversed Spanish territory through Savoy to the Low Countries. His first opportunity to cut the Spanish Road was a dispute over the ownership of the Marquisate of Saluzzo . The last marquis left Saluzzo to the French crown in 1548 (when Savoy was occupied by France), but the territory became disputed during the chaos of the Wars of Religion. The pope was asked to arbitrate between
5700-478: Was the first monarch of France from the House of Bourbon , a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty . He pragmatically balanced the interests of the Catholic and Protestant parties in France as well as among the European states. He was assassinated in Paris in 1610 by a Catholic zealot, and was succeeded by his son Louis XIII . Henry was baptised a Catholic but raised in the Protestant faith by his mother. He inherited
5776-567: Was wrecked in the Maldives , leading to the adventure of François Pyrard de Laval , who managed to return to France in 1611. The Croissant , carrying François Martin de Vitré , reached Ceylon and traded with Aceh in Sumatra , but was captured by the Dutch on the return leg at Cape Finisterre . François Martin de Vitré was the first Frenchman to write an account of travels to the Far East in 1604, at
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