At home Henry II was active in reforming French administration and in opposing the growth of Protestantism in France. He made the responsibilities of each of the royal ministers more specialized to increase their efficiency and provided procedural guidelines for the court system. He established a tribunal to examine heretics, which provided the basis for the systematic persecution of French Protestants after his death. Henry II\'s accidental death, in a joust during the ceremonies celebrating the signing of the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis, marked the end of the last powerful Valois monarch.'); bio[31695] = new Biography('Henry IV (1553-1610) ','A king of France (r. 1589-1610). Also known as Henry of Navarre, or in French, Henri de Navarre. The founder of the Bourbon dynasty, Henry IV was one of the most important monarchs of the early modern era. While many questioned the sincerity of his conversion from Protestantism to Roman Catholicism to secure his crown, he brought peace to his war-ravaged realm and re-established France as a major European power.
The future Henry IV was born to Queen Jeanne of Navarre and her consort, Antoine de Bourbon, the duke of Vendôme. Navarre, since the Middle Ages, was a Basque kingdom in the Pyrenees that straddled both the French and Spanish borders. His father Antoine was descended from the Capetian dynasty of French kings. Jeanne raised young Henry as a firm Calvinist. After the defeat of a Huguenot army by the future king Henry III - then the duke of Anjou - at Jarnac in March 1569, Henry de Navarre became a protégé of the new leader of the Protestant forces, Gaspard de Coligny. He first distinguished himself as a soldier at the Battle of Arnay-le-Duc in June 1570.
In August 1570, the Huguenots were granted toleration, and Henry de Navarre was betrothed to Margaret de Valois, the daughter of Henry II. In June 1572, following Jeanne\'s death, Henry became king of Navarre; on August 18, he and Margaret were wed in Paris. By marrying, Henry and Margaret united the Valois and Bourbon dynastic lines. At their wedding, Henry\'s mentor, Gaspard de Coligny, was nearly assassinated, and the infamous Saint Bartholomew\'s Day Massacre of French Protestants came six days later. Henry and Margaret\'s marriage was thereafter known as the "scarlet nuptials" because of all the bloodshed.
Pressured by his new brother-in-law, King Charles IX, to convert to Roman Catholicism, Henry de Navarre did so, but with obvious insincerity. In 1576, he recanted his conversion. Following the death of Henry III\'s youngest brother François in 1584, Henry de Navarre, with his Capetian blood, became heir to the French throne. Opposed by the Catholic La Sainte Ligue, or Holy League, because he was a Protestant, the War of the Three Henrys followed. King Henry III lacked the strength to oppose the Holy League, who backed Henry, the duke of Guise. The League\'s support by the Spanish crown threatened France\'s very independence, so Henry III and Henry de Navarre became allies just before Henry III\'s assassination. Henry de Navarre succeeded him as King Henry IV, and his Kingdom of Navarre became part of the kingdom of France. It took the new king nine years to secure his realm and had to do continual battle with the Holy League.
One of Henry IV\'s great strengths was his ability to grasp the reality of a given situation. In July 1593, to end the warfare, he converted a second time to Roman Catholicism, which he justified with one of the most famous quotes in history: "Paris is well worth a mass." Once again, the sincerity of his conversion was questioned, but it served its purpose. After wresting control of Orléans and Lyon from the Holy League, Henry IV entered Paris in triumph, and the wars came to an end. With the Edict of Nantes in 1598, religious freedom was granted to French Protestants, as well as the right to hold public office, finally ending 40 years of civil strife.
Henry IV\'s deservedly great reputation is due in great part to how swiftly he restored order to his exhausted kingdom. By promising the laboring classes la poule au pot, or "a chicken in every pot," on Sunday, Henry IV proved himself to be a very human monarch at a very inhumane time in history. He eliminated the national debt, reorganized the French Army, and neutralized Spain with the Peace of Vervins in 1598. By funding the North American expeditions of Samuel de Champlain and by founding the city of Quèbec, Henry IV laid the foundations of the modern nation of Canada. He also beautified his capital and built the galleries of the Louvre and the present City Hall of Paris, the Hôtel-de-Ville.
Henry IV\'s personal life was less than noble, although his many love affairs endeared him to his French subjects. Pope Clement VII, who lifted his ban of excommunication on Henry IV in 1595, granted him an annulment from the equally adulterous Margaret de Valois in 1600. This made it possible for him to marry the princess of Tuscany, Marie de Médicis, in October 1600. They had five children, including the future king Louis XIII of France.
In the latter years of his reign, territorial conflicts arose with Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, and Henry IV mulled over whether these conflicts were worth going to war over. Alas, he would not be allowed to decide. Like his predecessor Henry III, Henry IV, too, was assassinated. On May 14, 1610, a Catholic fanatic, Francois Ravillac, killed the king in Paris.'); } buildBio ();