Henry, Louis & Richelieu

	351-07
Henry IV	Henry IV, Louis XIII and Richelieu: France in the Early Seventeenth Century

Henry IV and the end of the wars of religion

	During the later 16th Century, France had suffered from bitter internal wars between Protestants (Huguenots) and Roman Catholics. Catholic and Protestant forces fought intermittently from 1562 to 1589. In the worst incident, about 20,000 Protestants were killed in the Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacres (beginning 23-24 August 1572).
	Three weak French kings - Francis II, Charles IX, and Henry III - were dominated by their Machiavellian mother, Catherine de Medici, and undermined by powerful nobles. The aristocratic leaders of the houses of Guise, Bourbon/Condé, and Montmorency/Châtillon struggled to control the crown and exploited religious zealotry to further their ambitions.
	All three kings died without children, and the male line of the House of Valois died out. (Henry II did have two daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret, but French Salic Law prevented any woman succeeding to the crown - or any male child whose only claim was through his mother, grandmother, or any other female.) This meant that after the assassination of Henry III by a Catholic fanatic in 1589, the best claim to the throne of France was held by Henry of Bourbon, Prince of Navarre. But Henry was Protestant and most of the French were Catholic.

Elizabeth Valois (1545-68)

	The most zealous Catholics had formed a League to ensure that no "heretic" should succeed. It was supported by Philip II of Spain, who had married Elizabeth of Valois and who claimed the throne (despite Salic Law) for their daughter Isabella. The League seized control of Paris and many other parts of France.
	Philip II invaded France in support of his claim, but this outraged French national feeling and many politique Catholics (who placed national security before religious zeal) were willing to side with the Protestant Henry. The social radicalism of some members of the League in Paris began to worry moderates.

Many Catholics were unsure which side to take, until in 1593 Henry IV became a Catholic. From that date Henry's position steadily strengthened: in 1594 he took Paris, and in 1598 the Spanish finally agreed to withdraw in the Peace of Vervins.

Henry IV was not a man of great spirituality and many doubted the sincerity of his opportune "conversion" to Catholicism - particularly as he expressed the view that "Paris vaut bien une messe" (Paris is well worth a Mass).

	Although Henry IV abjured his Protestant beliefs, he did not abandon his Protestant allies. In 1598 he granted them toleration in the Edict of Nantes. The toleration was limited and disappointing to those Huguenots who hoped to reform all France. It angered hard-line Catholics who did not believe that heresy should be tolerated. Nevertheless, it did bring a halt to open violence.
	An era of comparative peace and prosperity followed.
	Religious tensions remained and there were several attempts to assassinate Henry IV. On 4 May 1610 François Ravaillac, a fanatical Catholic (widely believed to have been encouraged in his action by extreme Jesuits) succeeded in stabbing Henry to death.

After torture, Ravaillac was executed by being dragged apart by four horses

Maximilien de Béthune, Duke of Sully (1560-1641)

Henry IV's most powerful minister was Sully. Raised a Protestant he had fought with Henry in the religious wars.
An able administrator, he took charge of France's finances and repaired the damage caused by earlier kings' extravagance. He strictly controlled expenditure and severely punished all corruption (except his own.) Sully also increased revenues, particularly from the gabelle (a tax on salt) and by the introduction of the paulette.

Sully was not merely a financier. He showed considerable technical acumen in his schemes for improving France's roads, fortifications, artillery, and navy.

In 1572 Henry had married Marguerite of Valois - youngest of Henry III's children, but they spent little time together and the marriage was childless.

In 1599 the marriage was annulled, and Henry promptly married Marie de Medici (1600) - a woman twenty years his junior. His motives may have been financial - the Grand Duke of Tuscany gave him a large dowry in the form of forgiving his debts - but this marriage was also productive: Marie bore him five children in eight years.

Henry IV and Sully also concentrated their efforts on controlling the unruly French nobility. The Huguenot noble, Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Duke of Bouillon, fled to Geneva in 1603 after conspiring against Henry. (He was later rehabilitated and his son, Viscount Turenne, became an important commander in the Thirty Years War.)
The Catholic nobleman Charles de Gontaut, Duke of Biron was induced by the Duke of Savoy to rebel against Henry, and was executed in the Bastille 31 July 1602.
Henri de Bourbon~Condé, Duc D'Enghien was Henry IV's cousin and had been heir presumptive to the throne until the birth of Louis. Henry IV became infatuated with Charlotte de Montmorency and was furious when Condé married her in 1609. A serious situation was developing as these were powerful and wealthy families, but Henry's assassination abruptly closed the problem. (Their son Louis de Bourbon, Prince of Condé also went on to become an important general, statesman and patron of belles lettres.)

Henry was intent on increasing French prosperity and repairing the damage done during the Wars of Religion. He avoided foreign wars, apart from a brief invasion of Savoy in 1600 when Charles Emmanuel refused to return Saluzzo (annexed in 1588.) The dispute was rapidly settled by the Treaty of Lyon (February 1601).
At Henry IV's death, the Cleves-Jülich succession dispute was threatening to involve France in war; the Venetian Interdict crisis had looked like it might provoke war in 1606-7, but French diplomacy helped to resolve the problem