Henry's mother was a staunch Calvinist and raised her son in the Protestant faith, but Henry's father served at the French court and was a Catholic. Even in his youth, Henry converted to Catholicism, but after the death of Antoine de Bourbon, he returned to his mother's religion. Subsequently, he more than once happened to change his religion.

Henry lived at the French court, and in 1572 Catherine de Medici decided to arrange for Henry's marriage to her daughter Margaret, which was supposed to end the feud between the Catholic and Protestant parties. However, six days after the wedding, the massacre of the Huguenots, known as Bartholomew's Night, took place. Henry miraculously survived only due to the fact that he agreed to convert to Catholicism. He never loved his wife, especially not hiding his ties with his mistresses from among the ladies of the court. However, Margo answered him the same.

For four years Henry lived in the Louvre as a noble prisoner. In 1576, during a hunt, together with a small retinue, Henry fled first to Alençon, the possession of Francis, the younger brother of the king, who had gone over to the side of the Huguenots, and from there to Anjou. Having renounced Catholicism, Henry led the Protestant party and began a war against. By the end of his reign, he managed to quarrel not only with the Protestants, but also with the Catholics, and first of all, with the leaders of the Catholic League of Giza. In 1588, the king fled to Chartres to escape the angry Parisians who supported the Guises. After Heinrich of Giese was killed by bodyguards, the League was led by Charles of Mayen. Meanwhile, Henry of Navarre and the king joined forces against the rebels and laid siege to Paris, but during the war he was killed by a religious fanatic. Before his death, he announced Henry of Navarre as his successor, and on August 2, the Huguenots proclaimed him King of France. The Catholics, however, did not recognize Henry IV and elected his uncle, Cardinal Charles of Bourbon, as king. However, in fact, Karl Mayensky continued to control the rebels.

Henry's army was small, and he was forced to lift the siege of Paris and fortify himself in Tours, which became his residence for a long time. In order to win over the Catholics, Henry refused to grant new rights to the Huguenots, leaving only those that were given by the former king. In 1590, a major battle between the Huguenots and the Catholics took place near Ivry. Heinrich himself participated in it and, according to eyewitnesses, showed remarkable courage. The army of Catholics was exterminated and Charles of Mayen fled without a retinue. Henry, however, was in no hurry to enter Paris. Charles of Bourbon soon died, and the Catholics did not have a single contender for the throne. The war continued for several more years. Having received financial assistance from Elizabeth of England, Henry recruited mercenaries, captured Mantes, Chartres, Noyon and approached Rouen. However, the Spanish troops of the Duke of Parma moved towards him from the Netherlands, and Henry was forced to retreat.

In 1593, Charles of Mayen convened the Estates General to elect a new Catholic king. The only legitimate claimant to the throne was Henry of Navarre, but he was a Huguenot. Of the Catholics, only Isabella of Spain, granddaughter, had at least some rights, but it was extremely difficult to put a woman on the French throne. Meanwhile, Henry once again announced his conversion to Catholicism, while saying the phrase that later became famous: "Paris is worth a mass." During the war years, Henry proved himself to be a brave warrior, an intelligent and far-sighted politician, and enjoyed the sympathy of a significant part of the French. As soon as the Parisians learned about the return of Henry to the bosom of the Roman Church, they rushed to Saint-Denis to welcome him as their king, despite the prohibitions of Charles of Mayen. By February 1594, Henry was solemnly anointed king at Chartres, and soon entered Paris. He preferred to put up with former enemies, generously distributing lands and titles. Even after defeating the army of the Duke of Mayenne in 1595 and capturing Burgundy, Henry concluded an agreement on very tolerable terms for the defeated. Then the war continued for several more years. But by 1598, he ran out of money and hurried to make peace.

The result of the religious wars in France was the Edict of Nantes, signed in April 1598. It was an important act that established the foundations of the state policy of religious tolerance. Although the Huguenots were not completely equal in religious rights with the Catholics, they received the right to freedom of preaching, school teaching and worship throughout France, with the exception of Paris. All judgments based on religious grounds were cancelled. Protestants gained access to all state and public positions, could convene congresses on political and religious issues, and also have their representatives at court and in the state council.

In 1599, Henry received a formal divorce from Marguerite of Valois, with whom he had not actually lived since the wedding, and married Marie de Medici. Mary subsequently bore him three daughters and three sons, including the heir to the throne. At the same time, the king did not break ties with his then favorites, Henrietta d'Antragues, and later Marguerite Montmorency.

On May 14, 1610, Henry rode in a carriage to inspect the new guns in the arsenal. In a narrow, winding street, a man jumped on a wheel (it was later established that it was a Catholic fanatic named François Ravaillac), stuck his head through the window of the carriage, which was open due to the heat, and plunged a dagger into the chest of the king. Heinrich died instantly. Ravaillac was captured by the guards and executed two weeks later.

Henry IV (Henri IV) (1553-1610), nicknamed the Great, also known as Henry of Navarre, French king. Henry, the son of Antoine de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme, and Jeanne d'Albret, Queen of Navarre, was born in Pau on December 13, 1553. His mother was a staunch Protestant, Henry also received the appropriate upbringing, but he was never a fanatic in matters of faith.

As early as the late 1560s, Henry was seen as the head of the Protestant party in France. When his mother died in 1572, Henry was proclaimed king of Navarre, and on August 18 of the same year he married Marguerite of Valois, sister of Charles IX. The marriage was purely political and aimed at reconciling the Catholic and Protestant parties.

6 days later, on August 24, Henry managed to survive the massacre of Protestants on St. Bartholomew's night - only at the cost of converting to Catholicism, after which he remained a de facto prisoner at the French court for almost 4 years. Only in February 1576, Henry managed to escape to the south, where he returned to his former religion and led military operations against the Catholic League.

In 1584, Francois of Anjou, brother of King Henry III, died, and Henry of Navarre remained the only legitimate claimant to the throne in the event of the death of the childless king. In April 1589, the king joined Henry of Navarre in the fight against the League, but on August 1 he was mortally wounded near Paris by a certain Dominican monk.

Before his death, Henry III once again declared that Henry of Navarre was his heir, but the new king managed to achieve recognition throughout the country only after a long struggle and efforts aimed at reconciliation. The last and decisive step was his acceptance of Catholicism on July 25, 1593, which finally disarmed most of his opponents.

March 22, 1594 Henry entered Paris - in accordance with the famous saying attributed to him: "Paris is worth a mass." In 1595, the Pope granted him a pardon, thereby annulling the former excommunication from the church. Henry IV, the first French king of the Bourbon dynasty, sought to pacify the kingdom and restore its prosperity after 40 years of almost uninterrupted religious wars. His famous Edict of Nantes on April 13, 1598 guaranteed the rights of the Huguenots.

Although Catholicism remained the state religion, the Huguenots could now freely conduct religious services in places of traditional residence (with the exception of Paris), and hold church councils. The ban on Protestants from holding public office was lifted. Henry's interest in overseas expansion and the acquisition of colonies reveals in him an adherent of the same teachings of mercantilism, which were later developed by Cardinal Richelieu and J. B. Colbert.

Foreign policy was directed against the Habsburgs, and on May 2, 1598, after many years of wars, Spain was forced to make peace in Vervain. In 1600, Henry obtained papal permission to divorce Margarita and entered into a second marriage - with Maria Medici, the niece of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, who bore him four children (he had no children in his first marriage). Henry was assassinated in Paris on May 14, 1610 by the religious fanatic Francois Ravaillac.

The rights of Henry IV to the throne were confirmed by Henry III, who, being mortally wounded, ordered his supporters to swear allegiance to the Navarrese monarch, but he could only become king of France after a long struggle. In order to neutralize his rivals, on July 25, 1593, Henry of Navarre converted to Catholicism and entered Paris on March 22, 1594 (on this occasion, Henry IV is credited with the saying "Paris is worth a mass"). In 1595, the Pope granted Henry a pardon, removing his excommunication from the church and the proclamation of a heretic. To end interfaith strife, Henry IV signed the Edict of Nantes on April 13, 1598, which granted freedom of religion to Protestants, shortly after that the Huguenot wars ended.

In foreign policy Henry, inspired by the minister Sully, pursued far-reaching plans for a pan-European union of Christian sovereigns.

Murdered in Paris on May 14, 1610 by the Catholic fanatic Francois Ravaillac. He was buried on July 1, 1610 in the royal abbey of Saint-Denis. The widow, Marie de Medici, was declared regent until the age of majority of the heir (9-year-old Louis XIII), who ruled until 1617.

Biography
Childhood and youth

Henry IV was born in Pau, in the castle of his maternal grandfather Henry d'Albret. According to legend, immediately after the birth, the grandfather took his grandson in his arms, ran a clove of garlic over his lips and dripped wine on them. This custom was widespread in those days to prevent diseases.

Heinrich spent his childhood in Karraz (a small town and castle in Béarn). Although Henry was baptized according to the rite of the Catholic Church, faithful to the principles of Calvinism, his mother Jeanne d'Albret raised him in the spirit of Protestantism.

With the accession of Charles IX in 1561, Henry's father Antoine de Bourbon took him to France to the court, where Henry lived next to the princes of the royal house, with whom he was about the same age. The issue of choosing a religion was a conflict for his parents. Mother insisted on Protestantism, father - on Catholicism.

During the first of the religious wars, Henry lived in Montargis under the auspices of the Duchess of Chartres, René of France. A Protestant by religion, Rene, however, managed to turn her castle into an island of religious neutrality. After the war and the death of his father, Henry remained at court as a guarantor of peace between France and Navarre. Jeanne d'Albret obtained from Catherine de' Medici a guarantee of his education and appointment as governor of Guyenne in 1563.

From 1564 to 1566, Henry accompanied the French royal family on the Great Tour of France, a journey undertaken by Charles IX (King of France) at the urging of Catherine de' Medici. The trip was intended to acquaint the royal court with the state of affairs in France devastated by the first religious war. During this journey, Henry met his mother. In 1567, Jeanne d'Albret insisted on his return to Béarn.

In 1568, Henry took part in his first military campaign - the third religious war. Under the leadership of the Protestant admiral Gaspard de Coligny, he participated in the battles of Jarnac, La Roche l'Abay and Montcontour.

King of Navarre
At the French court

In 1572, after the death of his mother Jeanne d'Albret, Henry became king of Navarre under the name Henry III. On August 18, 1572, he married in Paris Marguerite of Valois, the sister of King Charles IX, also known as "Queen Margot". This political marriage, opposed by Jeanne d'Albret, was designed to reconcile Catholics and Protestants. Since the newlyweds belonged to different faiths, the wedding took place not inside the Notre Dame Cathedral, but on its porch. Several holidays followed.

However, due to the extremely tense situation in Paris, a few days later on August 24, the massacre of the Huguenots by Catholics began, known as Bartholomew's Night. Henry escaped death due to his high position and timely conversion to Catholicism. Forced to be at the French court, Henry became close to the king's brother Francis of Alencon and participated in the siege of La Rochelle in 1573. In April 1574, after the so-called "conspiracies of the discontented", he and Alencon were imprisoned in the Château de Vincennes. Subsequently, Charles IX pardoned him and left him at court. With the accession of Henry III, he received a new royal pardon in Lyon and was present at the coronation in Reims.

Courtyard in Neraka

After spending three years at court, Henry fled on February 5, 1576. Reunited with his supporters, he again converted to Protestantism (June 13 of the same year). He supported the "disaffected" (an association of Catholics and Protestants against the government), but leaning more towards moderate views, he did not find common language with Prince Conde, who fought desperately for the triumph of Protestantism. Henry of Navarre tried not to quarrel with the French court and even continued to act as governor (military representative of the king) in Guyenne. In 1577 he took part in the sixth religious war.
From that time on, Henry faced distrust from the Protestants, who reproached him for religious hypocrisy. He avoided Béarn, the stronghold of Calvinism. However, Catholics also treated him with hostility. In December 1576, he nearly died in an ambush at Oz, and Bordeaux, the capital of Guienne, which he ruled, closed its doors to him. Henry settled on the banks of the Garonne at Lectoure and at Agen, next to which was his own castle at Nérac. The royal court consisted of nobles belonging to both religions.

From October 1578 to May 1579 Catherine de Medici visited him and tried to reconcile the kingdom. Hoping to gain leverage over Heinrich, she brought with her his wife, Margarita.

For several months the couple of Navarre lived in grand style in the castle of Neraka. The court amused itself with hunting, games, and dancing, much to the annoyance of the Calvinists. The court also attracted educated people (for example, Montaigne and Du Bart).

Then Henry participated in the seventh religious war initiated by his co-religionists. The capture of Cahors in May 1580, where he managed to avoid massacres and looting despite three days of street fighting, helped to increase his popularity.

The gallant adventures of the king led to conflicts in the still childless family and forced Margaret to return to Paris. A quarrel at Agen in 1585 marked their final break.

heir to the French throne

In 1584, Francis of Alencon, brother of King Henry III and heir to the throne, dies without an heir. Heir to the throne by law becomes Henry of Navarre, one of the leaders of the Protestant party. The childless King Henry III sends Duke Nogaret d'Epernon to Henry to convince him to convert to Catholicism and return to court. However, a few months later, under pressure from the Guises, the leaders of the Catholic party, he was forced to sign the Treaty of Nemours, outlaw the Protestants and start a war against Henry.
A conflict begins in which Henry of Navarre clashes several times with the Duke of Mayenne. The Pope again excommunicates him from the church, and in 1587 Henry defeats the royal army at the Battle of Kutra.

Significant changes in the political situation occur in 1588. The death of the Prince of Condé places Henry at the head of the Protestants. The assassination of the Duke of Guise reconciles Henry III and Henry of Navarre. In the castle at Plessis-les-Tours, the two kings sign a treatise on April 30, 1589. Fighting together against the League, which controls Paris and most of France, they besiege the capital in July of that year. On August 1, 1589, Henry III dies from wounds inflicted on him by the fanatical monk Jacques Clement (being a pious man, the king ordered church leaders to be allowed to him without hindrance). On his deathbed, Henry III officially recognizes Henry of Navarre as his heir, who henceforth becomes King Henry IV of France. True, this is still more of a formality, since three-quarters of the king's subjects do not recognize him as such. The Catholics of the League refuse to recognize the legitimacy of such succession.

King of France (beginning of reign - conquest of the kingdom)
Fight Against the League

Realizing his weaknesses, Henry IV begins the struggle on the ideological front. Catholic royalists demand that he accept Catholicism, but in the previous nine years, Henry had already committed three apostasies. He refuses, although he declares in a hastily drafted declaration that he will honor the Catholic faith. This causes confusion and vacillation in the camp of his supporters of the Protestants. Some even leave the army (Claude de la Tremouille, for example), with Catholic supporters of Henry III (but not Henry IV) following suit, unwilling to serve a Protestant. The army is halved overnight (from 40,000 to 20,000 people).

Weakened, Henry IV is forced to abandon the siege of Paris. With the support of Spain, the League goes on the offensive and pushes him all the way to Dieppe, where he retreats in the hope of an alliance with Elizabeth I of England, while his troops scatter.

However, Henry IV defeats Charles of Lorraine, Duke of Mayenne on September 29, 1589 at the Battle of Arc. Attracted by the charisma of Henry, the ranks of his supporters adjoin: Francois de Bourbon-Conti and Francois de Montpensier (princes of the blood), Longueville, Luxembourg and Rogan-Montbazon (dukes and peers of France); marshals Biron and d'Aumont, as well as numerous nobles of Champagne, Picardy and Ile-de-France. Heinrich again fails to take Paris, but he takes Vendome from a raid. There, he makes sure that the churches remain intact, and the inhabitants do not suffer from the raids of his army. Reassured by this precedent, all the cities between Tours and Le Mans surrender without a fight. In the battle of Ivry on March 14, 1590, Henry managed to turn the tide of the battle with his heroism. He led the soldiers into the attack, wearing a helmet with a white plume visible from afar. When his army began to retreat, Henry stopped the fleeing, exclaiming: "If you do not want to fight, then at least see how I will die!" After the victory at Ivry, he takes the blockade of Paris. As soon as Paris and other cities of the League went over to his side, he did not pursue the leaders of the League, but bribed and thus received their support.

Meanwhile, the Protestants accuse Henry of infringing on their religious freedoms. Indeed, in July 1591, by the Edict of Mantes (not to be confused with the Edict of Nantes in 1598), Henry restores the provisions of the Edict of Poitiers of 1577, which severely limited the freedom of religion of Protestants.

The Duke of Mayenne, during the war with Henry, convenes the States General of 1593 in order to elect a new king. For the duke, this idea turned out to be more than unsuccessful, since the States begin active negotiations with the king's party, first achieving a truce, and then the conversion of the king to Catholicism. After carefully considering the current state of affairs: the depletion of available military forces, low morale and insufficient funding, Henry acts in accordance with political expediency - he renounces Calvinism. The ground for this was prepared, however, in advance - as early as April 4, 1592, in a special declaration (called "expedian", which can be loosely translated as "striving for an amicable agreement"), Henry expresses his intention to be acquainted with the doctrines of Catholicism.

The king solemnly renounces Protestantism on July 25, 1593 at the Basilica of Saint-Denis. A historical anecdote, not supported by reliable sources, ascribes to him on this occasion the phrase: "Paris is worth a mass." In order to speed up the annexation of cities and provinces (in particular their governors), he pours promises and gifts to the sum of a total of 2,500,000 livres. To pay for this attraction of unprecedented generosity, it was necessary to subsequently increase taxes by 2.7 times, which caused popular unrest in the provinces most devoted to the king: Poitou, Saintonge, Limousin and Perigord.

Henry IV was crowned on February 27, 1594 in Chartres Cathedral (contrary to ancient tradition - not in Reims Cathedral, like all other French monarchs). His entry into Paris on March 22, 1594, and finally the absolution granted by Pope Clement VIII on September 17, 1595, ensure the gradual incorporation of the remainder of the aristocracy and the common people, except for the most extreme individuals. For example, Jean Chatel, who makes an attempt on the king near the Louvre on December 27, 1594.

War with Spain

In 1595 Henry IV officially declares war on Spain. During the campaign, the king faces great difficulty when he fends off Spanish attacks in Picardy. The capture of Amiens by the Spaniards, as well as the Spanish landing in Brittany, where the governor (Duke de Merceur), the relatives of Guise and the son-in-law of the late Henry III do not recognize him as king, only exacerbate Henry's already dangerous situation.

In addition, the king loses the support of the Protestant nobility. Following the example of La Tremoya and Bouillon, they refrain from participating in hostilities. Shocked by his apostasy, as well as the wave of conversions to Catholicism he caused, they accuse the king of betrayal. Protestants often hold assemblies in the hope of reviving their political organization. Some even go as far as intercepting royal taxes.

Having conquered Brittany, Henry signs the Edict of Nantes on April 30, 1598. And on May 2, 1598, the Treaty of Vervain is concluded between France and Spain. After several decades civil wars Peace finally descended on France.

King of France (realm reconciliation)

Heinrich is already under fifty, but there is still no legitimate heir. For several years now, Gabrielle d'Estre has shared his fate, but she is not noble enough to claim the crown. The de facto queen, however, causes both the flattery of the courtesans and the discontent of the royal entourage. Her sudden death in 1599 opens wide prospects for Henry to enter into a marriage beneficial to the country.

In December 1599, for a considerable compensation, he seeks the annulment of his marriage to the childless Margo. In April 1600, in exchange for a huge sum of 600,000 gold crowns from the Medici house, the king agreed through his representative in Florence to sign a marriage contract with Maria Medici, the youngest daughter of richest man Europe - the Grand Duke of Tuscany Francesco Medici and Joanna of Austria, whom he had never seen. In October, in the grand Palazzo Pitti, they arranged a wedding in the absence of the groom - by proxy. On December 17, 1600, the wedding of 47-year-old Henry IV with 27-year-old Florentine Maria Medici was played in Lyon. The birth next year of the Dauphin, the future Louis XIII, stabilizes the authority of the king.

Heinrich compromises himself by continuing an extramarital affair with Henriette d'Entragues, an ambitious young lady who does not hesitate to blackmail the king in order to legitimize her children from him, and even participates in conspiracies against the king.

Revival and reconciliation of the kingdom

In his reign, Henry IV relies on gifted advisers and ministers, such as the Baron de Rosny - the future Duke of Sully, the Catholic Nicolas de Villeroy and the economist Barthélemy de Laffema. Peaceful years allow filling the treasury. Henry IV orders the construction of the Grand Gallery in the Louvre, which connected the palace with the Tuileries. He establishes a plan for modern urbanism. Continues the construction of the New Bridge, begun under his predecessor. He organizes the construction of two new squares in Paris: Place Royal (now Place des Vosges) and Place Dauphine.

In his reign, there is an uprising of peasants in the center of the country, which the king has to suppress with the help of the army. In 1601, the Lyon Treaty determines the procedure for the exchange of territories between Henry IV and the Duke of Savoy. The duke cedes the lands of Bresse, Bugey, Gex and Valrome to France in exchange for the Marquisate of Salus, located beyond the Alps.

After signing the treaty, Henry has to deal with numerous conspiracies inspired by Spain and Savoy. He has to execute the Duke of Biron and imprison the Duke of Angouleme, the last of the Valois, in the Bastille.

To appease former supporters of the League, Henry IV favors the return to France of the Jesuits, who during the war called for the assassination of the king. He also reconciles with the Duke of Lorraine and marries his son his sister Catherine. Heinrich tries to show himself as an exemplary Catholic and persuades his sister, as well as his minister Sully, to convert to Catholicism. However, both of them showed integrity in this matter.
Royal domain expansion

At the time of accession to the French throne, Henry was the largest feudal lord in France. His various fiefs were scattered throughout the country. In addition, he was the ruler of territories that were not formally part of the French kingdom - such as the Kingdom of Navarre and the adjacent county of Bearn, Henry's homeland.

One of the constitutional laws of the old French monarchy stated that all apanages return to the state when the prince who owned them acquires the crown. However, Henry IV resisted the annexation of his personal domains for a long time. The April 1 letters patent even declared that they would remain completely separate until he ordered otherwise. The Parisian parliament protested this application and refused to register it, despite two successive demands. But other courts, more obedient or less independent, went to meet the wishes of the sovereign, and the letters were approved. Henry acted according to these decrees. A few years later (January 31, 1599), marrying his sister to the son of the Duke of Lorraine, he gave her the Duchy of Albret, the counties of Armagnac and Rodez, and the Viscountry of Limoges as a widow. But the princess did not live long, and her marriage was childless. She continued to persist in heresy, neither the example nor the calls of her brother could return her to the bosom of the Church; and on her deathbed, in response to persistent admonitions, she answered: No, I will never accept a religion that would make me suppose that my mother is condemned to eternal torment.

After her death, the lands given to her were returned to her brother. Then the Parlement of Paris resumed its complaints. So far the sovereign resisted; but in 1607, when he already had two sons, he finally relented, canceled the letters of patent and admitted that, upon his accession to the throne, all fiefs dependent on the crown returned to her and joined her without the right of rejection . Navarre and Béarn, sovereign countries, retained their special position. Everything else was included in the State. These were the duchies of Alençon, Vendome, Albret and Beaumont, the counties of Foix, Armagnac, Fezansac, Gore, Bigorre, Rodez, Périgord, La Fère, Marle, Soissons, Limoges and Tarascon, the viscounts of Marsanne, Tursan, Gavardan, Lomagne, Fézancegé and Tarta, four valleys - Or, Baruss, Manoak and Nest, and so many other lands that it would be simply boring to list them. Thus, this sovereign alone increased the royal domain almost as much as all the other branches of the Capetians put together. …

- "Jean-Justine Monlesi" History of Gascony "

Thus, under Henry IV, the last major expansion of the royal domain took place at the expense of intra-French fiefs. The centuries-old process of overcoming the feudal fragmentation of the French kingdom and its unification into a centralized state was generally completed.

It should also be noted that, along with all other feudal possessions and the rights of Henry IV, suzerainty (together with the Spanish bishopric of Urgell) in relation to Andorra, formally preserved to this day, also passed to the French crown - the President of the French Republic still remains along with the Bishop of Urgell formal co-ruler of this Iberian state.
period of economic growth

Little by little, France is recovering. In 1610, the level of agricultural production reached the level of 1560. A tapestry manufactory was established. Barthelemy de Laffema and François Troca, inspired by the work of the Protestant agronomist Olivier de Serra, established a culture of silk by planting millions of mulberry trees in the Cévennes and elsewhere. The first navigable Briare Canal in the history of France was dug, connecting the Seine and the Loire. Other projects are being prepared, suspended after the death of Heinrich.

Concerned about the well-being of his subjects, the king often said that he wished each of his subjects were able to put a chicken in a pot on Sundays. This "chicken in a pot" subsequently became the reason for numerous witticisms and epigrams addressed to Henry and his descendants, the reason for the discussions of politicians, philosophers and economists, as well as a common saying. The agricultural orientation of the economy is formulated by Sully in the phrase: “pâturage et laborage sont les deux mamelles de la France” (pasture (livestock) and plowing are the two breadwinners of France).

Society, however, is still far from complete reconciliation: the soldiers left without work stray into organized bands that terrify the province and which have to be fought with the help of the army throughout the 17th century. Nobles die en masse in duels, bride kidnappings cause private conflicts between families, and here again the intervention of the king is required.
French colonization of the Americas

Following the tradition of his predecessors, Henry continues his expeditions to South America and supports the project of the colonization of Brazil. But best of all, the affairs of France are unfolding in Canada and in particular in Quebec. During the reign of Henry, an expedition was made under the leadership of Samuel de Champlain, which marked the beginning of the actual colonization of this region, while exploratory expeditions had been carried out before.
Murder

The end of Henry's reign was marked by an aggravation of relations with the Habsburgs and a new war with Spain. Henry intervenes in the conflict between Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II (Catholic) and Protestant German princes. The flight in 1609 of the Prince of Conde to the court of the Infanta Isabella again aggravates relations between Paris and Brussels.
The prospects for a new European war do not please either the Pope or civilians. Both Protestants and Catholics recall their dislike for Henry, with whom both have old scores. Even in the queen's inner circle, an opposition-minded party arises. Mary Medici was crowned in Saint-Denis on May 13, 1610. The next day, May 14, 1610, Henry was assassinated by the Catholic fanatic Francois Ravaillac. On the move, jumping into the carriage, the killer of the king struck him with the first blow with a knife. The slightly wounded king turned in the carriage to Montazon sitting next to him and cried out: “I am wounded,” after which he received a second blow to the chest, which hit the lung and cut the aorta, and then a third. At the request of the queen, his body was transferred to the Basilica of Saint-Denis July 1, 1610 Heinrich was succeeded by his eldest son Louis (King Louis XIII) at the age of 9 under the regency of his mother.

The image of Henry IV for posterity

The activities of Henry IV, who strove for the welfare and peace of his subjects, largely corresponded to the needs of the people, in whose memory Henry of Navarre remained as le bon roi Henri - "Good King Henri." At the beginning of the 18th century, in Voltaire's epic poem The Henriade, the king appeared as an idealized hero who ruled France "both by right of conquest and by right of birth." The Bourbons appealed to the folk image of Henry IV during the attempts of the Restoration in late XVIII - early XIX centuries, and then during the Restoration itself. The famous song attributed to Du Corroy - “Vive Henri Quatre” is dedicated to him: “Long live Henry the Fourth, long live the brave king, this four-time devil who had a triple gift: drink, fight and be a gallant cavalier”, which was very popular in the era of the Napoleonic Wars and later.
This song has a Russian-language version - “Once upon a time there was Henry the Fourth. He was a glorious king." - free translation of the French original ( poetic size changed; melody by Tikhon Khrennikov). In the play “A long time ago” by Alexander Gladkov, based on the film “Hussar Ballad” by E. Ryazanov, the cheerful beginning of this song is sung by the French at the beginning of the campaign, and the sad ending is sung by the defeated and retreating.

The fate of the body

Henry IV was buried in the Abbey of Saint-Denis. During the French Revolution in 1793, the revolutionaries opened up the royal burial site and dumped the remains of the monarchs into a common grave. One of the revolutionaries cut off the head from the body of Henry IV. Since then, the king's head has been sold at auction more than once, and it has been in various private collections. In 2008, the man who got the head turned to the former custodian of the Palace of Versailles, the most authoritative French expert on Henry IV, historian Jean-Pierre Babelon, with a request to examine its authenticity. In December 2010, a group of nineteen scientists led by pathologist Philippe Charlie recognized the head as genuine.

1st wife: (August 18, 1572, divorced 1599) Marguerite of France, known as Queen Margot (1553 - 1615), Queen of Navarre. There were no children.

2nd wife: (December 17, 1600) Marie de Medici (1572 - 1642), Queen of France. Had 6 children:

Louis XIII the Just (1601 - 1643), King of France.

Elizabeth de Bourbon (Isabelle of France) (1603 - 1644), Queen of Spain; husband: (November 25, 1615, Bordeaux) Philip IV, King of Spain.

Christina de Bourbon (1606 - 1663), Duchess of Savoy; husband: (since 1619) Victor Amadeus I of Savoy, Duke of Savoy.

Nicolas de Bourbon (1607 - 1611), Duke of Orleans.

Gaston of Orleans (1608 - 1660), Duke of Orleans; 1st wife (1626): Marie de Bourbon-Montpensier (1605 - 1627), Duchess de Montpensier; 2nd wife (1632): Margaret of Lorraine (1615 - 1672), Princess of Lorraine.

Henrietta Maria de Bourbon (1609 - 1669), Queen of England; husband: (June 13, 1625) Charles I Stuart, King of England.

In addition, Henry IV had 11 recognized illegitimate children, of which the most famous is Cesar de Bourbon (1594 - 1665), the Duke de Vendome and de Beaufort, who initiated the side line.

History knows many famous and great women. Among them are rulers, scientists, actresses, writers and amazing beauties. Margarita of Navarre did not accomplish great deeds, but many people know about her. In history, several representatives of the fair sex are known under this name. Today we will talk about the first wife of King Henry IV.

Childhood and youth

Margarita of Navarre belonged to She was the youngest child in the family. Her mother is the famous Queen of France and one of the most influential women in Europe of the 16th century - Catherine de Medici. Father - Henry II of Valois.

Since childhood, Margarita was distinguished by beauty and charm. For this, she was called the pearl of France. She captivated not only with her good looks, but also with her wit. Clever beyond her years, the future queen studied literature, philosophy, medicine and spoke several languages: ancient Greek, Italian, Spanish.

Marriage

Parents predicted one of several applicants as husbands for Margarita: the Spanish heir and future King of Navarre. Rumors about the windiness of the bride destroyed the matrimonial plans with Spain and Portugal, and Margarita was married to Henry of Bourbon. The marriage was a forced political union, and there was no talk of any feelings of the newlyweds.

The 16th century in France is a time of struggle between Protestants and Catholics. Two years before her marriage, Marguerite de Valois began a serious affair with Duke Henry de Guise. She was ready to marry him, but her parents forbade even thinking about this marriage. This marriage could upset the delicate balance between the two opposing groups, since the duke was the unspoken head of the Catholics in France.

In 1572, nineteen-year-old Margaret became the wife of Henry of Navarre, one of the leaders of the Protestants (Huguenots). He was 18 years old at that time.

"Bloody Wedding"

Many Huguenots, including their leaders, arrived in Paris for the celebration. This was taken advantage of by Heinrich de Guise and his supporters. The event that took place on August 24, 1572, went down in history as St. Bartholomew's night, when Catholics attacked and killed Protestants who had come to the wedding. Historians believe that Catherine de Medici was the inspirer and organizer of this massacre. Apparently, Margarita of Navarre, whose biography is full of tragic and terrible events, was unaware of the plans of her mother and de Guise. Some researchers are even sure that the Queen of France hoped that her daughter would die with Henry, and this would give her additional trump cards in the fight against the hated Huguenots. But Margarita showed amazing courage and composure. She did not allow her husband to be killed, refusing to divorce him, as the family insisted. The Queen of Navarre also saved some of his people. Whatever their relationship was later, Henry IV never forgot to whom he owed salvation on that terrible night.

Margherita - Queen of Navarre: life under supervision

After the events of August 24, Henry was forced to flee Paris. Margarita remained virtually a hostage to her own family. She was suspected of helping her husband escape. And it was true. Only after 6 years she was able to reunite with her husband, when a temporary peace was concluded between Protestants and Catholics. Until 1582 she lived in Navarre, where she created a brilliant court. At the insistence of her mother, she returned to Paris, but after a quarrel with King Henry III, who believed that she was busy with herself and did little to help her family in political affairs, Margarita went to Navarre to her husband. But Henry was already carried away by another, and the queen was out of work.

She went to her county, to Agen. Margaret of Navarre re-started a relationship with and took part in intrigues against her husband and brother, King Henry III. She spent the next 18 years in the castle of Usson, in which at first she was a prisoner for a short time. With the help of the Duke of Guise, she gained freedom and became the mistress of the fortress.

Divorce from Henry IV and the last years of his life

In 1584, Henry IV was crowned at Chartres Cathedral. After a quarrel with Margarita in 1585, their relationship was effectively broken off. A childless king had to take care of an heir. For a large compensation, he achieved a divorce in 1599. Despite the fact that the relationship between Margarita and Henry in marriage was difficult, after his death, the Queen of Navarre (this title was left to her) supported her second wife ex-husband,

Marguerite of Navarre, whose biography is extremely interesting, died in 1615. She spent her last years in Paris and remained an active participant in the political life of France until the end.

Margarita of Navarre and her image in art

During her lifetime, she captivated with her beauty and wit; after her death, the biography of an amazing woman became an inspiration for many works of art. Marguerite of Navarre (Margot) became the central character in the novel by Alexandre Dumas Sr. Her appearance here is highly romanticized, many biography facts are distorted to suit the writer's creative intent or simply invented. But the image turned out to be unusually whole and alive. "Queen Margot" is rightfully considered one of the best novels by Dumas.

Henry IV is the first representative of the Bourbon dynasty, the last to rule on the French throne. After Charlemagne, he became the first French king to be called the Great. The French associated the end of the religious (civil) wars of 1562-1594 with his name. and gaining the right to freedom of religion.

The personality of Henry IV has always attracted attention with its eccentricity. As one of the admirers of the king wrote, his contemporary V.-P. Palma Caye "There is hardly a sovereign in history whose dignity and position would cause so much controversy." For the first time, a former heretic appeared on the French throne.

The successor to the most Christian kings, defenders of the Catholic Church, was a Calvinist and renounced the Protestant faith in the last act of the civil wars on the march before the gates of Paris. The sincerity of Bourbon's abdication was called into question, arousing a desire to understand the details of such proselytism. Great curiosity aroused the private life of the king: the slave of women was known for countless victories. And even the violent death of Henry IV, which shocked France, gave rise to many different rumors, giving impetus to the emergence of legends about the king and his deeds. A king appeared on the political arena of France, admiring and surprising his contemporaries with his unconventional views and actions.

Henry IV was born on December 13, 1553 in Bearn in the Pau family castle, owned by his maternal grandfather, King Henry d'Albret of Navarre. The heir was named after his grandfather. The baby's father is the first blood prince Antoine Bourbon, Duke of Vendome, owner of the Duchy of Vendome, as well as counties and baronies in the north of the Loire. Henry's mother, who gave him the title of King of Navarre, is Jeanne d'Albret, daughter of Margaret of Navarre and Henry d'Albret. On the maternal side, Henry was the great-nephew of King Francis I (1515 - 1547)).

Henry's childhood years were spent in Bearn, the local nobility of which, in their way of life, was very different from the metropolitan aristocracy. Unpretentious and ardent southerners raised their children, introducing them early to hunting and long-distance travel riding a horse or mule. The first Bourbon grew up in an environment that knew neither court refinement nor the conventions of high society. His grandfather wanted his grandson to be like his peasant children

age, did not indulge in food or clothing. A free life in harmony with nature from an early age brought up in the future king a freedom-loving disposition, endurance and unpretentiousness, rewarding him with good health.

At the same time, in Henry, as the heir to the prince of the blood and the king of Navarre, they began to instill a sense of royal dignity early. He was not yet two years old, when, after the death of his grandfather in connection with the entry of Jeanne d'Albret into inheritance rights, he was introduced as a prince before a meeting of deputies from the estates of Bearn. At the age of five, at the court of the French king Henry II, he was greeted as the heir to the first prince of the blood, Antoine Bourbon and the king of Navarre. He was even named regent and viceroy general of the king and queen of Navarre, although his guardian performed the functions of a minor regent.

Beginning in 1560, the life of the young Bourbon, barely seven years old, changed. The reason for this was two circumstances that played a significant role in the fate of Henry. The first was connected with the conversion of Jeanne d'Albret. The Queen of Navarre converted to Calvinism by publicly announcing her withdrawal from the Catholic Church. Having received communion from the Minister of the Reformed Church, she took up the planting of Protestantism in Navarre. Young Heinrich was converted by his mother to a new faith. Jeanne d'Albret found for her son an educator and teacher from among zealous Protestants. The little Christian accepted without resistance the new world that opened before him along with Calvinism; simultaneously with faith, he joined the study of ancient languages ​​​​and reading, which until now remained outside his interests.

Henry's conversion to Protestantism occurred during the years when France was rapidly approaching civil wars. With the spread of Calvinism, the long-term social tensions that accompanied absolutism were fueled by confessional differences, and the temporary weakening of the throne due to the sudden death of Henry II favored the satisfaction of the ambitions of the opposition-minded nobility. The first test of strength was an unsuccessful palace plot in Amboise in 1560. Drowned in blood, he had a wide resonance in France, putting the authorities in front of the need to urgently take action. Under these conditions, the regency under the young Charles IX, which was rightfully claimed by the first prince of the blood, Antoine Bourbon, seemed undesirable to Queen Mother Catherine de Medici. Retaining this right, she made Bourbon Viceroy General of France. The new position obliged the prince of the blood to be at court. So, in 1561, the family of Antoine Bourbon - his wife Jeanne d'Albret and two children, Heinrich and Catherine - ended up in Paris. The 8-year-old heir of Bourbon was honored to sit at the same table - between the young Charles IX and his sister Margaret Valu. Since that time, the future king of France was forced to obey someone else's will in the person of the Queen Mother, becoming a hostage to her policy. This was the second fatal event in the life of Henry.

A heretic by faith and the rightful heir to the first prince of the blood and the king of the border with Spain, Navarre was an invaluable gift for the French crown. And therefore his fate was ordered without delay. Already in 1557, at the time of the presentation of the young Bourbon to the French court, a plan arose for the marriage of the heir of Navarre with Princess Margaret Valou, which was destined to be realized in 15 years.

Court life in Paris contributed to the rapid maturation of Henry. In addition, there were serious changes in his family. Confessional differences between the parents and the political ambitions of the elder Bourbon made it impossible to save the family. The break occurred in 1562, a year after the stay in Paris. This forced Heinrich's mother Jeanne d'Albret to leave the court. In the absence of his mother, Antoine Bourbon tried to convert his son to the faith of his fathers, but he failed: the boy refused Catholic communion and did not go to Mass.

The personal drama of young Henry played out against the background of the general tragedy that France was going through, having entered the civil war in 1562.

From now on, the war will accompany Henry of Bourbon almost to the end of his life, it will form the character of the future king. The tempering received in early childhood and brought up in Henry endurance, unpretentiousness and the habit of an ascetic way of life will prove useful; acquired qualities will be useful in military campaigns.

In the year of the outbreak of civil wars, Henry becomes the first prince of the blood: the death of his father allows him to take his place. The nine-year-old heir of Antoine Bourbon is honored with all honorary titles. The Prince of Béarn is appointed Governor and Admiral Guyenne. At the age of 13, he was recognized as the heir to all the possessions of his mother, Jeanne d'Albret. The Queen of Navarre took him to Bearn to meet with the local Protestants.

15-year-old Henry of Bourbon received his first baptism of fire in La Rochelle in 1568 - 1569, being next to the head of the Protestant party, Prince Condé and Admiral Coligny. The young man showed remarkable military abilities in a clash with the army of Catholics and rightfully shared the victory with the Protestants who captured the fortresses in the provinces of Ony, Saintonge and Quercy. In those years, through the efforts of Jeanne d'Albret, Larochelle turned into a stronghold of Protestantism. The future king got his first experience of ruling here. Henry of Bourbon gradually turned into a student learning the skills of government, into a politician endowed with power.

The maturity of the first prince of the blood made him an enviable groom and a contender for a worthy party. The old project of Heinrich's marriage to Marguerite of Valois, despite the changed situation, was still attractive to both parties. Jeanne d'Albret hoped by marrying her son to strengthen her position not only in Navarre, but also in France. Catherine de Medici saw in the marriage of two families of royal blood the solution of the confessional issue - the peaceful coexistence of the two religions and, in addition, the expansion of the possessions of the French house by joining the Protestant south. At the same time, the planned marriage had negative aspects, especially for the Queen of Navarre and the prince: their activities had to become controlled and the crown would have the right to take possession of Navarre. Marriage plans acquired political significance. The circle of participants in the struggle included not only married families, but also very influential people outside of France. As for the young, for Henry, marriage promised obvious benefits: it expanded the prospects for gaining more power. Besides, the young man was tempted to possess the most attractive French princess. However, it is unlikely that the enviable groom had the right of free choice and could refuse the proposal: the prisoner of the French court, the prince of the blood, could only dream of it. In turn, Margarita Valois did not object to the proposed marriage. She was attracted by the opportunity to become queen of Navarre.

Meanwhile, civil wars, truces and new explosions of religious fanaticism had a negative impact on the upcoming wedding. Two months before the solemn event, Jeanne d'Albret died in doubt and fear for the future of her son. “I received the saddest news that I could receive in this world - the news of the loss of the queen, my mother. God called her to himself. I cannot tell you how sad I am,” 1 Heinrich wrote. A month before the wedding, in full mourning, Henry of Bourbon appeared at the court. This time Paris met him not only as the first prince of the blood, but as the king of Navarre.

The wedding took place on August 18, 1572. In the marriage ceremony of a Catholic and a Protestant, all the conventions necessary for such an occasion were observed. The Cardinal of Lorraine betrothed the couple in the Louvre, and then solemnly combined them at the entrance to Notre Dame. As a Protestant, Henry of Navarre could not attend the solemn mass. “Our wedding,” Margarita Valois writes in her memoirs, “was performed with such triumph and splendor like no other, the king of Navarre and his retinue were in rich and beautiful robes, and I was royally in a diamond

crown and ermine cape, three princesses carried the tren of my blue dress, the wedding took place according to the custom provided for the daughters of France.

However, the long-awaited marriage did not justify the hopes placed on him. Married life did not take place, despite the fact that Margarita of Valois and Henry of Navarre were officially considered spouses for 28 years. As can be assumed, based on the memoirs of Margarita Valois, the reason for the failure of the marriage was Margarita's physical dislike for her husband. At the dissolution of this marriage, Henry of Navarre referred to Margaret's inability to bear children. Relationships unusual for newlyweds were discussed at court immediately after the wedding. The reason was the undisguised hobbies of the spouses. The passion of Henry of Navarre was Charlotte de Bon Madame de Sauve, wife of the Secretary of State. The chosen one of Margarita Valois is Joseph Boniface Senor de La Mole. This story aroused curiosity in the court, greedy for such events. The strange marriage worried the queen mother Catherine de Medici, who bothered her daughter with questions. Margarita gave the answer to everyone's question only in her memoirs, written in her declining years. “She (Catherine de Medici) asked me,” Margarita Valois wrote, “is my husband a real man, adding that if not, then she will find a way to divorce me from him ... To tell the truth, then I could only answer as that a Roman woman who told her husband that he had bad breath, and he got angry with her and said that all men are like that” (meaning the wife of the Roman consul Gaius Duilia).

One way or another, but the future king of France at the age of 19 suffered a defeat on the love front, which he did not know either before or after that. But that wasn't the only surprise the wedding had in store for him. No sooner had the wedding greetings ended than the court was shocked by the news of the attempt on the life of Admiral Coligny, one of the leaders of the Protestants, and after that the massacre of the Protestants of Paris began. The events on the night of August 24 (at St. Bartholomew) were just one of the episodes of the civil wars. However, for the Protestants and Henry of Navarre, this turned into a personal tragedy. By coincidence, it was here that the Protestant forces were dealt a tangible blow: they executed Admiral Coligny and exterminated the color of the provincial Protestant nobility, who had gathered on the occasion of the wedding. Moreover, the threat hung over Henry of Navarre. The seriousness of the situation was aggravated by the fact that, unlike the previous years of civil wars, the crown, having departed from the previous policy of religious tolerance, did not prevent the massacre of heretics. Under these conditions, Henry of Navarre had no choice. And the Navarrese was forced to renounce Protestantism and return to the bosom of Catholicism. How this happened is unknown. There is information only that at the end of September of the same 1572, Henry of Navarre was present at the Mass. According to Marguerite Valois, she played a decisive role in saving her husband. In her memoirs, where she tries to explain the rejection of Heinrich as a husband, it is said that “be that as it may, since my mother married me, I wanted to stay with Heinrich, suspecting that they were trying to separate us from him in order to play with him some kind of cruel joke” 2 . It is possible that Margarita exaggerated her role in this story. Memoirs were written during the reign of Henry IV, when the fate of the former ward of the opponents of Bourbon depended on his mercy. Margarita, of course, wanted, if not to recall her feat, then at least to come up with a legend about it in order to earn royal favor.

There is no mention of this fact in Heinrich's extensive correspondence. It is possible that the victorious king did not want to remember the forced defeat, because at that time, having adopted the Catholic faith, he was drawn into the political struggle. The convert was used to pacify the center of resistance - Larochelle, he was forced to sign the ukdz on the restoration of Catholicism and the prohibition of the Protestant cult in Bearn. Not

it is possible that proselytism could also have been a tactical move by Henry of Navarre. During the years of forced captivity at the court of Charles IX and Henry II, the future king of France learned the political game, which his entourage skillfully mastered. Court life - balls, masquerades, love pleasures, which the temperamental southerner indulged in, seemed to leave no room for serious reflection. Meanwhile, the idea of ​​returning to Bearn never left the Navarrese. In a letter to his former tutor (January 1576), he wrote that he hoped for God's help in the implementation of his plans and shared his impressions of court life, reporting that the court was in a state of internecine war, where everyone was ready to cut each other's throats. The captive of the Louvre dreamed of freedom, seeing the only way to gain independence in escape. In February 1576, during the royal hunt, he succeeded in carrying out his plan.

With this began the most difficult and long period of independent life of Henry of Navarre. By the time the king of little Navarre left the French court, the Protestants of Southern France had formed a political organization, the United Provinces of the South, a confederation of southern French cities. It was a manifestation of Protestant separatism. After the St. Bartholomew night, the separatists broke with Paris and got out of obedience to Charles IX. Henry of Navarre supported his former associates. But in order to participate in the joint struggle, he had to renounce Catholicism. The faith of the fathers became an obstacle on the way to power. And again, for the sake of worldly interests, the Navarrese changes his faith. 4 years after the adoption of Catholicism, he solemnly renounces it and in the same year enters the citadel of Protestantism. The Assembly of Estates in Montauban declares him King of Navarre and patron of the union of Protestants and moderate Catholics.

The newly-appeared king, whose power was not consecrated (the Protestants ruled out this necessity), began to strengthen the army, turn cities into fortresses and prepare for war. At the same time, he carried out a partial secularization of the wealth of the Catholic Church. Having gained power over the southwestern part of France, stretching between Toulouse and Bordeaux, the Pyrenees and Poitou, the 24-year-old king took decisive steps to strengthen the Protestant association. During these years, he developed his own management principle, which he tried to adhere to later, becoming the king of France, to strengthen ties with the provinces. He believed that the strength of power in its support is not so much in the center as in the provinces. Henry of Navarre saw the pledge of good governance in skillfully selected advisers. The young king selected members of his inner circle, focusing on the professionalism and vassal devotion of advisers. And although he sought to rely on Protestants, there were also Catholics in his council.

Liberation from Parisian captivity and gaining power favored the device personal life King of Navarre, and such as he himself wished to lead. Escaped from the Louvre, where even in the bed of the captivating Madame de Sauve it was impossible to lose vigilance, Henry of Navarre surrendered to the power of unbridled passion. The handsome Navarrese did not lack attention from the ladies and seemed to be trying to take revenge for the humiliated manhood. The young Maximilian de Bethune, the future surintendent of Sully, who at that time was Henry's page, presented a portrait of his king: and the importance that he sometimes used never took away from him his innate kind and cheerful expression.

Nérac, the capital of Navarre, became a place of passion and the cradle of Henry of Navarre's great love for the young widow Diane d'Andouin, Comtesse de Gramont. The same age as Henry and a Gascon by birth, Diana was a friend of the sister of the Navarrese Catherine Bourbon. Henry's letters to his beloved are evidence of sincere affection for Diana d'Andu-

hen, who not only became a mistress, but also replaced the mother of the king of Navarre. After the death of Jeanne d'Albret, Henry for the first time could be natural and trust the woman he loved without pretending and without fear of betrayal. “There are two things that I have never doubted - your love and my loyalty to you,” he wrote to Diana.

In Neraka, Henry of Navarre was visited by Marguerite of Valois. In the same place there was a final break between the spouses. Not feeling bound by marriage and even finding piquancy in her position, Margarita Valois was offended by the cynicism of her husband, who had not considered her his wife for a long time and therefore, in a friendly way, entrusted her with the care of her passion, who was in an interesting position.

The peaceful non-Cancer period in the life of Henry of Navarre was interrupted by the death of the younger Duke of Valois. Alencon, whose death meant the extinction of the ruling dynasty: the reigning 33-year-old Henry III had no offspring. The only legitimate heir to the throne was Prince Henry of Navarre, the representative of the new Bourbon dynasty. Official Paris saw in him an ally capable of resisting the opposition to the absolute power of Henry III. Therefore, in Bearn, some confidants of the king replaced others, and the queen-mother Catherine de Medici herself, despite the gap between the Navarrese and her daughter, persuaded her son-in-law to return to Paris and take the place of the prince of the blood. Bourbon refused; too expensive was the price of return - the renunciation of the Protestant faith.

Meanwhile, anticipating a possible alliance between Henry of Navarre and Henry III, the opposition in the person of the Catholic League, together with the pope, launched a furious attack on the Navarrese. In 1585, a bull of Pope Sixtus V was published, in which Henry of Navarre was declared a heretic. This daring step was intended to deprive the rightful heir to the French throne of the right to the crown. The opposition triumphed in victory, it put forward its candidate for the royal throne - the old Charles of Bourbon, uncle of Henry of Navarre, demonstrating adherence to tradition and law, according to which the first prince of the blood, or his direct heir, in extreme cases, the closest male relative, had the right to the crown . Never before, under a living king, was the question of an heir to the throne so acute. It was a challenge to the government, a manifestation of the rejection of its policies. The situation was complicated by the fact that external forces intervened in the internal political affairs of France. The Spanish king Philip II supported the Catholic opposition and Charles of Bourbon, hoping, if he was lucky, to recognize the Spanish Infanta Isabella as the first contender in choosing the wife of the French king. The Catholic opposition allowed foreign interference in the affairs of France. However, while defending confessional unity and fidelity to tradition in this way, she did not take into account public opinion and the sharpness of national feelings. Years of civil wars, which divided the French into confessions and made the country easy prey for their neighbors, forced the heirs of the ancient Gauls to opt for a Protestant king, free from foreign pressure.

At this crucial time, the army of Henry of Navarre began hostilities. In October 1587, she won a brilliant victory over the opposition at Kutra. But this was only the beginning, for 7 long years, repelling resistance and suffering defeat, Henry of Navarre fought for the throne and for independent France. All these years, the Catholic opposition, supported by the church and the pope, stood in his way. In a deadly battle with the opposition in 1589, the last representative of the ruling dynasty, King Henry III, died.

The death of Henry III, as well as the August tragedy in Paris in 1572, became a lesson for Henry of Navarre, convincing the heir to the throne how futile the solution of confessional and political issues by force is. The reign of the last Valois showed the danger of following confessional interests. The religiosity and even the propensity for exaltation of a faithful Catholic did not allow Henry III to rise above

confessional interests, and even more so to retreat from them when solving national state problems. Religion, power, national reconciliation - these three terms did not combine in any way in the policy of the king. Given the sad experience, Henry of Navarre became more and more convinced that the key to appeasement was not in the use of force, but in negotiations and mutual concessions - in compromise. The departure from the political arena of Henry III opened the road to power, albeit a very difficult one, for the legitimate heir to the French throne. A heretic with a small army devoted people opposed by the Catholic League, supported by the pope and Spain. In addition, Henry of Navarre was not sure of the position of most French Catholics, although they did not share the radicalism of the ligers, but remained faithful to the faith of the fathers. The question still stood before the Navarrese - to be or not to be. The Catholics insisted on his abdication, the Protestants feared the consequences of this conversion.

In August 1589, as the legitimate heir to the French throne, the Protestant Henry of Navarre issued a declaration in which he promised to support the Roman Catholic religion in France in its integrity, moreover, he assured that he had a great desire to enlighten himself in the Catholic doctrine, for which he had intention to allow the Gallican church to convene a national council. The declaration did not provide for the violation of the social status of either Catholics or Protestants, but promised to return to the Catholics the property taken from them.

The statement of the Navarrese did not go unanswered: the two princes of the blood - Henry the Duke of Monpasier and Francis Prince of Conti, Bourbon's cousin, agreed with this declaration. They were joined by three more dukes and peers, two marshals and several senior officials. This meant that Henry was supported as the rightful king in accordance with the basic law of the kingdom, but on the condition that he not only did nothing new in resolving the confessional issue, but also returned to the Catholic Church himself.

However, this was not enough; the consent of the princes of the blood and representatives of the nobility did not reflect the mood of the whole society. The nobility in general was dissatisfied with the statement of the pretender to the throne. In addition, by the end of 1589, almost all major cities were in favor of the Catholic League. On the side of Henry of Navarre remained the southern and western cities, which formed the center of fidelity. In opposition to Spain and the pope, the king of Navarre could count on help English queen, German Protestant princes, the Netherlands and Venice. But the allies set their own conditions. The situation was not easy.

However, the letters of Henry of Navarre of that time reflect rather than pessimism, but the fatalism of a man who trusted his star. The collapse of the plan through peace negotiations and a national council to come to an agreement forced the Navarrese to accept the challenge of the opposition and prepare for war, resorting to new tactics. He divided the army into three parts: one sent to Champagne, another to Picardy, the third to Normandy. The northern coast opened a connection with an ally England.

The first victory was the capture of Dieppe. The army of Henry of Navarre was advancing from the north to the central part of France. In 1590, she settled in the vicinity of Tours. “Trusting my star, even if fortune wants to ridicule us, I nevertheless affirm that nothing: neither inclement weather nor evil dogs will prevent me from following my path and settling in Paris,” wrote Henry of Navarre. Behind Dieppe and Tours, the battle of Ivry in March 1590 brought the next victory. She was described by Agrippa d'Aubigne, noting the fearlessness of the king of Navarre. With a smaller army and little help from foreign mercenaries, Henry of Navarre won battle after battle. His prowess became the subject of discussion and was reflected in journalism. The king of Navarre was portrayed as a national hero, opposing him to the ligers,

decided to the Spanish king to control the fate of the French throne. This was a response to Bishop Escorial, who declared his readiness to use all means, including sacrificing his life, to cleanse France of heresy.

Henry prepared for the siege of Paris. Foreseeing the difficulty of this operation and not wanting to expose the city to defeat, he decided to cut off his sources of supply and force the hungry Parisians to surrender. By his order, the mills were burned and the bridges connecting Paris with Melun, Provins, Lagny and Montero were dismantled. May 7, 1590 Henry of Navarre reached Paris. “I am in front of Paris, where God was pleased with my presence. I start the assault... I forced them to burn down all the mills... The need for them is great, it is necessary that they experience hunger for 12 days, then they will surrender, ”he opened his plan in one of the letters. However, the Navarrese was mistaken: Paris continued to resist. The military forces of the Parisians outnumbered the army of Henry of Navarre by almost 4 times. In addition, the famine touched first of all the lower classes, wealthy citizens bought grain and other provisions at high prices from soldiers on the outskirts of the city. At the same time, the preachers from the camp of the Ligers staged grandiose religious ceremonies, the participants of which were supposed to take an oath to destroy heresy and give their lives in defense of the true religion. Hungry Parisians were promised salvation for loyalty to the league and were threatened with hell for treason.

The duration of the siege forced Henry to start negotiations with the city authorities, which did not lead to anything, but forced him to fight on the outskirts of Paris. Navarrez decided to divert the Ligers and the Spanish army from the walls of the city, causing them to fire on him: he led his troops in close proximity to the opponents. Success accompanied the operation: succumbing to the provocation, the Ligers and the Spaniards were defeated. But the capture of Paris was still far away. Henry of Navarre made more and more attempts, at the same time confirming his declaration of August 4, 1589, about his readiness for reconciliation. However, his appeals did not find a response: the fear of excommunication, inspired by the Pope, turned out to be stronger.

In January 1593, an assembly of supporters of the League met in besieged Paris. At this meeting, in violation of the tradition of succession to the throne, the question of the election of the king was raised. The Ligers' debate went on for six months, but no solution was found. Meanwhile, this situation pushed Henry of Navarre to the decision to renounce the Protestant faith, which had long been expected from him. Five years ago, this was out of the question. “The devil is entangling me,” Henry of Navarre wrote to Diana d’Andouin. If I am not a Huguenot, I will be a Turk. They want to subdue me, they don't let me be what I want” 3 . But time has changed the situation and put the heir to the throne before a choice.

What motivated Henry of Navarre to make such a responsible decision? Thirst for power or patriotic feelings - the salvation of France in the face of the threat of Spanish rule? Rather, the desire to seize the throne, backed by confidence in the legitimacy of their claims. In-

the interests of the heir to the throne to a certain extent coincided with the national aspirations of the French. And this circumstance should have favored a quick and lasting victory for the Navarrese. But in reality, everything was much more complicated. The confessional principle in self-consciousness had priority over the national one.

The first to announce the decision of Henry of Navarre was the Archbishop of Bourges René de Beaune. He reported this to the Paris Assembly in 1593: "The king decided to renounce his faith in order to be recognized." On July 23, 1593, the prelates assembled at Saint-Denis. They represented the same national council, which, according to the declaration of the Navarrese, should have enlightened him in the Catholic faith. However, this time the cathedral assumed the authority to forgive sins and return the pretender to the throne to the bosom of the Catholic Church. The French clergy acted against the will of the Pope. The very next day after the opening of the cathedral, the head of the Holy See protested, threatening to be excommunicated.

The abdication ceremony of Henry of Navarre is described by contemporaries - Pierre de L'Etoile and Pierre-Victor Palma-Caye. “On Sunday, July 25, the king, dressed in a doublet and pants of white satin, in a cloak and a black hat, accompanied by several princes and offices, as well as a guard consisting of Swiss and French cavalry, went to the Cathedral of Saint-Denis through the streets covered with carpets and strewn with flowers. Shouts of “Long live the king!” were heard from all sides. At the entrance to the cathedral, the Archbishop of Bourges, Cardinal Bourbon, and several bishops and monks of Saint-Denis were waiting for the procession. For the solemn act, a cross, a Bible and consecrated water were prepared.

According to contemporaries, the dialogue with the Navarrese was conducted by the Archbishop of Bourges, Karl Bourbon. "Who are you? the hierarch asked. In response, Henry said: "I am the king." “What are you asking for?” “I ask,” answered the king, “to be accepted into the bosom of the Catholic Church.” “Do you sincerely desire this?” Answer: Yes, I want it. The king knelt down and made his confession: “I solemnly declare and swear before the Almighty to live and die in the Roman Catholic religion, to protect it from danger at the cost of my blood and life, renouncing all heresies against it.” This confession, according to P. de l'Etoile, was written on paper, and the king gave it, signing it with his own hand. The archbishop took this paper and gave him his ring to kiss and then performed absolution and blessed the king. After that, Henry of Navarre was allowed to enter the temple, where, in the presence of the hierarchs, he knelt before the altar and repeated his confession and oath on the holy Gospel. Then the king was brought to the church throne, which he had to kiss before confessing. After confession, according to the ritual, it was necessary to attend Mass, and the king, accompanied by his retinue, took part in this solemn Divine service. Then the king went out to the people and, at the request of those gathered, scattered silver coins so that the laity could touch the gifts of the king blessed by the church 4 .

Meanwhile, renunciation of the Protestant faith and communion according to the Catholic rite could not have effective force without the sanction of the Roman See. Henry of Navarre was to appear before the pope. However, not considering it possible at the moment to personally appear in Rome to Clement VIII, he limited himself to a message. The Pope did not answer the impudent Navarrese. And the heir to the throne, with the support of the Gallican church, was crowned without papal blessing.

On February 27, 1594, contrary to tradition, a solemn coronation took place in Chartres, and not in Reims. Henry took an oath on the gospel, promising to help his subjects live in peace with God's church and expel all heretics from the royal land. The solemn ceremony began with the consecration of the royal sword. Henry accepted it from the Bishop of Chartres in order to then, with the words of an oath, put it on the altar as a sign of protection for the church. The consecration of the sword was followed by the anointing of the king. According to the tradition coming from Clovis, the French kings had the privilege

to receive anointing not only with oil, but with “heavenly drops”, which, according to legend, were kept in a special ampoule in the Notre Dame Cathedral in Reims. The coronation at Chartres deprived Bourbon of the traditional anointing, limiting this rite. Then the chief chamberlain of France handed over to the king the clothes laid down in such a case - a tunic, a mantle and a royal cloak, which according to the church corresponded to the three components in the clothes of deacons and priests. Following this, the royal ring was consecrated - a symbol of the wedding to the kingdom, and the bishop of Chartres presented the king with a scepter - a sign of supreme power. The solemn ceremony ended with a public confession and communion of the king with bread and wine, as the clergy did. On this day, the king became a pontiff, a figure capable of performing miracles and healing scrofulous.

Almost a month after the coronation, on the evening of March 22, 1594, Henry IV entered Paris without a fight. The garrisons of Philip II left the city. The Parisians, in doubt and fear, awaited the first orders of the new king. After many years of strife, the inertia of the war could not be immediately stopped. Henry IV made the only reasonable decision - not to pursue his opponents and not to confiscate their property, hoping to disarm former enemies with his peacefulness.

However, not all cities unconditionally accepted the king. The inhabitants of a number of cities both in the north and in the south of France tried, not without success, to redeem their city freedoms and the right to practice Protestant worship. The son of the murdered Henry of Lorraine, the Duke of Guise, gave Henry IV Reims for 3 million livres. Support in Paris itself cost the king 1 1/2 million livres. Henry IV did not hesitate to make these deals, trying to convince his new subjects that the main goal of his actions was not so much to earn the title of the first son of the church and the most Christian king, but to take care of the consent and unification of all the French.

These efforts of the king were counteracted by the activity of the still-living Catholic League and its Spanish patron: Philip II kept his treasury open to pay soldiers in France. The abdication and coronation of Henry of Navarre without the sanction of the Roman throne caused a mixed reaction both in France itself and in Rome. The pope was afraid of the excessive independence of the French: the example of the English king Henry VIII could be contagious, and part of the French clergy was ready to threaten the pope with schism. Henry IV, having declared himself the protector of the Catholic Church, did not at all want a break with Rome. One way or another, but in the autumn of 1595 in Rome, Pope Clement VIII agreed to accept the renunciation in absentia and, having forgiven sins, introduce the French king into the Catholic Church. The confidants of Henry IV in Rome were the Abbé d'Ossa and Bishop Herve Jacques du Perron. In their presence, the pope served as a priest, and these hierarchs took an oath of allegiance on the Gospel, after which the pope finally called Henry IV the most Christian king of France and Navarre. The papal sanction for abdication and coronation obliged the French king to fulfill a number of demands, including the restoration of a single Catholic church in Béarn and the promulgation of the decisions of the Council of Trent ecumenical Catholic Church throughout France. In addition, the pope ordered Henry IV to confess and receive communion at least four times a year, to observe all church holidays if possible, and also not to violate the commandments, especially the 6th and 9th (not to kill or bear false witness). Henry IV took on a heavy burden: a crown and a cross.

By the time Henry of Navarre was recognized as King of France and Navarre, he was 42 years old. The struggle for the throne and worries about the future of the monarchy turned the once flourishing knight, proud of his good health, into an old man. Already in 1600, the Venetian ambassador wrote in one of his reports that the French king, at 48 years old, looks at all 60: the stamp of fatigue and worries lies on his face. It seemed that his strength, for many years focused on achieving one goal, was finally undermined. He was plagued by illnesses: kidney stones, fever attacks and insomnia.

However, this feeble old man was ready for a new battle to maintain and strengthen his power. He did not give up his old habits: passion for hunting and gambling, fast riding, walking and sensual pleasures. Diseased kidneys and stomach did not turn him away from his usual table, game, fruit and oysters; the latter he preferred to absorb directly in thin crispy shells.

When the Louvre housed his courtyard, he fell in love with his office. Thinking about state affairs, he often walked along the galleries, along the alleys of the Tuileries, or saddled his horse. His favorite vacation spots were the castles of Monceau, Fontainebleau and Saint-Germain-en-Laye, where he felt in his element.

Having become king, the owner of the Louvre had to play his part better than his predecessors. The former heretic found himself under the gaze of friends and foes alike, who sought in his actions and even in appearance not; typical and discrediting features of the king. The appearance of Henry IV was the talk of the town. The French kings were fond of fine jeweled clothes, like Francis I, and perfumes, especially incense, to which Henry III was partial. For Henry IV, clothing was not an object of worship. He laughed at the dandies, noticing that they "carry on their shoulders" not only castles, but also groves, and was content with a modest minimum - a gray cloth coat and a satin cloak. He was not embarrassed by old shabby clothes: he simply did not notice them. During the war years, he was so used to wearing a cuirass (armor) on his back and a helmet on his head that they seemed to him an ordinary dress. And since he spent most of his time in the saddle, he said that he rubbed the bootleg rather than the soles of his boots. Contemporaries, in particular Talleman de Reo, did not deny themselves the pleasure of emphasizing the lack of taste and even untidiness of Henry IV. Not without attention was the entry of the king into Paris: evil tongues gossiped that Henry IV was dressed in a gray velvet camisole, tastelessly decorated with gold. Behind this style of dress was a desire to present himself, in violation of tradition, even outwardly as a different king, who cares primarily about state affairs to the detriment of the rules on the appearance of the monarch. At the same time, this behavior reflected the upbringing and Protestant spirit of the convert.

The descriptions emphasized the king's fondness for gambling. As the king of Navarre, Henry liked to play bast shoes in Guyenne. He became addicted to cards already in Paris, played big and could lose a lot. His partners were Duke Henry of Guise Jr., Duke of Mantua and Edward of Portugal, President of the Accounts Chamber, courtiers and representatives of high officials.

Nevertheless, this impulsive, passionate old man, as he seemed to strangers, managed to retain power. The court system was streamlined by him. Systematic trips to the provinces gave way to a settled way of life. The courtyard became not only a symbol, but also a place of power. All ceremonies, receptions of ambassadors, dynastic holidays were subject to protocol. The Louvre, and in summer and autumn Fontainebleau, Saint-Germain and Monceau served as the place of work of the king.

Court holidays have changed. Famous tournaments have replaced the carousel, theatrical performances: live pictures and ballet. Henry IV was known as a great lover of this art, one of the first balletomanes. The court ballet was a theatrical divertissement: masked artists carried away the audience with their dances, turning everyone present into participants in the holiday. He became one of the main elements of court life and the cult of the monarchy. The plots of ballet performances were compiled on the topic of the day; their heroes were often sorcerers and alchemists, whose actions aroused great interest, as well as Chinese princes and kings of the Black Moors, Turks and Saracens - representatives of an unknown, recently discovered (thanks to overseas expeditions) world. In addition to ballet, the court loved musical evenings. 24 court violinists delight

whether the rumor of the French nobles. In honor was the poet Malherbe, whose poems were set to music. The court of Henry IV inherited from the past the love for Italian comedy that appeared in France during the reign of Catherine de Medici. The king adored the merry performances of the Italians.

The organization of court life became part of the state affairs of Henry IV. He gave her great importance for the court, like the façade of the monarchy, was also the face of the sovereign. Bourbon, more than his predecessors, cared about the perception of his subjects by his image. In Guienne, after becoming king of Navarre and uniting the Protestant south, he consciously created the image of a rebel. The crown of France and Navarre obliged to a new image: Henry IV tried to play the role of a courageous, fair and at the same time cheerful Don Juan. His exploits and deeds were sung by poets attracted to the court.

The courageous and cheerful owner of the Louvre was obsessed with the construction and restoration of old palaces. During his reign, restoration and construction work began in the Louvre, which suffered during the civil wars. The king took special care of the castles of Fontainebleau and Saint-Germain-en-Laye. He owned the idea of ​​building bridges across the Seine. But under him, only one bridge was rebuilt - Pont Neuf, the construction of which began under Henry III. After the death of Henry IV, grateful subjects will install a bronze statue of Bourbon on horseback in the middle of this bridge. Henry IV's passion for construction, for creation, reflected the king's ardent desire to pacify society, the desire to encourage his subjects to establish a peaceful life.

He saw one of the main conditions for the implementation of his projects in attracting like-minded people to his council. The experience of ruling in Guyenne convinced him of the fidelity of following the rule - to entrust public affairs to personally dedicated professionals, regardless of their confessional affiliation. The first Bourbon on the French throne did not want to act either as the patron of the reformed church, or as the most Christian king. State interests were placed above confessional ones. In the king's council, almost all members were not hereditary nobles, but representatives of the judiciary, annobled for work in the state apparatus. All of them were devoted to the king, despite the differences in confessional affiliation. Biggest Influence had Sully, Bellevre, Jeannin, Brular and Villeroy. With Maximilian de Bethune, Serious Sully of Henry IV, the bonds of long-standing friendship were connected. Serving as a page at the royal court in Nerac and participating with the Navarrese in many operations, Sully was the alter ego of Henry IV. It is possible that the Protestant upbringing and the proximity of the worldview brought the king and his minister closer together. The king appointed a staunch Protestant surintendant of finance, chief roadmaster of France, superintendent of military fortifications, chief master of artillery, giving him the Bastille, and made Sully duke and peer. The king valued the intelligence and loyalty of his adviser and friend.

At the same time, using the services of his advisers, Henry IV showed great independence, not allowing anyone to lead him. The basic principle of government was developed even before the coronation to the French throne. 32 years of civil wars convinced him that the key to the peace of society in following the course of negotiations and reasonable concessions is in the policy of compromise. Own experience of the war and support for the separatist aspirations of the Protestants of the South forced to take urgent measures to strengthen the ties of Paris with the provinces. Perhaps, until now, the question of the status of a subject of the French crown has never been so acute as in the years of the reign of Henry IV. Its resolution in a class society while maintaining class privileges was not an easy task. Finally, the inertia of the war was preserved. This problem was complicated by the peculiarities of the French nobility, who inherited chivalry, a professional military estate with its ideas about its place and role in society.

After the end of the civil wars, not all French people were happy about peace. For veterans, war was a natural state, and peace was perceived ‘as the absence of war. Therefore, the opinion of Marshal Biron: "Who will need us without a war" - was not an accidentally dropped phrase. Henry IV could not ignore these sentiments. Together with the foreign policy interests of France, they determined one of the first steps of the king. In January 1595, Henry IV declared war on Spain, which ended three and a half years later with the separate Peace of Vervains of 1598 on the basis of the Status Quo.

Caring for the nobility was one of the main directions of royal policy. The widespread practice of anonymization changed the face of the privileged class, which was replenished with people who came mainly from the service bureaucracy. Protecting the old nobility, Henry IV protected him from the onslaught of the new nobles, retaining only for him the privilege of receiving pensions and awards. He loved his old warriors and saw himself as the first among them. At the same time, wanting to put the privileged class on its feet, he reacted with interest to the work of Olivier de Serra “The Theater of Agriculture” (1601) and to the advice of this author to actively involve the nobles in organizing their farms in the countryside, encouraging rational methods of managing.

As for the bureaucracy, highly appreciating the professionalism of these experts in law, finance and administration, Henry IV tried to benefit from their profitable intermediary activities for the royal treasury. In pursuit of this goal, he introduced a tax on the right of succession to office (“poletta”), which, thanks to the practice of selling public posts, promised a lot of money. This innovation met the requirements of an equally powerful part of French society, but led to the consolidation and independence of servicemen from the crown. The negative consequences of this reform will appear later. During the reign of the first Bourbon, the financial benefits of this action were obvious.

Taking into account the tradition of the clientele, which has not been outlived on the ground - the patronage of nobles to groups of small estate nobility, Henry IV resorted to the creation of a new institute of quartermasters. Representatives of the king were sent to the places - quartermasters, who were entrusted with the implementation of royal decisions. With their help, the provinces were tied more tightly to the center. The constant change of these people pursued the goal of preventing abuse. In parallel with this, Henry IV significantly reduced the powers of local governors, depriving them of the right to interfere in financial and judicial affairs and leaving them the right to command city troops if necessary.

Thus, through reasonable concessions, combined with radical measures, the king strengthened his power. A special place was occupied by the resolution of the confessional issue. Its sharpness has not weakened even after the civil wars. The counter-reformation and the revival of the activities of monastic orders, on the one hand, and no less active Protestants: the holding of a national synod and almost annual local assemblies, on the other, forced Henry IV to determine his position. Moreover, a political problem was clearly visible behind the confessional one: the issue was not only about religious tolerance - the right of Protestants to worship, but also about relations with the opposition, with opponents of the absolute power of the monarch, who skillfully used confessional slogans.

Following the principle of compromise in his policy, Henry IV was prone to religious tolerance. He believed that in order to appease French society, the status of Protestants and the Protestant Church should be officially recognized. The assembly, consisting of the king's advisers, clerics and representatives of the Protestant churches, decided this issue for two years - from 1596 to 1598, until in April 1598 an edict of appeasement was signed in Nantes, recognizing the legal existence of a religious minority. The uniqueness of the Edict of Nantes was that it was one

one of the first attempts in France to create a declaration of the rights of subjects of the crown, proclaiming the equality of Catholics and Protestants.

The inseparability of confessional and political problems predetermined the originality of the edict, which reflected the peculiarities of the monarch's policy. The declared equality in rights could be realized by Protestants within extremely limited limits. This concerned worship and was associated with the introduction of a strict ban on meetings of Protestants in Paris, in all major cities, as well as in bishoprics. This also applied to civil rights - the right to education, medical care and funeral services. The edict did not deprive Protestants of these rights, but Catholic France did not have enough educational institutions Protestant orientation, and hospitals, as well as cemeteries, were under the care of the Catholic Church, which zealously guarded its privileges.

At the same time, Henry IV was forced to make a concession: to keep the Protestants' right to military fortresses in southwestern France, in fact recognizing the preservation of the Protestant confederation that arose in 1575. This concession was the price of inner peace and retribution for the military assistance provided by the Protestants to Henry IV in the war with Spain in 1595-1598.

One way or another, but the Edict of Nantes legally formalized the rights of Catholics and Protestants, and the king acted as the guarantor of these rights. Despite the limited rights of Protestants, this edict proclaimed the principle of religious tolerance as the main one in royal policy. In addition, for Henry IV, the edict became the only opportunity to consolidate his victory, which cost him 18 years spent in campaigns and battles.

Barely putting on the crown, Bourbon took up the arrangement of his matrimonial Affairs. The 42-year-old elder, as his contemporaries portrayed him, dreamed of an heir to the throne. To do this, he had to dissolve the marriage with Margarita Valois. Permission to dissolve the marriage made him again dependent on the pope, giving the latter trump cards for the political game. A more favorable occasion could hardly have been found for Rome to intervene in the affairs of the French crown. The Pope hesitated, negotiating favorable terms for his consent. It took six years for the divorce to be approved.

At the end of 1599, Henry IV finally received the long-awaited divorce, which he took advantage of at the end of 1600, taking as his wife Maria Medici, niece of the Grand Duke of Tuscany Ferdinand and cousin of Catherine Medici. Bourbon did not change the tradition of French kings to marry Italians. In the year of the dissolution of the marriage with Margarita of Valois, the ambassador of the Grand Duke of Tuscany discussed with Henry IV the question of the dowry of Marie de Medici, and at the same time the return of the debt; significant sums of money bailed out the Navarrese in hard times fight for the throne. The marriage contract was signed in Florence in April 1600. But the outbreak of war with Savoy in the summer of 1600 forced the wedding ceremony to take place in the absence of the groom: in Florence he was represented by the royal adviser Bellegarde. Rubens captured this unusual wedding on one of his canvases. After the solemn ceremony, Marie de Medici went on a honeymoon trip to her husband. In February 1601, a new queen appeared in France who did not speak French.

Marie de Medici was able to make Henry IV a happy father by giving him four heirs. “God bless you, bless me and all kingdoms,” he wrote to his wife, who was expecting a son, “do not hesitate, I love you, because you do what I want; this is the real support for my reign” 5 . However, the marriage did not change the usual life of the king. The slave of women could not give up his former hobbies and was always ready for new ones. In 1600, only the page of the happiest years of great love was turned. Confessing his weakness, Henry IV, as Sully writes, liked to repeat: “They scold me for the fact that I love to build, that I am a hunter of women and love pleasures, I do not deny, but I will say that I should be praised more than scolded , not knowing the measure, and in every possible way

to excuse the liberty of such amusements, which bring neither loss nor trouble to my people, considering them as a reward for so many of my sorrows, former displeasures, labors, disasters and dangers that I endured from childhood ... Such weaknesses are inseparable from the ardent human nature, and therefore forgivable (but one should not surrender to their power!)” 6 .

Following the main rule in relations with women - "do not surrender to them in power" - Henry IV, unlike his predecessors, did not allow his favorites to interfere in public affairs and lead themselves. In one of his letters to Gabriel d'Estre, he admitted: "If I were forced to choose one thing - to lose my mistress, or to lose a minister, I would rather agree to lose 10 people like you than one minister like Sully." This letter was addressed to the greatest love of Henry IV. Their relationship lasted nine happy years. Gabrielle d'Estre, in the marriage of Madame de Liancourt, appeared wherever the king went; she was present at Saint-Denis at his abdication and at Chartres at the coronation, at the assemblies and accompanied him on military campaigns. She gave him two sons and a daughter. The lovers were going to legitimize their relationship. But the proposed marriage had many opponents. "The people wanted the king to marry a princess, not an obscene duchess." The pope also spoke out against Gabriel d'Estre, hatching his plan for arranging the king's marriage. The fuss around the upcoming wedding has shortened the days of the beautiful Gabrielle: stress caused a premature birth of a dead child and the woman in labor could not be saved.

Although Henry IV wrote in his letter to his sister that grief and regret would accompany him to the grave, however, patience was only enough for four months. In the year of the death of his beloved, he was already writing love letters to his next passion, Henriette d'Entragues, and at the same time was carried away by the Marquise de Verneuil. The favorites did not occupy his attention for long, leaving a trace only in the letters sent by the hot Bearn at the moment of desire. The last passion of Henry IV was the 14-year-old heiress of the famous noble house of Montmorency Charlotte. She danced in the court ballet, and old Heinrich sat for hours at rehearsals. Contrary to his rules, he began to dress up and even use incense. It is no coincidence that the Florentine ambassador, who visited his compatriot Marie de Medici in Paris, took with him an impression of a bordello at court, the like of which he had never seen.

Meanwhile, Henry IV was known as a good father: he adored all his children, including illegitimate ones. And the birthday of the future heir to the throne, Louis XIII, on September 27, 1601, became a national holiday, the solemnity of which was given by the fact that France had not known the Dauphin since the time of Henry P. The last Valois were childless and died at a young age. On this occasion, cannons were fired in all French cities and medals were minted with the image of the Dauphin Louis in the form of Hercules, cracking down on snakes with his bare hands.

Henry IV surrounded his son with great attention and care. Against the wishes of Marie de Medici and her pro-Catholic environment, he chose a tutor for the boy, an educated and free-thinking man, because he wanted to see the future king of France free from the captivity of medieval ideas. This desire increased as the situation in the kingdom worsened.

The past did not want to retreat before the determination of Bourbon. All his decrees, and above all the Edict of Nantes, were met with hostility. The Parlement of Paris, and after it the provincial courts of justice, refused to register the king's decisions. And Henry IV had to resort to the last resort - to appear in person in parliament and demand satisfaction. On January 7, 1599, he declared in the Parlement of Paris regarding the Edict of Nantes: “You will do this not only for me, but also for yourself and for the good of the world. I made the world outside (France - S.P.), I want to make it

inside (France - S, P.). You must obey me, like all my subjects. Those who disobey my order must know that this is the way to the barricades, to the assassination of the king. I will cut the root of evil and resistance. I will climb the walls of the cities, I will climb the barricades, which are not so high” 7 . The idea of ​​compromise, which Bourbon tried to put into practice, was more rejected than found understanding. Behind her they saw the cunning of a heretic, questioning the sincerity of his peace-loving policy.

Signs of the backlash against Henry IV's accession to the throne and his policies were repeated attempts on his life. The first refers to 1593. Then the leader Pierre Barrière, whose hand was directed by the Jesuits, chose the right moment - the renunciation of the Navarrese. Convinced of the piety of his actions, he plotted to strike at the entrance to the Saint-Denis temple. In 1594, the year of his coronation, Henry was wounded by Jean Chatel: an obedient Jesuit student aimed at the king's throat, but cut his lip and knocked out a tooth. The trial and execution of the murderer, having made a lot of noise, served as the basis for the expulsion of the Jesuits from France. 1595, 1598, 1599, 1600, 1601, 1605 are also marked by attempts to punish the king. The assassins, as a rule, were monks - Capuchins and Jacobins, not without the influence of the Jesuits. They were driven by the desire to deal with the Protestant, who dared to seize the throne. This is confirmed by the positive reaction of the church to their actions. In the "Apology of Jean Chatel" (1595), written by the curate J. Boucher, Henry IV was declared a tyrant, usurper and heretic.

However, fate was pleased to extend the trials of Henry IV until 1610 and force the king to meet death in his post. As Sully wrote: "Nature rewarded the sovereign with all the gifts, but did not give a happy death." In May 1610, he was preparing for a military campaign on the lower Rhine against the Austrian Habsburgs, who claimed to create a universal empire. On the day of the assassination attempt, Henry IV went to the Arsenal to meet with the surintendant Sully. The murderer managed to jump on the footboard of the carriage during its forced stop and through the window with a knife inflict three fatal blows to the king in the chest. The repentant heretic, introduced by the pope into the bosom of the Catholic Church, was killed by Francois Ravaillac, a friar-feuillant of the new order that arose in Paris in the 16th century. By the hand of a monk, the verdict passed on Henry IV not only by the Roman Catholic Church and papists, but also by forces in France itself, which did not recognize innovations, saw in the actions of the king an attack on the traditional rights of the nobility. The policy of compromise, the desire to put state interests above confessional ones, turned into death for Bourbon.

On the evening of May 14, 1610, the body of the deceased was prepared for parting. For a month and a half, the coffin with the embalmed corpse stood in the Louvre. The funeral took place in the royal tomb of Saint-Denis on 1 July. The heart of the king, according to his order, was transferred for burial in the chapel of the Jesuit College of La Fleche. As in life, Henry IV never ceased to amaze his contemporaries with his originality.

But it was too early for Bourbon's opponents to celebrate the victory. His death not only did not take away the memory of him to the grave, but, on the contrary, gave a new impetus to the legends, supplementing the once created image of Henry IV with the features of an innocently killed one. Most often, he was represented as a protector of widows and orphans, a sufferer and benefactor, as well as a knight of the Renaissance. He was depicted next to Caesar, Alexander the Great, Charlemagne and even Hercules, supplementing the pictures with the words: “Beautiful among the most brilliant husbands” or “Gali Hercules”. In the ancient manner, he was painted as the hero of Olympus: like Hercules, choosing between virtue and vice. In the year of the death of the king, Claude Billard wrote a tragedy in the antique style “The Tragedy of Henry the Great”. The Jesuits of the College of La Fleche, who were patronized by Henry IV, responded to the death of Bourbon. In their panegyric they compared him to Saint Louis and attributed to him the virtues of the emperors Constantine and Theodosius and the kings David and Solomon.

4. ESTOILE P. de. Jornal du regne de Henri IV, roi de France et de Navarre. Vol. 1. Le Haye. 1741, p. 45 and others.

5. Letters missives, vol. 8, p. 21.

6. See The Spirit of Henry IV, or a collection of all sorts of curious anecdotes, elegant deeds, witty answers, and several letters from this sovereign. M. 1789, p. 37.

7. ESTOILE P. de. Journal, vol. 2, p. fifteen.