And in Lyon, Henry learned that on October 30, 1574, Mary died in childbirth. The news literally crushed him. He came down with a fever and retired to his chambers for many days. The courtiers, accustomed to fairly easy morals, were amazed that the king of France was displaying such deep feelings. When, returning to society, he appeared in a dress on which numerous skulls were embroidered, those around him hardly hid their ridicule.
Only under the impression of the loss of his beloved Mary, Henry agreed to the marriage in order to ensure the continuation of the dynasty and displace the rebellious Alençon (now, however, “Anjou”) from the first place in the row of heirs to the throne. To everyone's surprise, his choice fell on a meek and benevolent girl whom he had glimpsed in 1573 in Blamont, Louise de Wodsmont (1553 - 1601), who came from a junior branch of the Ducal House of Lorraine. She had no special pretensions or bright prospects, but one could expect that she would become a faithful and devoted wife to the king. Henry's decision in favor of Louise was partly a protest against Catherine - the first step towards the emancipation of his loving son from his domineering mother, who wanted to participate in all his decisions and, naturally, had a completely different candidate in mind. However, this time she resigned herself.
On February 13, 1575, the coronation and ordination of the king took place in the Reims Cathedral; On February 15, the engagement to Louise followed. Henry (“hungry for perfection”) personally took care of the bride’s outfit, jewelry and hairstyle - so thoroughly that the wedding mass had to be postponed to the second half of the day.
Louise became the queen he could always lean on. She had no desire for power at all and never forgot how high Henry raised her. All her life she remained, faithful and grateful, in the shadow of the king. The whole kingdom was sympathetic to this marriage; however, he was childless, which caused bewilderment and was incomprehensible to his contemporaries. Apparently, Louise became infertile after an induced abortion, complicated by chronic inflammation of the uterus. She suffered from the consequences of this operation for many years.
At court, the blame for the childlessness of the marriage was readily placed on Henry, since he - a completely unusual phenomenon for French kings - did not have illegitimate children, although from 1569 he had intimate relationships with many court ladies. However, he did not have an official mistress, and after his marriage he almost stopped his love affairs altogether. In the summer of 1582, Henry vowed to renounce sexual relations with other women, as his confessor explained that childlessness was God's punishment for casual relationships. However, this did not help; Repeated pilgrimages to holy places, to the cathedrals of Chartres and d’Epins between 1679 and 1589, were also in vain.
Although Henry did not give up the hope of having male offspring until the very end, from 1582 he found inner peace in a deep religious feeling. He easily submitted to the incomprehensible zero of God. When the heir to the throne of Anjou unexpectedly died in 1584, Henry - although not without hesitation at first - agreed to recognize Navarre as the new claimant, who had the legal right to do so. When the religious and political situation in 1588/89 changed radically and Henry III found himself virtually alone against an unruly country, a rebellious capital and the Guises striving for the crown, he showed the breadth of a true statesman by reaching an agreement with the only legitimate heir to the throne, Navarre. His firm determination ensured the continuity of the state during the process of changing the reigning dynasty.
Henry III was a diligent monarch. He had a remarkable memory and a sharp mind. Whenever possible, he conducted government affairs himself. With his bureaucratic zeal he resembled the Spanish Philip II. Because of his numerous legislative initiatives, his contemporaries nicknamed him the “King of Solicitors.” Of particular importance for many areas of public and private life was the Ordinance issued in Blois (1579), where in 363 provisions the wishes and difficulties were discussed, which were raised by the Estates General assembled in 1576.
Economically, Henry succeeded in attracting the clergy, who were exempt from paying taxes, to participate in government spending. In 1579/80, he obtained that an assembly of clergy promised him an “ecclesiastical loan” in the amount of about 1.3 million livres for a period of six years. In 1586 this loan was extended for 10 years. Since the crown did not want to lose this source of income in the future, the general meeting of the clergy was forced to legitimize the emerging practice of the clergy providing a tax in the form of a voluntary donation, which was collected every ten years throughout the existence of the old regime.
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In addition to church tithes under Henry III, a direct tax was also levied on the church for several years. All these payments seemed to the clergy a lesser evil compared to the threatening expropriation of church property, which the crown always saw as a means of pressure: three times Henry alienated part of the church property (in 1574, 1576, 1586). Of all the French rulers, Henry III was the king who demanded the most from the clergy.
Only after Alina Karper’s research did the significance of the noble assembly convened by Henry III for the “modernization of France” become known. From November 1583 to the end of January 1584, in the Saint-Germain suburb, the political and administrative elite of the country - 66 people - discussed an extensive list of issues proposed by the king, which related to the tax system, state budget, sale of positions, administrative structure, army, economy, etc. The discussion was, as the imperial envoy noted, about the general reform of the kingdom, which the king expected from this meeting of specialists. The results of the meetings were presented to the government in the form of “Opinions of the Assembly”, processed by it and published. In the 17th and 18th centuries, these decisions were considered “a monument to statesmanship, which only due to unfavorable political conditions could not bear fruit.” The fact is that it was this year that the peaceful respite that had lasted since 1577 actually ended. Numerous reforms that Henry began to carry out back in 1584 stalled; there was no need to think about them in the face of the threat of a brewing new civil war.
Historiographers contemporary to Henry already noted that at the end of his reign he aroused a hostile attitude towards himself in everyone. Unkind exaggerations and misrepresentations of the preferences and interests of the king completely discredited this sovereign, who was treated with equal hatred and prejudice by both Catholics and Protestants.
A critical attitude towards Henri III permeates all historiography, right up to the 20th century. Only the works of Pierre Champion laid the foundation for a new direction in the study of Henry's biography. Pierre Chevalier dedicated a solid work to him, published in 1986, in which he examines all the rumors, half-truths, insults and accusations accumulated over centuries, with documents in hand. The results are striking: although many details remain unclear, a critical analysis of the sources gives a completely new assessment of Henry III, the king and the man. This work allows us to see the personality of Henry III more clearly than before.
The main attacks related primarily to the “minions” - a group of four young nobles whom Henry kept at court and showered with favors, honors, and gifts. All of them distinguished themselves in the military field, were loyal and devoted to him, and must have allowed themselves daring antics towards the conservative aristocracy. These four musketeers, who were later joined by several others, dressed provocatively, valued entertainment and gallant (and other) adventures. The duel of minions, which took place on April 27, 1578 and claimed four lives, is notorious; it was, strictly speaking, a reflection of the struggle between warring Catholic factions.
Of the four first favorites, Saint-Sulpice was killed in 1576, Caillus died 33 days after the mentioned duel, Saint-Luc, who had spilled the king’s alcove secrets to his wife, fell out of favor in 1580 and barely escaped a trial; the fourth, François d'O, whom Henry called "my great steward" because of his excellent financial management, retired from the court in 1581, when his star began to decline.
Since 1578/79, two other favorites of the king have come to the attention of researchers: Anne de Joyeuse and Jean-Louis de la Valette. Both of them were called "archimignons" by their contemporaries, both rose above their predecessors and received the title of duke (de Joyeuse and d'Epernon). The king’s attitude towards these favorites, whom he sometimes called “my brothers,” was perhaps best expressed by the Tuscan envoy Cavriana, who in 1586 commented on their military success: “The father rejoices greatly to see how both his adopted sons prove their worth "
Michelet already warned against an overly negative attitude towards minions. Although Dodu called them “ministers of his voluptuousness,” it is likely that neither they nor the king were homosexuals. Here it is worth quoting the weighty words of Chevalier: “Henry III and his favorites are an unfounded and slanderous legend.”
Other characteristics of the king, partly inherited by him from the Medici family, also served as a target for criticism over the centuries - a passion for luxurious fancy clothing, jewelry, and incense.
He had a clear understanding of beauty and elegance, but was prone to rather flirtatious forms of self-expression. He loved carnivals, balls and masquerades, appreciated literature, poetry and theater, while caring about the preservation of court ceremonial and etiquette. On some occasions he willingly outlined detailed rules and regulations - for example, when he founded the Knightly Catholic Order of the Holy Spirit in 1578.
Henry loved small dogs, of which he had several hundred, rare birds and exotic animals. He valued the usual entertainments of nobles - knightly tournaments, fencing, and hunting - less. Sometimes the king surprised his entourage with children's games like bilboke - a game in which you need to pick up a ball with a sharp end or a curved stick. He enjoyed carving miniatures, which he later used as decorations.
On the other hand, Heinrich had increased nervous sensitivity and, as a result, a predisposition to disease. His childlessness and worries about the moral decline of the kingdom torn by civil war led him to deep piety in 1582/83. The desire to openly demonstrate his piety, which, perhaps, also had a political background, the desire to give everything some kind of mystical shine, prompted him until about 1587 to take part in processions, often in a white hair shirt, especially in the processions founded by Henry himself in March 1583 "Brotherhood of Penitent Sinners of Our Lady of the Annunciation." The members of this brotherhood - including both archimignons, many courtiers, members of parliament and noble citizens - wore a white Capuchin robe made of Dutch wool with two holes for the eyes. Shortly before a new outbreak of civil war, when Henry saw the final collapse of his policy of compromise and experienced a period of deep melancholy, he founded, this time without noise or show, the “Brotherhood of the Death and Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ.” This small community met on Fridays in the Louvre, where they prayed together, sang psalms and spent time in spiritual exercises, penance and even self-flagellation.
From his very first stay at the Pauline monastery and January 1583, Henry retreated more and more from the world. He felt great behind the monastery walls, and was happy with what the monks themselves were content with. He ordered the reconstruction and expansion of the old Hieronymite monastery in the Bois de Vincennes, where several cells were reserved for him and his often very large retinue (since, in spite of everything, he did not let political issues out of his sight). From 1584, Henry regularly spent several days in this monastery for three years, which was later transferred to the Paulines. It is unlikely that Henry found understanding with anyone: Catherine, his wife or his subjects. Even the pope did not approve of Henry, whom his contemporaries sometimes called the monk king.
This certainly exaggerated religious zeal, reaching the point of excesses, was associated with a characteristic feature of the king, which he himself once expressed as follows: “What I love, I love to the end.” This was the real weakness of the king: his nervous constitution often led him to extremes. Whatever the king did, due to his temperament, he indulged in it excessively.
Many of the king's ways of spending his time indicate his extravagance, which was based on certain character traits. Although his ingenuousness was obvious, it was sometimes funny and aroused ridicule and anger among his opponents. Henry was an unusual child for his time and his parents. However, for centuries no one was willing to admit this.
| Duke of Orleans | ||
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| 5th of December - May 30 (under the name Henry II) |
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| Duke of Anjou | ||
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| February 8 - May 30 (under the name Henry III) |
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| Duke of Berry | ||
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| February 8 - May 30 (under the name Henry I) |
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| Duke of Bourbon | ||
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| February 8 - May 30 (under the name Henry I) |
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| Duke of Auvergne | ||
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| 17 August - May 30 (under the name Henry I) |
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Biography
The early and youthful years of Henry Valois
The education of the young prince was carried out by famous people of his time - Francois Carnavalet ( Francois de Carnavalet) and Bishop Jacques Amiot ( Jacques Amyot), known for his translations of Aristotle. In his youth, he read a lot, willingly held conversations about literature, took rhetoric lessons, danced and fenced well, and knew how to charm with his charm and elegance. Fluent in Italian (which he often spoke with his mother), he read the works of Machiavelli. Like all nobles, he began early to engage in various physical exercises and later, during military campaigns, showed good skill in military affairs.
Henry's personality and behavior made him stand out at the French court. And later, upon arrival in Poland, they caused culture shock among the local population. In 1573, the Venetian ambassador to Paris, Morisoni, wrote about the prince’s luxurious clothes, about his almost “ ladylike delicacy", about his earrings in each ear. " He was not satisfied with one earring in each of them - he needed double ones, decorated with precious stones and pearls..." Opinions about the homosexuality of the Prince of Anjou, who received the nickname “Prince of Sodom,” began to be heard and passed from mouth to mouth more and more often.
Catherine herself, who loved Henry more than her other children, dreamed of leaving him the royal crown. However, for this the mother had to work hard. Around the age of 9, Henry became interested in the Huguenots and gradually became closer to their world, calling himself a “little Protestant.” Moreover, he began to introduce Margarita to Protestantism (which later had decisive consequences for the history of France). He sang Huguenot songs, did not observe Catholic rituals, and even tried to break the statue of St. Pavel. However, having been brought up at the Catholic court, he could hardly seriously believe that everything would remain this way. Taking her son with a tight grip, Catherine managed to knock Huguenot views out of him over the course of three years and turn him into a zealous Catholic.
Relations between King Charles and Henry were somewhat strained. Karl did not like his brother and was very afraid of him as a contender for the throne.
Military and political career of Henry Valois
Through the efforts of Catherine and the Chancellor of France Michel de l'Hopital, her like-minded person, the Edict of Tolerance was published on January 17, 1562, designed to lay the foundations for freedom of conscience and national reconciliation. However, the efforts of the queen and the chancellor failed thanks to the Guises, the leaders of the ultra-Catholic party. François de Guise carried out a massacre in the town of Vassy.
Matrimonial subtleties of the French court
Henry and St. Bartholomew's Night
Henry - King of Poland
Jan Firlei, the Krakow voivode, was one of the leaders of the Protestant movement in Poland. He came to the elections in Kamen with 200 soldiers and 27 guns to support his candidate, the Swedish king Johan. This caused serious opposition from the authorities, after which the marshal’s army retreated to Grokhov. After the elections, Firlei supported Henry, on the condition that he accept the Articles and Pacts. On the way to Krakow on February 16, 1574, Henry visited Firlei in Balice...
Jan interrupted the coronation, approached the king with three documents guaranteeing the rights and freedoms of Protestants, and demanded that Henry sign them. At the same time, he addressed the latter with the words: Jurabis, rex, promisisti(“Swear, king, you promised!”). Henry had no choice but to sign.
Henry and his court in Poland
The arrival of the French court in Poland became the number one event for the entire society. And, above all, for the Polish nobles. Paris, in fact, was already a trendsetter even then. So you can imagine what exactly the Polish ladies experienced when they saw their French “colleagues”. The sewing of new dresses and suits (along with the alteration of old ones) hastily began. Fortunately, Henry had several tailors in his retinue.
The king himself (he was 23 years old at the time) also made an indelible impression on the Poles with his intelligence, manners and speech. But the king’s appearance was absolutely not in harmony with the traditions of the country. His rings and earrings did not contribute to the respectful attitude of the gentry toward him. The king was not at all interested in the internal affairs of the country. And since he did not speak Polish, participation in various ceremonies and public life irritated him unbearably. He had fun at night and slept during the day. Playing cards, he often lost huge sums, which he reimbursed from the Polish treasury. In essence, Henry behaved like a capricious child, not understanding and not fulfilling royal duties...
The king's short stay in Wawel was truly a cultural shock for the Poles and contributed to the rapprochement of the two peoples. It was the first time both sides looked at each other so closely. Henry and his court were unpleasantly struck by the tendency of the common people to drink, the neglect of Polish villages, and the harsh climate. The nobles looked with undisguised contempt at the French nobles hung with jewelry and doused in perfume (including the king himself), their exquisite clothes, and secular manners. They considered all this “womanish.” However, many nobles adopted French fashion.
However, we must admit that the French were also struck by something in Poland. At Wawel Castle, Henry saw for the first time in his life the Polish sewer system - the most advanced at that time. From specially built engineering structures, all the uncleanliness of the castle went beyond the fortress wall. The king was indescribably delighted. And upon his arrival in France, he ordered the immediate construction of similar structures in the Louvre and other palaces.
Meanwhile, the dangerous prospect of the Protestant leader taking the throne was not at all included in the plans of the Guises. The League received financial and military assistance from Philip II, as well as moral assistance from Pope Sixtus V, who cursed Henry of Bourbon. In 1585, another war broke out, called the war of the three Henrys (the king, Bourbon and Guise). Henry of Navarre won landslide victories. He was supported by Queen Elizabeth of England and German Protestants. King Henry III tried with all his might to end the war, but it was very difficult to achieve this...
King's sexual identity
During the course of his reign, Henry III surrounded himself with young courtiers, known as minions, whose talents were sometimes dubious, and showered them with money and titles, which gave rise to rumors of his homosexuality during the king's lifetime. Among modern historians, there are two points of view on this matter.
Authors such as Jean-François Solnon, Nicolas Le Roux and Jacqueline Boucher believe that these rumors were spread by the king's opponents, both Protestants and ultra-Catholics, for whom Henry's panache and hedonism seemed vicious from a religious point of view, and homosexuality even more so served as a convenient the reason for propaganda directed against royal power among religious fanatics. An argument in favor of the falsity of the rumors is the king’s documented presence of love affairs with women, and the absence of similar documents in relation to men; however, such things in those days were not made public in any case.
On the other hand, Gary Ferguson, a professor at the University of Delaware (USA), finds these interpretations unconvincing. In his opinion, the rise of the minions and Henry's attitude towards them is difficult to logically interpret other than in a homosexual context.
Finally, Catherine Crawford writes about the king's psychological problems due to his inability to produce an heir, the overwhelming influence of his mother in his youth, and the persistence of the king's opponents, which led to a kind of fragile, decadent luxury at the court of the monarch in his mature years.
Polish historians believe that perhaps one of the reasons for the king’s flight from Poland was the extremely disapproving attitude of the conservative Polish society towards the bisexuality of the king, who entered into a relationship with a woman after having sex with two men “Queen Margot” (in the first series the role voiced by Vladimir Vikhrov). In Polish films dedicated to the king’s stay in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and his flight, the role of Henry was played by
In August 1572, after a decade of bloody civil wars, there was finally hope for peace in France. It was decided to seal it with the marriage of one of the leaders of the Protestant camp, King Henry of Bourbon of Navarre, to the sister of the French King Charles IX, Margaret of Valois (the famous “Queen Margot”).
Hundreds of Huguenot nobles arrived in Paris for the celebrations. This attempt at reconciliation ended in the bloody Night of St. Bartholomew. By order of the king and his mother Catherine de Medici, three thousand Huguenots were killed at dawn on August 24, St. Bartholomew's Day. The bloody battles spread to other French cities. Henry of Navarre saved his life by converting to Catholicism (as soon as the danger had passed, he again became a Protestant).
St. Bartholomew's Night did not turn out to be a fatal blow for the Huguenots. Civil wars continued with the same ferocity. His brother Henry III, who succeeded Charles IX, generally continued the policies of his predecessor. He either fought with the Huguenots or made peace with them in order to prevent the complete dominance of the organization created by Catholics, the Catholic League and its head, Duke Henry of Guise.
Henry III
Henry III knew very well that Henry of Guise was only waiting for an opportunity to seize the throne. Ultimately, the conflict between Henry III and the Catholic League became open. The king was forced to leave Paris, where the Catholic League was in charge. Henry once again made peace with the Huguenot leader Henry of Navarre. The "War of the Three Henrys" began. The royal army besieged the rebellious capital. Henry III demanded that the Duke of Guise come to him for an explanation, and when he considered it advantageous for himself to appear for negotiations, he ordered the royal bodyguards to stab him with daggers.
After the assassination of Guise, the war between Henry III and the Catholic League continued. The League was headed by Guise's younger brother, the Duke of Mayenne, and his sister, the Duchess of Montpensier, who decided to deal with the hated king, the last representative of the Valois dynasty, at any cost. His death would have opened the way for the Guises to the throne.
So, in the early spring of 1589, France, through which a wave of rebellions swept from Marseilles to Calais, found itself divided into three parts: one in the hands of the Protestants, the other in the hands of the League, and the third (consisting only of Tours, Blois and Beaujanei) on the side king...
And then Henry III realized that he needed to unite with one of his opponents if he wanted to keep the crown on his head.
Team up with the League? This was out of the question, because they demanded his immediate overthrow. And then he turned his attention to the Protestants, who, at least, had the delicacy to wait for his death in order to then elevate Henry of Navarre to the throne. And on May 3, both Henrys concluded a truce.
A month and a half later, having overcome many intrigues and traps, they besieged the capital. Their command post was established on the heights of Saint-Cloud, in the very comfortable house of Gondi, from where the whole of Paris opened.
Soon they were informed “that unrest began to arise in the city, because frightened residents were demanding that the gates be opened before they were all shot down”...
The Allies decided to wait until Paris surrendered. However, days passed without any news, because the League members refused to comply with the demands of the panicked people.
On July 27, Henry III, who was already beginning to get nervous, sent one nobleman from his retinue to Montpensier to tell her that he was well aware that it was she who supported the discontent of the Parisians and incited them to revolt, but that if he ever managed to enter the city, then he will order her to be burned alive. To which, without the slightest surprise, the answer was given: “It is sodomites like him who should burn, and not her at all, and besides, he can be sure that she will do everything possible to prevent him from entering the city.”
She soon did even more than she promised...
The Dominican monk, 22-year-old Jacques Clement, was chosen as the instrument for the implementation of the Guizov plan. He was a sharp, decisive and at the same time dull fellow, completely in the grip of the most absurd superstitions. The prior of the monastery on St. James Street convinced Clément that he was destined to perform a great feat for the good of the church. The monk was even told that he had the miraculous power of making himself invisible to prying eyes.
When the royal army approached Paris, Clément himself declared to his spiritual superiors that he was striving to accomplish a great deed. Cautiously, without asking about the essence of the matter, the prior tried to strengthen Brother Clément in his resolve. There were rumors that he was given some kind of drug to be “loyal.”
Montpensier knew about his existence because the monk quite often indulged in activities with women from the Ecole quarter that were very reprehensible for a monk and because all of Paris made fun of him.
She went to see him, wearing a low-cut dress that did not leave the slightest doubt about the charms that its owner possessed. The poor guy was simply blinded and incredibly horny. The aristocrat tried to convince Clément under no circumstances to abandon his laudable intention. All means of seduction were used, the promise of a cardinal's hat and eternal bliss in heaven. In addition, the duchess added, she would order a large number of supporters of Henry III to be arrested as hostages, so that no one at the royal headquarters would dare lay a finger on Jacques. The monk soon learned that the duchess had kept her word - 300 people were taken into custody, accused of indifference to the cause of the Catholic League and hidden sympathy for the king's party.
Clement hurried to the prior and asked permission to move to the monastery at Saint-Cloud, where the royal headquarters was located. The prior, without asking Clément anything, got him a pass to leave Paris and handed over several letters (one real, the rest forged) from supporters of Henry III arrested in Paris.
The conspirator went to the king under the guise of a secret messenger from the opponents of the League. The courtiers believed his story and the next day arranged for him an audience with Henry, to whom the envoy promised to reveal an important state secret. Clement handed the king a letter and then plunged a knife into his stomach.
“Damned monk, he killed me!” – Heinrich shouted in horror. Clement did not even try to escape, firmly hoping for a miracle. Soon, in response to the loud groans of the dying man, security officers came running and literally riddled the monk who was in love with Mlle de Montpensier with their swords... The next day, August 2, 1589, Henry III died...
The last Valois left the stage, bringing France to the brink of the abyss with his vices. He named Henry of Navarre as his rightful successor.
Civil wars continued for several more years, devastating the country. In the end, even the French nobility felt the need for peace, especially since the flames of peasant uprisings began to blaze in the country. Henry of Navarre once again changed his religion, uttering the immortal phrase: “Paris is worth mass.” The power of the new king Henry IV was quickly recognized throughout France.
(Based on materials from the website Zagov Perev 2008)
and at the same time the last Renaissance monarch of France, the fourth son of Henry II and Catherine de' Medici.
He was succeeded by his older brothers Francis II (1559-60) and Charles IX (1560-74) in 1574. In 1566-74. bore the title of Duke of Anjou. The Queen Mother's favorite son, raised from childhood as a future king, received a good education under the guidance of the humanist Jacques Amiot, becoming a refined intellectual.
From 1567 - commander of the royal troops during the Third War of Religion, became famous for the successful battles with the Huguenots at Jarnac and Moncontour (1569). He is considered one of the organizers of St. Bartholomew's Night in Paris on August 24, 1572, which earned him a reputation as a zealous Catholic.
Despite this, in the spring of 1573 he was elected king of Poland, where he arrived at the beginning of 1574, having signed the “Articles” that limited royal powers. Having learned about the death of Charles IX from his mother's dispatch, in June 1574 he fled from Poland to France, through Austria and Italy. At the beginning of 1575, immediately after the coronation, he unexpectedly married Louise of Lorraine, daughter of the Comte de Vaudemont, rejecting ideas of marriage with Elizabeth of England and the Swedish princess.
The king's reign came at the height of the Religious Wars in France, during which he pursued a generally peacemaking policy: in 1576-1577, thanks to the peace treaties in Beaulieu and Bergerac, he managed to stabilize the situation and maintain relative political calm until 1584. However, after his death Henry III's younger brother François of Anjou, the problem of inheriting the throne, which was supposed to go to the first prince of the blood, the Huguenot Henry de Bourbon, King of Navarre, became more acute, since the king's marriage was childless.
The re-established Catholic League led by the Dukes of Guise, in order to prevent the Huguenot from the throne, resumed the armed civil conflict - the “war of the three Henrys”, during which Henry III was forced to flee Paris in May 1588 during the uprising of the townspeople - the “Day of the Barricades” "
In December 1588, during a meeting of the States General in Blois, he ordered the murder of Henry de Guise, who openly claimed the French throne. With the support of the King of Navarre, he began the siege of Paris, but on August 1, 1589, he was mortally wounded at his military headquarters in Saint-Cloud by the monk Jacques Clement, sent by Guise. Before his death, he managed to proclaim Henry de Bourbon as his successor.
Known for his legislative initiatives - the “Code of Henry III” - a collection of royal ordinances and legal documents; as well as the regulation of the rules for the functioning of the royal court (especially in 1578 and 1585), with a clear structure and hierarchy of positions, ceremonial and etiquette. In 1579 he established the Order of the Holy Spirit.
The tragic circumstances of the monarch’s biography gave rise to calling him “Shakespeare’s king” (P. Chevalier).
Historical sources:
Lettres de Henri III/Éd. M. François et al. Paris, 1959-2012. T. I - VII;
Pierre de L'Estoile. Registre-Journal du règne de Henri III / Éd. M. Lazard et G. Schrenck. Geneve, 1992-2003. T. I - VI.
Illustration:
Clouet School. Duke of Anjou (future Henry III). OK. 1573
King since 1574, last representative of the Valois dynasty. He was elected to the Polish throne in 1573, but upon learning of the death of his brother, the French king Charles IX, he secretly fled Poland to take the French throne. Henry III reigned at the height of the Wars of Religion. He fought both with the Huguenots, led by Henry of Navarre, and with the Guises, leaders of the Catholic League, who claimed to inherit the throne due to the childlessness of Henry III.
Henry III always considered his birthday to be September 18, 1551, although in reality he was born 40 minutes after midnight, that is, September 19. At baptism he received the name Edward Alexander and the title of Duke of Anjou. His parents, King Henry II (1519-1559) and Catherine de Medici (1519-1589), were married in 1533; for the first eleven years they had no children. Henry had four older siblings: François (Francis II), the "little Dauphin", born in 1544, officially declared Dauphin (heir to the throne) in 1547, when his father took the throne; Elizabeth (1545 - 1568), later the wife of Philip II of Spain; Clotilde, (1547 - 1575), who married Charles III of Lorraine in 1559, and Charles Maximilian (1550-1574), to whom the early death of his first-born brother brought the crown, making him Charles IX. The fifth child, Louis, died in October 1550 at 20 months of age. Henry's younger brothers and sisters were Margaret, nicknamed Margot (1553-1615), who married the future Henry IV, King of France, a week before St. Bartholomew's Night, and Hercule (1555 - 1585), the only one of the four brothers who never became king . The long series of births in 1556 ended with twins - sisters Jeanne and Victoria were born, but died soon after.
The high infant mortality rate characteristic of that era did not spare the royal family; yet, thanks to better medical care and favorable living conditions, this did not have such catastrophic consequences for her as for the lower classes of the population. Of the six siblings who survived childhood, five died before Henry. Only Margarita survived him and reached the age of 62. She and Henry, the only ones of ten children, remained alive on the day of their mother’s death - January 5, 1589. All representatives of the last generation of Valois were weakly built and sickly; their terrible scourge was tuberculosis, against which the medicine of that time knew no remedy. During confirmation on March 18, 1565, Alexander-Edward received the name Henry in honor of his father. His younger brother Hercule (Hercules), whose “physical and intellectual deformities” (Holt) were completely inconsistent with his name, a year later received his grandfather’s name in the same way, Francois (Francis). From February 1566 he bore the title of Duke of Alençon; Henry is subsequently identified as the Duke of Anjou. At first, as the eldest of the brothers of the reigning king, he was called Monseigneur, then Monsieur - previously these were the official designations of the eldest of the brothers of the reigning king. In historical literature, both brothers - Henry and François - have been briefly called "Anjou" and "Alençon" since 1566. When Henry became king, the titles Monsieur (1574), Duke of Anjou (1576) passed to François, formerly Alençon. Alexander-Edward/Henry was a cheerful, friendly and intelligent child, and unlike his almost constantly ill brothers and sisters, he was physically well developed. In his youth, he read a lot and willingly talked about what he read, studied diligently and diligently, knew how to express his thoughts well, successfully studied Italian, danced and fenced well, and knew how to charm with his charm and elegance. At the coronation of his brother at Reims in February 1561, he made a much more favorable impression than Charles himself. Catherine loved Henry more than anyone. She called him “my everything” [top tout] and “my little eagle”, signed her letters to him “your dearly loving mother” and saw in him character traits that reminded her of her ancestors, the Medici. Henry was her favorite as a child, and later became her confidant. Relations between Charles, the king, and Henry, the heir to the throne, were somewhat strained - undoubtedly due to the intellectual superiority of the younger, moreover, preferred by his mother. Some hostility seems to have increased during the more than two years of travel that the royal court made throughout France. With this journey and the transfer to Henry on February 8, 1566, as an appanage of the duchies of Anjou, Bourbonnais and Main, which gave him financial independence, the first stage of his life ended.
Henry's childhood and youth came at a time when the French monarchy began to change its political priorities. The peace treaty concluded on April 3, 1559 in Cateau-Cambresis between France and Spain shows a shift in emphasis from foreign policy, which remained in the spotlight throughout the first half of the century, to the internal problems of France. This agreement ended the first stage of the French-Habsburg confrontation. The Duchy of Burgundy remained with France, while in Italy it retained only a few strongholds. The treaty, called the “Catholic Peace,” provided both rulers with the opportunity to more energetically tackle religious problems in their countries. This was especially true of Henry II, during whose reign the Huguenot movement, despite intensified persecution, gained strength. From about 1550, more and more representatives of the upper strata of society joined the ranks of supporters of Calvin's teachings: lawyers, doctors, merchants, nobles. This penetration of Protestantism into the top of the social hierarchy reached its apogee in 1558, when representatives of the highest nobility joined the Reformed Church: Antoine de Bourbon, King of Navarre, his brother, Prince of Condé, as well as the brothers François d'Andelot and Gaspard de Coligny. The crown of the empire-wide efforts to organize a new church was the first Synodal Council of the Huguenots, held on May 25, 1559 in Paris. From 1558/59 it was already obvious that the royal power would have to somehow regulate relations with this well-organized religious minority: “It was necessary to tolerate the coexistence of different faiths as a given and to look for ways and means to organize it correctly. This program could only be implemented over a fairly long period of time and required comprehensive consideration.” Catherine de' Medici took advantage of the opportunity provided by the change of reign in 1560 to take state affairs into her own hands and change political course. With amazing determination, she pursued a new policy regarding religious issues. In an atmosphere of hatred and intransigence, she again and again carefully tried to master the terra incognita of confessional tolerance - there was still no talk of true freedom of conscience. Catherine's attempts, a good century ahead of her era, brought this woman, who had been excluded from any participation in political life by her husband and his mistress Diane de Poitiers until 1559, to the first ranks of statesmen who had ever ruled France. Particularly noteworthy is the fact that she managed to convey her beliefs to her son Heinrich. Catherine’s most important initiative since the beginning of her policy of national reconciliation was the Edict of Tolerance of January 17, 1562, which failed through the efforts of Guise supporters. The result of this was the massacre in Vassy, which expanded the front of the struggle and unleashed the first civil war. A large trip around the country, undertaken, in particular, with the aim of overcoming religious confrontation, turned out to be ineffective in this regard. The growing tension, fanned by extremists on both sides, led to the second civil war in 1567/68, and to the third in 1569/70.
During these years, in fact, Henry’s political career began. Since his brother the king avoided exposing himself to military danger, Anjou was appointed lieutenant general of the kingdom on November 14, 1567 and, along with this title, received command of the royal troops. Naturally, experienced military leaders stood behind the 16-year-old commander; however, thanks to the talent, art and active work of Anjou, both victories over the Huguenot troops - at Yarnac (03/13/1569) and at Moncontour (10/3/1569) were attributed primarily to him. However, the young military hero, who was always actively interested in politics, unlike his reigning brother, went further: at the insistence of Catherine, Charles promoted him to the king's intendant general. Along with this (previously non-existent) title, he became in some way a viceroy, to whom they had to turn on all issues, perhaps in order to relieve Catherine. In addition to all this, Anjou remained the heir to the throne, albeit conditionally, since the right of inheritance inevitably passed to the legitimate son of the king. However, Henry was lucky here. In the marriage that Charles IX entered into on November 26, 1570 with Elizabeth of Austria (1554 - 1592), daughter of Emperor Maximilian II, only the only daughter was born, Maria Elizabeth (1573-1578), and the son born from the king’s relationship with Maria Touchet (1549 -1639), Charles de Valois, later Duke of Angoulême, naturally could not be considered the legal heir. So Henry, the king’s rival brother, remained his rival in the matter of the throne. When, after almost three years of marriage, the heir to the throne was not born, and the king’s health was rapidly deteriorating, Charles IX had to officially recognize Henry as his successor on August 22, 1573. The brilliant political career that seemed to open up for Anjou was to be crowned with marriage to Elizabeth of England. However, this project failed, not least because of Henry’s own negative attitude towards this union - after all, he would have had to leave France. In the end, the Council of State decided to replace Anjou's candidacy with Alençon, who was 22 years younger than the unfading Elizabeth. The failure of his marriage plans did not harm the popularity of the heir to the throne, nor did the fact that the very fashion-conscious and somewhat eccentric Henry began to wear rather large earrings with pendants - this was also done by his royal brother and many aristocrats at the then court. Yet men wearing earrings today are certainly perceived much better than in the 16th century, when it was regarded as a sign of feminine orientation and homosexuality.
After signing the Saint-Germain Peace Treaty of August 8, 1570, Catherine resumed her conciliatory confessional policy. An almost symbolic expression of this policy was the marriage of her daughter Margaret and Henry, the son of the zealous Calvinist Queen of Navarre, Jeanne d'Albret. The groom's father, Antoine de Bourbon, died in 1562. After the sudden death of Jeanne on June 9, 1572 in Paris, Henry became Henry III, King of Navarre, even before the wedding on August 18, 1572. The southern part of his possessions, however, was annexed by Spain already in 1512. In accordance with this title, until 1589 Henry was often called "Navarre". The marriage did not bring Henri rights to the French throne, but he, perhaps, already had them because of his family ties with the royal house, traced back to the 13th century. In the meantime, there was still hope that the king would have a legitimate heir; in addition, both heirs to the throne, Anjou and Alençon, were alive, and after their marriage, male offspring could also be born. Another wedding, which took place in that eventful August 1572, completely threw Anjou off balance. He fell in love with a “foreign” bride, Maria of Cleves (1550-1574): a 21-year-old “child from the provinces with a pure heart, fresh cheeks, a slender figure, a healthy body and a heartfelt smile.” She had enchanting beauty and made the heir to the throne forget all his previous hobbies. He decided to marry this girl who responded to his love. Catherine was horrified by the desire of her son, who rejected the Queen of England, while Mary did not belong to the highest nobility at all. In addition, Catherine has already assigned her a very definite role in her plans related to the policy of interfaith harmony. The girl, raised in the Calvinist faith, who had been under the king's tutelage since 1569, was to become the wife of the Huguenot prince de Condé. Catherine did not allow her project to be destroyed. Anjou was forced to bow to state necessity, and the wedding took place on August 10 - exactly two weeks before St. Bartholomew's Night.
Catherine’s conciliatory policy, renewed with the conclusion of the Peace of Saint-Germain, made it possible in 1571 for the return to the court - and even to the Royal Council - of Admiral Coligny, who was sentenced to death in 1569 by the “hanged in absentia” leader of the Huguenots. He tried to carry out his political plans - to provide military assistance to the Netherlands, which had been fighting Spain since 1566. To this end, he intended to organize a European Protestant alliance against Philip II. However, after the crushing defeat at Saint-Quentin (08/10/1557), nothing frightened Catherine as much as the war with Spain. Military experts unanimously supported her: France will inevitably lose this war. The defeat of the French reinforcements, to whose campaign Charles IX simply turned a blind eye, strengthened the unanimous decision of the Royal Council: to avoid war with Spain under any circumstances. However, Coligny did not give up on his plans and put forward in their defense, as a form of military-political blackmail, an alternative he himself invented, by no means inevitable: war with Spain or civil war. This step made him - here the opinions of all researchers agree - a state traitor, whose elimination was required by the interests of the state. Catherine and Anjou, without the knowledge of the king, prepared an assassination attempt on Coligny, which took place on August 22, 1572. In the light of new research, this situation looks completely different. In mid-August 1572, Coligny was in complete political isolation and did not represent any real military force. It is even possible that, while he was thinking about ruling the king, he was actually being used: by the fact that he persuaded him to send Protestant troops to the Netherlands, that is, to certain death. This alone made Coligny, although weak, a politically important figure in the political arena: “The French monarchy made Coligny too important a person to think about getting rid of him.” This thesis breaks the harmonious concept that has been built over centuries about the time and method of joint preparation for the murder of the admiral by Catherine and Anjou. Both did not need this death, and they did not even know about the assassination attempt. In one work, argued exclusively by sources of that era, the true culprits of the crime are brought to light: “The soul of the conspiracy was none other than Philip II”; strong suspicion is expressed regarding the Duke of Alba that he “from a distance directed the assassination attempt on the admiral with the active complicity of a handful of ultra-Catholic supporters of the Guises.” Burgeon also gives a completely new interpretation of the background to St. Bartholomew's Night - the events of the two days that passed after the assassination attempt on Coligny. Due to the poor state of the sources, it is easier to say what did not happen than to substantiate some positive statements. But the fact that neither Catherine nor Anjou had any influence on the bloody action planned by someone, which took place in the early morning of August 24, 1572, seems quite probable. St. Bartholomew's Night was by no means a demonstration of royal power; on the contrary, it was the result of a complete - albeit temporary - collapse of the king's power. Apparently, at some point during the night, Charles IX yielded to the ultimatum presented by the Spanish-Guise party and agreed to the murder of the Huguenot leaders - and only they were discussed.
The murder of the Huguenot general staff by Guise adherents was one thing, but the massacre that claimed the lives of hundreds of Protestants was quite another. This bloody action excited Paris, which received a convenient opportunity to express its protest against the religious, economic and foreign policies pursued from 1570-1571. St. Bartholomew's Night became a revolt against royal power. The royal family did not have to take part in the events of the following days: as if the king and the municipality did not exist, power in the city for three days was taken over by auxiliary troops recruited by one of the former burgomasters and friend of the Guises, Marcel. From their number, squads of murderers and bandits were formed, who, in order to enrich themselves, shamelessly robbed and killed predominantly - but by no means exclusively - the Huguenot population, thus trying, under the cover of religious struggle, to restore social justice at their own discretion. This point of view contradicts the thesis put forward by contemporaries of the events, and recently actively revived, that the city police in full force actively participated in the pogroms. To clarify how things really were, even more detailed research is needed. Protestants responded to St. Bartholomew's Night with a fourth civil war. Its culmination was the siege of La Rochelle. After Charles IX officially accepted responsibility for the events of St. Bartholomew's Night, the Huguenots abandoned the loyalty they had always maintained towards the king. La Rochelle seemed to feel like an independent republic and refused to even let Governor Biron, sent by the king, into the city.
02/11/1573 Anjou arrived at La Rochelle and took command of the army. After a fierce bombardment, the royal troops again unsuccessfully attempted to storm the fortress walls. Monsieur, slightly wounded on June 14, had long hoped for the effect of the blockade; but new assault attempts made in May and June also completely failed. Soon La Rochelle had to be abandoned: on June 19, Anjou received news that he had been elected king of Poland. Negotiations with the besieged quickly led to the conclusion of peace (07/2/1573), which guaranteed freedom of conscience throughout France, but legalized freedom of worship for the Huguenots only in the cities of La Rochelle, Montauban and Nîmes. It was an unsuccessful treaty, hastily drawn up and hastily concluded; his true goal was to free the Duke of Anjou from the siege of La Rochelle.
