Henry IV of France
| Henry IV | |
|---|---|
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| King of France | |
| Reign | 2 August 1589 – 14 May 1610 |
| Coronation | 27 February 1594 |
| Predecessor | Henry III |
| Successor | Louis XIII |
| King of Navarre | |
| Reign | 9 June 1572 – 14 May 1610 |
| Predecessor | Jeanne III |
| Successor | Louis II |
| Born |
13 December 1553 Pau, Navarre |
| Died | 14 May 1610 (aged 56) Paris, France |
| Burial | Basilica of St Denis, Paris, France |
| Spouse |
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| Issue | |
| House | Bourbon |
| Father | Antoine of Navarre |
| Mother | Jeanne III of Navarre |
| Religion | See details |
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Royal styles of King Henry IV Par la grâce de Dieu, Roi de France et de Navarre |
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|---|---|
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| Reference style | His Most Christian Majesty |
| Spoken style | Your Most Christian Majesty |
| Alternative style | Sire |
Henry IV (French: Henri IV, read as Henri-Quatre pronounced: [ɑ̃ʁi.katʁ]; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithet "Good King Henry", was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 to 1610 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first French monarch of the House of Bourbon, a branch of the Capetian dynasty.
Baptised as a Catholic but raised in the Protestant faith by his mother Jeanne d'Albret, Queen of Navarre, he inherited the throne of Navarre in 1572 on the death of his mother. As a Huguenot, Henry was involved in the French Wars of Religion, barely escaping assassination in the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre, and later led Protestant forces against the royal army.
Henry, as Head of the House of Bourbon, was a direct male-line descendant of Louis IX of France, and "first prince of the blood". Upon the death of his brother-in-law and distant cousin Henry III of France in 1589, Henry was called to the French succession by the Salic law. He initially kept the Protestant faith and had to fight against the Catholic League, which denied that he could wear France's crown as a Protestant. To obtain mastery over his kingdom, after four years of stalemate, he found it prudent to abjure the Calvinist faith. As a pragmatic politician (in the parlance of the time, a politique), he displayed an unusual religious tolerance for the era. Notably, he promulgated the Edict of Nantes (1598), which guaranteed religious liberties to Protestants, thereby effectively ending the Wars of Religion. He was assassinated in 1610 by François Ravaillac, a fanatical Catholic, and was succeeded by his son Louis XIII.
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