War of the Three Henrys
| War of the Three Henrys | ||||||||
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| Part of French Wars of Religion | ||||||||
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| Belligerents | ||||||||
Protestants: Huguenots England
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 Politiques
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Catholics: Catholic League Spain Duchy of Savoy
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| Commanders and leaders | ||||||||
 Henry of Navarre
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 Henry III of France † Anne, Duke of Joyeuse†.svg){kind=small} Jean, Duke of Épernon
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 Henry I, Duke of Guise † Charles, Duke of Mayenne
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The War of the Three Henrys (1587–1589) was the eighth and final conflict in the series of civil wars in France known as the Wars of Religion. It was a three-way war fought between:
The war was instigated by Philip of Spain to keep his enemy, France, from interfering with the Spanish army in the Netherlands and his planned invasion of England.
The war began when the Catholic League convinced King Henry III to issue an edict outlawing Protestantism and annulling Henry of Navarre's right to the throne; Henry III was possibly influenced by the royal favorite, Anne de Joyeuse.
For the first part of the war, the royalists and the Catholic League were uneasy allies against their common enemy, the Huguenots. Henry sent Joyeuse into the field against Navarre, while he himself intended to meet the approaching German and Swiss armies. At the Battle of Coutras, Navarre defeated the royal army led by Joyeuse; the duke himself was slain at the battle. It was the first victory won by the Huguenots in the battlefield. For his part, Henry III successfully prevented the junction of the German and Swiss armies. The Swiss were his allies, and had come to invade France to free him from subjection; but Henry III insisted that their invasion was not in his favor, but against him, forcing them to return home. The Germans, led by Fabien I, Burgrave of Dohna, wanted to fight against the Duke of Guise, in order to win a victory like Coutras. He recruited some of the retreating Swiss, who had no scruple fighting against Guise. But at the Battle of Vimory, Guise took the Germans by surprise, and routed them.
In Paris, the glory of repelling the German and Swiss Protestants all fell to the Duke of Guise. The king's actions were viewed with contempt. They thought that the king had invited the Swiss to invade, paid them for coming, and sent them back again. The king, who had really performed the decisive part in the campaign, and expected to be honored for it, was astounded that public voice should thus declare against him. The Catholic League had put its preachers to good use. In the meantime, the governments of Normandy and Picardy were vacated by the deaths of Joyeuse and Condé. Guise demanded Normandy for himself, and Picardy for his kinsman Aumale. The king denied both requests. The Catholic League was mobilized to resist the royal appointees in these provinces. Guise was forbidden from entering the capital. Guise ignored the prohibition and entered Paris. In the normal course of affairs this would have cost him his life, but the duke was popular with the masses. Further, after the Day of the Barricades, an uprising planned in part by the Spanish diplomat Bernardino de Mendoza, the king decided to flee to Blois.
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