User:Kansas Bear/Henry III of France

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Henry III
Valois-Angoulême
FatherHenry II of France
MotherCatherine de' Medici
ReligionRoman Catholicism
SignatureHenry III's signature

Henry III (19 September 1551 – 2 August 1589; born Alexandre Édouard de France, Polish: Henryk Walezy, Lithuanian: Henrikas Valua) was King of France from 1574 until his death and King of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1573 to 1575.

As the fourth son of King

Grand Duke in 1573. During his brief rule, he signed the Henrician Articles into law, recognizing the Polish nobility's right to freely elect their monarch. Aged 22, Henry abandoned Poland upon inheriting the French throne when his brother, Charles IX
, died without issue.

France was, at this time, plagued by the Wars of Religion, and Henry's authority was undermined by violent political parties funded by foreign powers: the Catholic League (supported by Spain and the Pope), the Protestant Huguenots (supported by England and the Dutch) and the Malcontents, led by Henry's own brother, the Duke of Alençon, which was a party of Catholic and Protestant aristocrats who jointly opposed the absolutist ambitions of the king. Henry III was himself a politique, arguing that a strong and religiously tolerant monarchy would save France from collapse.

After the death of Henry's younger brother

Henry III of Navarre, a Protestant. The Catholic League, led by Henry I, Duke of Guise, sought to exclude Protestants from the succession and championed the Catholic Charles, Cardinal of Bourbon
, as Henry III's heir.

In 1589, Jacques Clément, a Catholic fanatic, murdered Henry III. He was succeeded by the King of Navarre who, as Henry IV, assumed the throne of France after converting to Catholicism, as the first French king of the House of Bourbon.

Early life

Childhood

Henry was born at the royal

Duke of Anjou in 1566.[2]

He was his mother's favourite; she called him chers yeux ("precious eyes") and lavished fondness and affection upon him for most of his life.[3] His elder brother, Charles, grew to detest him, partially because he resented his better health.[citation needed]

The royal children were raised under the supervision of Diane de Poitiers.[4]

Youth

In his youth, Henry was considered the best of the sons of Catherine de' Medici and Henry II. Unlike his father and elder brothers, he had little interest in the traditional Valois pastimes of hunting and physical exercise. Although he was both fond of fencing and skilled in it, he preferred to indulge his tastes for the arts and reading. These predilections were attributed to his Italian mother.

At one point in his youth he showed a tendency towards Protestantism as a means of rebelling. At the age of nine, calling himself "the little Huguenot" to the Spanish ambassador's wife, and attended mass only to placate his mother.

psalms, and destroyed her rosaries.[6] His mother firmly reprimanded him against such behaviour, and instead, he became stauchly Roman Catholic.[6]

Sexuality

Henry III by Étienne Dumonstier, c.1578

Reports that Henry engaged in same-sex relations with his court favourites, known as the mignons, date back to his own time. Certainly he enjoyed intense relationships with them.[7] The scholar Louis Crompton maintains that all of the contemporary rumors were true.[8] Some modern historians dispute this. Jean-Francois Solnon,[9] Nicolas Le Roux,[10] and Jacqueline Boucher have noted that Henry had many famous mistresses, that he was well known for his taste in beautiful women, and that no male sex partners have been identified.[11] They have concluded that the idea he was homosexual was promoted by his political opponents (both Protestant and Catholic) who used his dislike of war and hunting to depict him as effeminate and undermine his reputation with the French people. Certainly his religious enemies plumbed the depths of personal abuse in attributing vices to him, topping the mixture with accusations of what they regarded as the ultimate devilish vice, homosexuality. And the portrait of a self-indulgent sodomite, incapable of fathering an heir to the throne, proved useful in efforts by the Catholic League to secure the succession for Cardinal Charles de Bourbon after 1585.[7]

Gary Ferguson found their interpretations unconvincing: "It is difficult to reconcile the king whose use of favourites is so logically strategic with the man who goes to pieces when one of them dies."[12] Katherine Crawford, by contrast, emphasizes the problems Henry's reputation encountered because of his failure to produce an heir and the presence of his powerful mother at court, combined with his enemies' insistence on conflating patronage with favouritism and luxury with decadence.[13]

Elizabeth

In 1570, discussions commenced arranging for Henry to court Queen

varicose vein
, he called her an "old creature with a sore leg".

Wars of Religion

The Siege of La Rochelle by the Duke of Anjou in 1573 ("History of Henry III" tapestry, completed in 1623)

Prior to ascending the French throne in 1574, Henry served as a leader of the royal army in the

St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre of 1572.[17] Though Henry did not participate directly, historian Thierry Wanegffelen
sees him as the royal most responsible for the massacre, which involved the targeted killing of many key Huguenot leaders. Henry III's reign as King of France, like those of his elder brothers Francis and Charles, would see France in constant turmoil over religion.

Henry continued to take an active role in the Wars of Religion, and in 1572/1573 led the siege of La Rochelle, a massive military assault on the Huguenot-held city.[18] At the end of May 1573, Henry learned that the Polish szlachta had elected him King of Poland (a country with a large Protestant minority at the time) and political considerations forced him to negotiate an end to the assault. Negotiators reached an agreement on 24 June 1573, and Catholic troops ended the siege on 6 July 1573.

King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (1573–1575)

Polish likeness of Henry III, by Aleksander Lesser

Following the death of the Polish ruler Sigismund II Augustus on 7 July 1572, Jean de Monluc was sent as the French envoy to Poland to negotiate the election of Henry to Polish throne in exchange for military support against Russia, diplomatic assistance in dealing with the Ottoman Empire, and financial subsidies.[19]

On 16 May 1573, Polish nobles chose Henry as the first elected monarch of the

Polish-Ottoman alliance that was in effect.[21]

halberdiers
, 1574

A Polish delegation went to La Rochelle to meet with Henry, who was leading the Siege of La Rochelle. Henry left the siege following their visit.

Polish-Lithuanian parliament had been urged by Anna Jagiellon
, the sister of the recently deceased king Sigismund II Augustus, to elect him based on the understanding that Henry would wed Anna afterward.

At a ceremony before the

pacta conventa.[23]

Escape of Henry III from Poland, by Artur Grottger, 1860

It was not until January 1574 that Henry was to reach the borders of Poland. On 21 February, Henry's coronation was held in Kraków.[24] In mid-June 1574, upon learning of the death of his brother Charles IX, Henry left Poland and headed back to France.[24] Henry's absence "provoked a constitutional crisis" that the Parliament attempted to resolve by notifying Henry that his throne would be lost if he did not return from France by 12 May 1575.[24] His failure to return caused Parliament to declare his throne vacant.[24]

The short reign of Henry at Wawel Castle in Poland was marked by a clash of cultures between the Polish and the French. The young king and his followers were astonished by several Polish practices and disappointed by the rural poverty and harsh climate of the country. The Polish, on the other hand, wondered if all Frenchmen were as concerned with their appearance as their new king appeared to be.

Engraving of Henry III

In many aspects, Polish culture had a positive influence on France. At Wawel, the French were introduced to new technologies of septic facilities, in which litter (excrement) was taken outside the castle walls. On returning to France, Henry wanted to order the construction of such facilities at the Louvre and other palaces. Other inventions introduced to the French by the Polish included a bath with regulated hot and cold water,[citation needed] as well as dining forks.[citation needed][a]

In 1578, Henry created the

chivalric order
of France until the end of the French monarchy.

French reign (1575–1589)

Henry was crowned king of France on 13 February 1575 at

Reims Cathedral.[26] He married Louise of Lorraine on 14 February 1575,[27]
no issue resulted from their union.

In 5 May 1576, Henry signed the Edict of Beaulieu, which granted many concessions to the Huguenots.[28] His action resulted in the creation of the Catholic League. After much posturing and negotiations, Henry was forced to rescind most of the concessions that had been made to the Protestants in the edict.

Coin of Henry III, 1577

In 1584, the King's youngest brother and

Salic Law, the next heir to the throne was Protestant Henry of Navarre, a descendant of Louis IX
(Saint Louis). Under pressure from the Duke of Guise, Henry III issued an edict suppressing Protestantism and annulling Henry of Navarre's right to the throne.

On 12 May 1588, when the Duke of Guise entered Paris, an apparently spontaneous Day of the Barricades erupted in favor of the Catholic champion. Henry III fled the city.

Following the defeat of the Spanish Armada that summer, the king's fear of Spanish support for the Catholic League apparently waned. Accordingly, on 23 December 1588, at the

Louis II, Cardinal of Guise, already waited. The duke was told that the king wished to see him in the private room adjoining the royal bedroom. There, royal guardsmen murdered the duke, then the cardinal. To make certain that no contender for the French throne was free to act against him, the king had the duke's son
imprisoned.

The Duke of Guise had been very popular in France, and the citizenry turned against Henry for the murders. The Parlement instituted criminal charges against the king, and he was compelled to join forces with his heir, the Protestant Henry of Navarre, by setting up the

Parliament of Tours
.

Overseas relations

Under Henry, France named the first Consul of France in Morocco in the person of Guillaume Bérard. The request came from the Moroccan prince Abd al-Malik, who had been saved by Bérard, a doctor by profession, during an epidemic in Constantinople and wished to retain Bérard in his service.[29]

Henry III encouraged the exploration and development of New World territories. In 1588, he granted Jacques Noël, the nephew of Jacques Cartier, privileges over fishing, fur trading, and mining in New France.

Assassination and burial

Further information: Jacques Clément
Jacques Clément assassinating Henry III

On 1 August 1589, Henry III lodged with his army at

friar, Jacques Clément
, carrying false papers, was granted access to deliver important documents to the king. The monk gave the king a bundle of papers and stated that he had a secret message to deliver. The king signalled for his attendants to step back for privacy, and Clément whispered in his ear while plunging a knife into his abdomen. Clément was then killed on the spot by the guards.

At first, the king's wound did not appear fatal, but he enjoined all the officers around him, in the event that he did not survive, to be loyal to Henry of Navarre as their new king. The following morning, on the day that he was to have launched his assault to retake Paris, Henry III died.

Chaos swept the attacking army, most of it quickly melting away; the proposed attack on Paris was postponed. Inside the city, joy at the news of Henry III's death was near delirium; some hailed the assassination as an act of God.

Henry III was interred at the

Saint Denis Basilica. Childless, he was the longest-living of Henry II's sons to have become king and also the last of the Valois kings. Henry III of Navarre succeeded him as Henry IV, the first of the kings of the House of Bourbon
.

Arms

  • Henry's coat of arms, showing his dual status as King of France and lifelong King of Poland
    Henry's
    King of Poland

See also

Notes

  1. ^ because Willy (2007) does not mention Poland. Henri III (1551–1589) [...] he is widely credited for having introduced the fork into France.[25]

References

  1. ^ a b Knecht 2016, p. 4.
  2. ^ Holt 1986, p. 12.
  3. ^ Mariéjol 1920, p. 204.
  4. ^ Wellman 2013, p. 209.
  5. ^ Knecht 2016, p. 10.
  6. ^ a b Knecht 2016, p. 11.
  7. ^ a b MacCulloch 2004, p. ??.
  8. ^ Crompton 2003, p. 328-330.
  9. ^ Solnon 1987, p. ??.
  10. ^ Le Roux 2006, p. ??.
  11. ^ Boucher 1986, p. ?.
  12. ^ Ferguson 2008, p. 183.
  13. ^ Crawford 2003, p. 513-542.
  14. ^ Knecht 2016, p. 42.
  15. ^ Knecht 1989, p. 41.
  16. ^ Knecht 1998, p. 130.
  17. ^ Holt 1986, p. 20.
  18. ^ Knecht 1989, p. 54.
  19. ^ Manetsch 2000, p. 80.
  20. ^ Stone 2001, p. 118.
  21. ^ Davies 2007, p. 25-26.
  22. ^ Greengrass 2007, p. 17.
  23. ^ a b c Stone 2001, p. 119.
  24. ^ a b c d Stone 2001, p. 120-121.
  25. ^ Willy 2007, p. 110.
  26. ^ Knecht 2007, p. 211.
  27. ^ Knecht 2007, p. 211-212.
  28. ^ Knecht 1989, p. 64.
  29. ^ Garcés 2002, p. 277 note 39.

Sources

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