biography
| name: |
Henry IV (of France),
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originally Henry of Navarre
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1553–1610)
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| biography:
| The first Bourbon king of France (1589–1610), born in Pau, SW France, the third son of Antoine de Bourbon. Brought up a Calvinist, he led the Huguenot army at the Battle of Jarnac (1569), and became leader of the Protestant Party. He married Marguerite de Valois in 1572. After the massacre of St Bartholomew (1572), he was spared by professing himself a Catholic, and spent three years virtually a prisoner at the French court. In 1576 he escaped, revoked his conversion, and resumed command of the army in continuing opposition to the Guises and the Catholic League. After the murder of Henry III, he succeeded to the throne. In 1593 he became a Catholic again, thereby unifying the country, and by the Edict of Nantes Protestants were granted liberty of conscience. His economic policies, implemented by his minister, Sully, gradually brought new wealth to the country. He was assassinated in Paris by a religious fanatic. |
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