Home > Henry III of France

Henri was born Edouard-Alexandre at the Royal Château of Fontainebleau, Seine-et-Marne, the son of King Henri II and Catherine de Medici. He was elected king of Poland in 1573 but shortly after, at the death of his brother Charles IXCharles IX ( June 27, 1550 May 30, 1574) was born Charles-Maximilien the son of King Henri II of France and Catherine de Medici. King Charles IX Born in the royal chateau at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, he was crowned King of France in 1561 in the cathedral at, he fled Poland and returned to FranceThe French Republic or France ( French: Republique francaise or France is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents.. He was crowned King of France in 1575Events August 5 Henry Sidney is appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. October 10 Battle of Dormans: Catholic forces under Duke Henry of Guise defeat the Protestants, capturing Philippe de Mornay among others. The Fifth War of Religion erupts in France. in the CathedralNotre-Dame de Reims is the Reims Cathedral, where the kings of France used to be crowned. It replaced an older church (burned in 1211) built on the site of the basilica where Clovis was baptized by Saint Remi, bishop of Reims, in A. The cathedral was comp at ReimsReims (English traditionally Rheims is a city of north-eastern France, 98 miles east-northeast of Paris. Its history can be traced back to the Roman Empire. Population (1999): 187,206. Administration Reims is a sous-prefecture of the Marne departement in.

Prior to ascending to the throne, he was a leader of the royal army in the French Wars of ReligionThe French Wars of Religion were a series of conflicts fought between the Catholic League and the Huguenots from the middle of the sixteenth century to the Edict of Nantes in 1598. In 1560, Catherine de Medici became regent for her young son Charles IX. against the Protestants. While still Duke, he aided his mother in the St. Bartholomew's Day MassacreBartholomew's Day Massacre was a wave of Catholic mob violence against the Huguenots (French Protestants) starting on August 24, 1572, and lasting for several months. It marked a turning-point in the French Wars of Religion by stiffening Huguenot intransi in which thousands of Huguenots were killed; his reign as king would see France in constant turmoil over religion.

In 1576, King Henri III signed the Edict of Beaulieu granting minor concessions to the Protestants. His action resulted in the Catholic extremist Henry I, Duke of Guise forming the Catholic League. After much posturing and negotiations King Henri III was forced to rescind most of the concessions made to the Protestants in the Edict of Beaulieu.

In 1584 the King's youngest brother and heir presumptive, François, Duke of Anjou, died. Under the Salic Law, the next heir to the throne was Protestant Henri of Navarre, a descendant of St. Louis IX. Under pressure from the Duke of Guise, Henri III issued an edict suppressing Protestantism and annulling Henri of Navarre's right to the throne.

On May 12 1588 Henry III fled Paris after the Duke of Guise entered the city.

On December 23 1588, in the Château de Blois, the Duke of Guise arrived in the council chamber where his brother the Cardinal waited. He was told that the King wished to see him in the private room adjoining the King's bedroom. There, guardsmen murdered him, and then the Cardinal. In order to make sure that no contender for the French throne was free to act against him, the King had the Duke's son imprisoned. Though deceitful and cruel, the Duke of Guise was highly popular in France and the citizenry turned against the king for the murders. The French Parliament instituted criminal charges against the King, and he fled Paris to join forces with Henry of Navarre.

Henry III in a painting by Jan Matejko

On August 1, 1589, Henri III, lodged with his army in Saint-Cloud, Hauts-de-Seine, prepared to attack Paris when a young fanatical monk named 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 he had a secret message to deliver. The King signaled for his attendants to step back for privacy and Clément whispered in his ear while plunging a knife in his stomach. At first the wound did not appear fatal but the King commanded all his officers around him that in the event he did not survive, they were to be loyal to Henri of Navarre as their new King. The following morning, King Henri III of France died, the day he was to have launched the assault to retake Paris.

Although he had been married on February 13 1575 to Louise de Lorraine-Vaudémont , and expected to produce an heir, the transvestite King Henri III was not highly respected by the citizens or the nobility as he paraded around dressed in women's clothes, accompanied by a number of youthful male attendants referred to as his mignons (darlings).

Henri III was interred in the Saint Denis Basilica. Childless, he was the last of the Valois kings.

Henri of Navarre succeeded him as Henri IV, the first of the Bourbon kings.