Henry III of France

Henry III of France (1551-1589), king of France (1574-1589), the last of the Valois kings. Despite his considerable gifts, he failed to resolve the religious civil wars in his country and brought it close to bankruptcy.

Henry was born at Fontainebleau on September 19, 1551, the third son of Henry II and Catherine de Médicis. He was the leader against the Huguenots (French Protestants) and took part in the victories over them at Jarnac and at Moncontour in 1569. In 1572 he assisted his mother in planning the Massacre of St Bartholomew's Day. He was elected king of Poland in 1573, but after one year returned to France to ascend the throne on the death of his brother, Charles IX. The wars between the Roman Catholics and Protestants continued throughout Henry's reign.

In 1576 Henry issued the Edict of Beaulieu, which accorded more privileges to the Huguenots. Displeased with the edict, the Roman Catholics, under the leadership of Henri I de Lorraine, 3rd duc de Guise, then formed the Holy League and renewed the war with the Huguenots. The war ended in 1577 with the Peace of Bergerac, and the king dissolved the league after revoking some of the concessions made to Protestants. The league was revived in 1584, however, when the king's younger brother died, leaving Henry III of Navarre (a Huguenot, later Henry IV of France) legal heir to the throne of the childless king.

In 1585, when the king, forced by the league, excluded Henry of Navarre from the succession and repealed all the privileges granted to the Huguenots, Henry of Navarre began the so-called War of the Three Henrys against the league and the king. Defeated at Coutras in 1587, the king found his power rivalled by that of the duc de Guise. In 1588, on the Day of Barricades, the citizenry of Paris, led by the duc de Guise, revolted against the king, forcing him to flee the city. The king subsequently had Henri de Lorraine and his brother Louis de Lorraine assassinated and allied himself with Henry of Navarre, whom he declared his successor. The two Henrys then became joint leaders of a Huguenot army. While attempting to regain Paris on August 1, 1589, the king was stabbed by Jacques Clément, a fanatical Dominican friar, and died the next day.