French Wars of Religion
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The French Wars of Religion were a series of civil wars between French Catholics and Protestants from 1562 to 1598. Between two and four million people died from violence, famine or disease directly c
The St. Bartholomew's Day massacre (1572) by François Dubois
John Calvin, whose ideas became central to French Protestantism
After an initial period of tolerance, Francis I repressed Reformist ideas
Massacre of Mérindol, as imagined by Gustave Doré (1832–1883)
Henry IV of France
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Henry IV, also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarch of France from the House of Bourbo
French Wars of Religion
…of the French monarchy. The fighting ended with a compromise in 1598, when Henry of Navarre, who converted to Catholicism in 1593, was proclaimed King Henry IV of France and issued the Edict of Nantes, which granted substantial rights and freedoms to the Huguenots. However, Catholics continued to disapprove of Protestants…
Portrait by Frans Pourbus, 1610
Presumed portrait of Henry as a child
Portrait by Pierre Dumonstier, 1568
King Henry IV in his coronation robes, by Frans Pourbus the Younger