As the fourth son of KingHenry II of France, he was not expected to inherit theFrench throne and thus was a good candidate for the vacant throne of thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, where he was electedmonarch in 1573. During his brief rule, he signed theHenrician Articles into law, recognizing theszlachta's right tofreely elect their monarch. Aged 22, Henry abandoned Poland–Lithuania upon inheriting the French throne when his brother,Charles IX, died without issue.
Henry had the Duke of Guise murdered in 1588 and was in turn assassinated byJacques Clément, a Catholic League fanatic, in 1589. He was succeeded by the King of Navarre who, asHenry IV, assumed the throne of France as the first king of theHouse of Bourbon and eventually converted to Catholicism.
He was his mother's favourite; she called himchers yeux ("precious eyes") and lavished fondness and affection upon him for most of his life.[1] 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 ofDiane de Poitiers, his father's mistress.[2]
Although he was skilled and fond of fencing, he preferred to indulge his tastes for the arts and reading. These predilections were attributed to his Italian mother. Henry's favourite interests were hunting and riding.[3]
At one point in his youth Henry showed a tendency towards Protestantism as a means of rebelling. At the age of nine, he called himself "a little Huguenot",[4] attendedMass only to please his mother,[5] sang Protestantpsalms to his sisterMargaret (exhorting her all the while to change her religion and cast herBook of Hours into the fire),[6] and even bit the nose off a statue ofSaint Paul. His mother firmly cautioned him against such behaviour, and he would never again show any Protestant tendencies. Instead, he became staunchly Catholic.[6]
In the factional dispute that engulfed France in the wake of Henry II's death in 1559, Henry was solicited by Henry, son ofFrancis, Duke of Guise, at the behest ofJacques, Duke of Nemours, to run away from court to be a figurehead for the ultra-Catholics.[7] However, the plot was uncovered before any action could be taken.[7]
Henry was known as aflaneur, who relished leisurely strolls through Paris and partook in the sociability in the busiest of neighbourhoods. He revelled in fairs, music,bilboquet andcourt masques. His extravagance in court entertainments cut him off from the common people. He was also a devout Catholic who introduced pious reforms into the city and he encouraged the French church to follow the edicts of theCouncil of Trent.[8]
Reports that Henry engaged insame-sex relations with his court favourites, known as themignons, date back to his own time. He was known to have enjoyed intense relationships with them.[9] The scholar Louis Crompton maintains that all of the contemporary rumours about Henry were true.[10] However, some modern historians have disputed this: Jean-Francois Solnon,[11] Nicolas Le Roux,[12] and Jacqueline Boucher[13] 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. They concluded that the idea he washomosexual was promoted by his political opponents (both Protestant and Catholic) who used his dislike of war to depict him as effeminate and undermine his reputation with the French people.[14][better source needed] The portrait of a self-indulgent homosexual incapable of fathering an heir to the throne proved useful in efforts by the Catholic League to secure the succession forCardinal Charles de Bourbon after 1585.[9]Robert Knecht maintained that themignons themselves were "not homosexuals"[15] either, "as is often assumed. Far from being effeminate, they were skilful swordsmen, who risked their lives in duels."[15]
However,French Renaissance scholarGary Ferguson considers such interpretations to be 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."[16] 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.[17]
In 1570, discussions commenced arranging for Henry to court QueenElizabeth I of England.[18] Elizabeth, almost 37, was expected by many parties in her country to marry and produce an heir. However, nothing came of these discussions. In initiating them, Elizabeth is viewed by historians as having intended only to arouse the concern of Spain, rather than contemplate marriage seriously. Henry's mother felt the chance of marriage despite differing religious views (Henry was Catholic, Elizabeth Protestant) simply required personal sacrifice.[19] Henry tactlessly referred to Elizabeth as aputain publique ("publicwhore") and made ridiculous remarks about their difference in age (he was 18 years younger at a time when such large age differences between spouses were not at all uncommon).[19]
TheSiege of La Rochelle by the Duke of Anjou in 1573 ("History of Henry III" tapestry, completed in 1623)
In November 1567, upon the death ofAnne de Montmorency, Henry assumed the role ofLieutenant-General of France, placing him in nominal control of France's military.[20][21] Henry served as a leader of the royal army, taking part in the victories over theHuguenots at theBattle of Jarnac (March 1569)[22] and at theBattle of Moncontour (October 1569).[23] At this time he was a rallying point for the ultra-Catholics at court, who saw him as an opposition figure to the tolerant line being taken by the King, withCharles, Cardinal of Lorraine guiding his council.[20] Lorraine offered him 200,000 Francs of Church revenue to become a protector of Catholicism, and tried to arrange his marriage toMary, Queen of Scots; however neither project took off.[24]
While still Duke of Anjou, he helped plot theSt. Bartholomew's Day Massacre of 1572. Though Henry did not participate directly, historianThierry Wanegffelen sees him as the royal most responsible for the massacre, which involved the targeted killing of many 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 thesiege of La Rochelle, a massive military assault on the Huguenot-held city.[25] At the end of May 1573, Henry learned that thePolishszlachta 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 siege. 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 (1574–1575)
Following the death of the Polish rulerSigismund II Augustus on 7 July 1572,Jean de Monluc was sent as the French envoy to Poland to negotiate the election of Henry to the Polish throne in exchange for military support against Russia, diplomatic assistance in dealing with theOttoman Empire, and financial subsidies.[26]Charles IX allowed Henry's envoys to give up to 50,000écus to important people in Poland-Lithuania as a bribe, but this would increase to 100,000 each.[27]
On 16 May 1573, Polish nobles chose Henry as the first elected monarch of thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Lithuanian nobles boycotted this election, however, and it was left to the Lithuanian ducal council to confirm his election.[28] The commonwealth elected Henry, rather thanHabsburg candidates, partly in order to be more agreeable to theOttoman Empire (a traditional ally of France through theFranco-Ottoman alliance) and strengthen aPolish-Ottoman alliance that was in effect.[29] In addition to this, Henry was not a powerful ruler in his own right, as he was only a Prince, nor did France border the Commonwealth, so he wouldn't have the capacity to strip the Polish Nobility of theirhistoric rights.[27]
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.[30] In Paris, on 10 September, the Polish delegation asked Henry to take an oath, atNotre Dame Cathedral, to "respect traditional Polish liberties and the law on religious freedom that had been passed during theinterregnum".[31] As a condition of his election, he was compelled to sign thepacta conventa and theHenrician Articles, pledgingreligious tolerance in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.[32] Henry chafed at the restrictions on monarchic power under the Polish-Lithuanianpolitical system of "Golden Liberty".[32] ThePolish-Lithuanian parliament had been urged byAnna Jagiellon, the sister of the recently deceased king Sigismund II Augustus, to elect him based on the understanding that Henry would wed Anna afterward.[33]
At a ceremony before theParlement of Paris on 13 September, the Polish delegation handed over the "certificate of election to the throne of Poland-Lithuania".[31] Henry also gave up any claims to succession and he "recognized the principle of free election" under the Henrician Articles and thepacta conventa.[31]
Escape of Henry III from Poland, byArtur Grottger, 1860Engraving of Henry III
It was not until January 1574 that Henry was to reach the borders of Poland. On 21 February, Henry's coronation was held inKraków.[34] In mid-June 1574, upon learning of the death of his brother Charles IX, Henry left Poland and headed back to France.[34] 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.[34] His failure to return caused Parliament to declare his throne vacant.[34]
The short reign of Henry atWawel 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.[32] The Poles, on the other hand, wondered if all Frenchmen were as concerned with their appearance as their new king appeared to be.[32]
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.[35] On returning to France, Henry wanted to order the construction of such facilities at theLouvre and other palaces.[35] Other inventions introduced to the French by the Polish included a bath with regulated hot and cold water as well as dining forks.
In 1578, Henry created theOrder of the Holy Spirit to commemorate his becoming first King of Poland and later King of France on the Feast ofPentecost and gave it precedence over the earlierOrder of St. Michael, which had lost much of its original prestige by being awarded too frequently and too readily. The Order would retain its prestige as the premierchivalric order of France until the end of the French monarchy.
Henry was crowned king of France on 13 February 1575 atReims Cathedral. Although he was expected to produce an heir after he married the 21-year-oldLouise of Lorraine[36] on 14 February 1575,[37] no issue resulted from their union.
In 1574, Henry renewed letters that gave PortugueseNew Christians the right of settling in France.[38]
In 1576, Henry signed theEdict of Beaulieu, which granted many concessions to the Huguenots. His action resulted inHenry I, Duke of Guise, forming theCatholic 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
After 1582, Henry became convinced of the need for fiscal reform to break the cycle of expedients upon which he had relied.[39] To this end he summoned anAssembly of Notables which met from November 1583 to February 1584.[40] While he failed to convince them of his most radical tax plans, the notables forwarded a series of proposals to him which would be embodied in his legislation during 1584.[41][42] As a result of these policies the royal budget was almost balanced in 1585, before it was subject to political shock.[43]
In 1584, the king's youngest brother andheir presumptive,Francis, Duke of Anjou, died. UnderSalic Law, the next heir to the throne was ProtestantHenry of Navarre, a descendant ofLouis IX (Saint Louis). The possibility of a Protestant on the throne led to theWar of the Three Henrys. Under pressure from the duke of Guise, Henry III issued an edict suppressing Protestantism and annulling Henry of Navarre's right to the throne.
Henry III, stung by the open disobedience of Guise, attempted a coup in May 1588 and sent royal Swiss troops into several neighbourhoods. This had the unintended effect of rallying the people against him and in favor of the more popular Guise during theDay of the Barricades. Henry III fled the city; he later sought support from the Parlement of Paris and propped up an anti-League establishment throughout France.[44]
Following the defeat of theSpanish Armada that summer, the king's fear of Spanish support for the Catholic League apparently waned. Accordingly, on 23 December 1588, at theChâteau of Blois, he invited Guise to the council chamber where the duke's brotherLouis 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.[44] To make certain that no contender for the French throne was free to act against him, the king had theduke's son imprisoned. The duke of Guise had been very popular in France, and the citizenry turned against Henry for the murders.[44] 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 theParliament of Tours.
By 1589 Henry's popularity hit a new low. Preachers were calling for his assassination and labelling him a tyrant. The people of Paris disdained him for his court extravagances, allowing corruption to grow rife, high taxes and having relied extensively on Italian financiers. But what most Parisians hated most about him was his alleged sexuality.[8]
The arrival of Henry III of France in Venice, 1574
Henry III encouraged the exploration and development ofNew World territories. In 1588, he granted Jacques Noël, the nephew ofJacques Cartier, privileges over fishing, fur trading, and mining inNew France.[46]
On 1 August 1589, Henry III lodged with his army atSaint-Cloud, and was preparing to attack Paris, when a young fanaticalDominican friar,Jacques Clément, carrying false papers, was granted access to deliver important documents to the king. The friar gave the king a bundle of papers and stated that 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 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 case 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 anact of God.[47]
Henry III was interred at theSaint 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 asHenry IV, the first of the kings of theHouse of Bourbon.
Stanley Weyman,A Gentleman of France (1893), involves the events of Henry's reconciliation with the Huguenots and struggle against the Catholic League, leading to his assassination.
The French short filmThe Assassination of the Duke of Guise (1908) shows the Duke's assassination but not the Cardinal's. The co-director, Charles Le Bargy, plays the Duke.
The American silent filmIntolerance (1916) depicts Henry as effeminate but not explicitly homosexual. He is portrayed by the British-born American actor Maxfield Stanley.
The French moviesLa Reine Margot (1954) andLa Reine Margot (1994), both based on Alexandre Dumas, père's novel of the same title, are fictional depictions of the lives of Henry III's family, his sister Margot, and her Protestant husband Henry around the time of theSt. Bartholomew's Day Massacre. In the 1994 film, Henry is played by the actorPascal Greggory. In Dumas' novel, Henri was not portrayed as homosexual, whereas, in the 1954 film, he was shown as an effeminate, comical queen. In the 1994 film, he was portrayed as a more sinister character, bisexual and showing sexual interest in his sister. His brother dies by being accidentally poisoned by his mother, who had intended to kill Henry of Navarre instead.
The filmElizabeth, released in 1998, depicts a fictional courtship between Elizabeth I of England and Henry III while he was still Duke of Anjou. In reality, the two never met and the Queen of England was actually courted nearly ten years later by his younger brotherFrançois, Duke of Anjou, when Elizabeth was 46. The film borrows some of the aspects of Henry III's life and features Anjou as a comical foolish transvestite. The role is portrayed by the French actorVincent Cassel.
In the filmDangerous Beauty, he has an assignation with the main character, the Venetian courtesanVeronica Franco. Visiting a Venice eager for military aid, the "French king" chooses her from among the famous courtesans of that city because he notices her reluctance; placing a blade at her neck, he tells Veronica that the "rumours" about him are true (that "the king is a pervert"), and the implication is made that Veronica pleases him enormously by first correctly guessing at and then indulging his fetish for BDSM domination. (When the king emerges from Franco's house in the morning, the assembled Venetian nobility awaiting, he smiles broadly while carefully settling his presumably sore posterior on a pillow, and then declares that the French navy shall assist the Venetians against the Ottoman Empire in defense of their rule of Cyprus.) He is played by the British actorJake Weber.
In an episode ofAnimaniacs entitled "The Three Muska-Warners", anElmer Fudd–like Henri III is protected byYakko, Wakko and Dot. In this version, Henri is portrayed byJeff Bennett as a very old man who acts nervous and jumpy, and for no apparent reason speaks with anEnglish accent.
He is also featured in a few episodes in the first and fourth seasons ofthe CW showReign. In the show's fourth season, Henry is played byNick Slater. With his brother showing little interest in the job, Spain wants Henry to become France's king.
Chabrier'sopéra-comiqueLe roi malgré lui (1887) deals with the unhappy Polish episode, with Henri as the reluctant King of Poland. In Kraków, he conspires with Polish nobles to depose himself. His friend Nangis changes places with him, but in the end, the plot fails and the curtain falls on Henri being crowned.
^Katherine B. Crawford (2003). "Love, Sodomy, and Scandal: Controlling the Sexual Reputation of Henry III".Journal of the History of Sexuality.12 (4):513–542.doi:10.1353/sex.2004.0024.
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