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The Reign of Henri IV
The move from prince of the blood to king of France was not an easy process for Henri
IV, nor was his conversion to Catholicism a light-hearted decision (fig. 3). Although Henri III
had formally recognized him as heir to the throne prior to his assassination by a religious fanatic
in 1589, Henri IV still had to convince the people of France that he was their legitimate king.
His immediate concern following his rise to the throne was fighting the Catholic League, which
had only grown more powerful with the realization of a Protestant king. Henri also recognized
that despite his belief in the Reformed religion, as the king of France he needed to be Catholic
and that to fulfill his coronation oath he would have to protect the faith from attack. 24 In 1593 he
let it be known that he wanted to receive instruction in the Catholic faith, and in July of the same
year he formally abjured Protestantism at the Abbey Church of Saint-Denis. Although he would
continue fighting the most militant of the Leaguers until 1598, his absolution by French bishops
at his conversion and acceptance by Pope Clement VIII in 1595 effectively ended the Catholic
League because it was sufficient proof for the majority of the faithful of Henri’s legitimacy as
king. 25
The purpose of this section is to examine the reign of Henri IV, demonstrating the
manner in which his major actions would contribute to the subsequent rulers’ decisions to
support churches. During this period the once-Protestant prince established himself not only as
an absolute king sanctioned by a Catholic God but he also reaffirmed the French crown’s
Catholic character. 26 In addition to ending the Wars of Religion, his other major
accomplishments included rebuilding the country‘s infrastructure and restoring the city of Paris.
The history of the first Bourbon ruler is critical to my study because Henri’s demonstration of the
close association between Church and State influenced the future reigns of his wife and son.
The majority of scholars studying Henri IV focus on the king‘s political ambitions,
portraying him as an opportunist who waited until it was most advantageous to become
Catholic. 27 Instead of considering his personal attitudes towards matters of faith, these scholars
view his religion only as a bargaining point to be used for political ends. 28 Over the last twenty
years scholars such as Ronald Love and Michael Wolfe have taken exception to this theory by
arguing that it removes the king‘s actions from the context of sixteenth-century faith and
examines them through politics alone. 29 Church and state had always been intimately connected
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