Henry IV of France
King of France and Navarre who in April 1598 issued the Edict of Nantes, the law that gave the Reformed a defined place in a Catholic kingdom after the civil wars over religion.
The Edict of Nantes opens in his name as king of France and Navarre and is dated in the ninth year of his reign (Edict of Nantes preamble and dating clause). In its preamble he says that he had first to end the civil war by force and could only then turn to the grievances of his Catholic and Reformed subjects (Edict of Nantes preamble and dating clause). The edict restored Catholic worship across the kingdom and allowed the Reformed to live anywhere in it without being forced to act against their conscience (Edict of Nantes art. 3, 6). See the Edict of Nantes.
His grandson Louis XIV, revoking the edict in 1685, called him “Henry the Great” and said that his plans for the reunion of the Reformed with the Catholic church had been cut short by his sudden death (Edict of Fontainebleau preamble).
In the timeline
- April 1598, firm dateThe Edict of Nantes
Henry IV of France issues an edict to settle the civil wars over religion. It restores Catholic worship throughout the kingdom and gives the Reformed freedom of conscience, worship in named places, access to offices and courts in which they are represented.
Primary sources
The Edict of Nantes
- Edict of Nantes preamble and dating clausefr.wikisource.org
- Edict of Nantes art. 3, 6fr.wikisource.org