HEN RY III, THE LAST OF THE VALOIS Henry III (19 September 1551 – 2 August 1589; born Alexandre Édouard de France, Polish: Henryk Walezy, Lithuanian: Henrikas Valua) was a monarch of the House of Valois who was elected the monarch of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1573 to 1575 and ruled as King of France from 1574 until his death. He was the last French monarch of the Valois dynasty. The kingdom of France was at the time plagued by the Wars of Religion, and Henrys authority was undermined by violent political parties funded by foreign powers: the Catholic League (supported by Spain), the Protestant Huguenots (supported by England) and the Malcontents, led by Henrys own brother, the Duke of Alençon, which was a party of Catholic and Protestant aristocrats who jointly opposed the absolutist ambitions of the king. Henry III was himself a politique, arguing that a strong and religiously tolerant monarchy would save France from collapse. Prior to ascending the throne, Henry was a leader of the royal army in the French Wars of Religion against the Huguenots and took part in the victories over them at the Battle of Jarnac and the Battle of Moncontour. While still Duke of Anjou, he was also involved in the plot for the St. Bartholomews Day Massacre. While he did not participate directly, historian Thierry Wanegffelen claims that Henry was the royal family member who was most responsible for the massacre in which thousands of Huguenots were killed. His reign as king, like the ones of his elder brothers Francis II and Charles IX, would see France in constant turmoil over religion. Henry continued to take an active role in the French Wars of Religion, and in 1572–73 led the Siege of La Rochelle, a massive military assault on the Huguenot-held city of La Rochelle by Catholic troops during the fourth phase of the Wars of Religion. At the end of May 1573, Henry learned that he had been elected King of Poland, a country with a large Protestant minority, and political considerations forced him to negotiate an end to the assault. An agreement was reached on 24 June 1573, and Catholic troops ended the siege on 6 July 1573. On 1 August 1589, Henry III lodged with his army at Saint-Cloud, Hauts-de-Seine, and was preparing to attack Paris, when a young fanatical Dominican friar, Jacques Clément, carrying false papers, was granted access to deliver important documents to the king. The monk 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 kings wound did not appear fatal, but he enjoined all the officers around him, in the event that he did not survive, to be loyal to Henry of Navarre as their new king. The following morning—the day that he was to have launched his assault to retake Paris—Henry III died.
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 15:07:56 +0000