Henry IV of France

Henry IV (Henri IV in French) 1553-1610 King of France (1589-1610), son of Antoine de Bourbon and Jeanne d’Albret (born in 1528 at Saint-Germain-en-Laye); first of the Bourbon kings of France.

Born Dec 13,1553 in Pau, Henry became the legal heir to the French throne upon the death in1584 of Francis, Duke of Alençon, brother and heir to King Henry III, who had succeeded Charles IX in 1574.

In 1572 Henry was married to Marguerite de Valois, sister of King Charles IX. In the same year he became king of Navarre, succeeding his mother Jeanne III, who had brought him up as a Huguenot Protestant. As part of the solution to the religious civil wars, he was forced to convert to Roman Catholicism, and kept in confinement, but in 1576 he gained his freedom and resumed Protestantism. When the French crown finally became his for the taking he once more converted to Catholicism, tradtionally uttering the memorable phrase Paris vaut bien une messe (Paris is well worth a mass).

Henry's marriage to Marguerite de Valois was annulled in 1599. His mistresses included Gabrielle d'Estrées and Henryette d'Entragues. In 1600 he married Marie de Medici, by whom he had 5 children, including his successor Louis XIII

He died on 14 May, 1610 in Paris, assassinated by a fanatic called Ravaillac, and is buried at Saint Denis Basilica. His widow, Marie de Medici served as Regent to Louis XIII until 1617.