Thread:ThisIsXenon/@comment-32273133-20190308141311/@comment-32273133-20190915162418

Henry of Navarre?? more like Henry of never-makes-a-decision

—he was the first Bourbon king of France

—is he catholic? is he protestant? no one fucking knows, he keeps changing his mind

—raised Protestant like his mom

—switched to catholic after his mom died [likely his dad’s doing]

—switched BACK to protestantism when his dad died

—married Margaret Valois, sister to the king in 1572, St. bartholomew’s day massacre was his wedding day, 12,000 Huguenots were killed

—so he switches to Catholicism to avoid being executed

—left Paris and went to govern part of the countryside, and he’s Protestant again

—he’s also heir to the throne!! because putting this bastard in Paris is totally a good idea!!

—he tried to promote religious toleration, which was very much approved where he was

—but then the Catholic league [diehard catholics, the ones who hired the assassins to kill the Huguenots on St. Bartholomew’s day] forces the Parliament of Paris to withdraw religious toleration given to Huguenots

—the catholic league wanted to put a catholic cardinal on the throne, even though Guise [leader of the Catholic League] wants it for himself

—and now you have the war of the three Henrys: Henry III [the king of France, a crossdressing bisexual we stan a legend], Henry of Guise [who gets Julius Caesar’d later], and Henry can’t-make-up-his-fucking-mind Navarre. This is around 1585

—Henry of Guise is a weasel

—originally Henry III sided with Navarre, but then switched to side with Guise

—Navarre has a problem with winning battles and then getting distracted going hunting and fucking around

—long story short, Henry III orders his guards to kill Guise and Guise gets mcstabbed in 1588. Henry III sides with Navarre again against the Catholic league and gets assassinated by an angry monk in 1589, and Henry III’s bodyguards immediately side with Navarre

—Navarre throws the cardinal the league wanted on the throne in jail

—he wins two battles [1589, 1590] but waits before laying siege to Paris

—he’s been excommunicated by the Catholic Church twice at this point, and he plays on resentment against the Catholic Church to his advantage

—but wait, here comes spain! defeating forces loyal to Navarre

—when the cardinal in jail dies, Spain names the Spanish granddaughter of the past French king Henry II as the heir in 1590

—but Navarre still is super popular due to military success and religious toleration ideas

—but wait, now he’s Catholic again! It’s 1593 and he’s renouncing Protestantism again

—and by 1594 he’s Henry IV, king of France

—the war officially ends in 1598

—That same year, Henry IV passed the edict of Nantes which makes Catholicism the official religion of France but also established religious toleration for Protestants in southwest and west France.

—so, was he religious? or was he just changing sides for political reasons?

—when you look at European history, the question of “belief in religion or belief in god/faith” is incredibly important. The two are different.

—but anyway, Henry IV was a character

—he had a sharp wit and would often interrupt welcoming committees and edit their opening spiels

—he gambled and was notorious for his lack of success

—he was very unfaithful to his wife and at least one of them kept getting gonorrhoea

—he has three kids by his wife and six illegitimate children and called all nine of them his “herd”

—Europeans! are wild! what the heck!

Anyway thank you for coming to my European history ramble