Henri III (may 31, 1574 – aug 2, 1589)

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fourth son of Henri II. He was not expected to inherit the French throne and thus was a good candidate for the vacant throne of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, where he was elected King/Grand Duke in 1573. At 22, he abandoned Poland-Lithuania upon inheriting the French throne when his brother, Charles IX, died without issue. Henry's authority was undermined by violent political parties funded by foreign powers: the Catholic League (led by Henri, Duke of Guise and supported by Spain and the Pope), the Protestant Huguenots (supported by England and the Dutch) and the Malcontents, led by Henry's youngest brother, Francis, the Duke of Anjou/Alençon, which was a party of Catholic and Protestant aristocrats who jointly opposed the absolutist ambitions of the king. Henry himself believed that a strong and religiously tolerant monarchy would save France from collapse. In 1584 Francis died. Under Salic Law, the next heir to the throne was Protestant Henry of Navarre, a descendant of Louis IX (Saint Louis) who was married to Henri's sister Margaret of Valois. Under pressure from the Duke of Guise, Henri issued an edict suppressing Protestantism and annulling Henry of Navarre's right to the throne. In 1588, when the Duke of Guise entered Paris, an apparently spontaneous Day of the Barricades erupted in favor of the Catholic champion. Henri III fled the city. Following the defeat of the Spanish Armada that summer, the king's fear of Spanish support for the Catholic League apparently waned. He had the Duke and his brother murdered. The Duke of Guise had been very popular in France, and the citizenry turned against Henry for the murders. The Parlement instituted criminal charges against the king, and he was compelled to join forces with his new heir, Henry of Navarre, by setting up the Parliament of Tours. He was assassinated by a Catholic fanatic in 1589.

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