France > French History > Wars of Religion > Edict of Nantes

History of France - the Wars of Religion, Edict of Nantes

Part 3, 1588 - 1598

Henri de Guise was assassinated in 1588 and Henry III in 1589.

At that time Henry III had been planning to attack Paris with his Huguenot cousin, Henry de Navarre. With the murder, Henry of Navarre was legally entitled to the throne, and continued to fight against the Holy League.

Despite the Holy League again having help from Spain, Henry had some significant victories. After converting to Catholicism in 1593 he entered Paris in 1594. Henry IV was notable in that he considered the future of France to be more important than the ongoing religious battles, and converted to Catholicism on that basis - that was the only way to bring peace to France. In 1598 he took the throne as Henry IV.

In 1598, the Edict of Nantes granted freedom of worship to the whole of France. In the same year the Treaty of Vervins was signed between France and Spain. These two steps essentially ended the Wars of religion in France, and one of the most terrible chapters in it's history was brought to an end.

In the century to come much of the hard won ground would be refought, but for the time being France at last had a period of peace, after almost four decades of civil wars and two of the most brutal and senseless systematic exterminations that Europe had seen, or would see again until the 20th century.