At the end of the 16th century, when China was in the late Ming Dynasty, a powerful Bourbon dynasty emerged on the distant European continent. The Bourbon dynasty began in 1589 and ruled over France, Spain, Luxembourg, Navarra, Naples, Sicily, and parts of Italy, bringing almost half of Europe under its map.
The man who founded the Bourbon dynasty was named Henry IV.
Henry IV was originally the monarch of a small and poor state in the south of France (the Kingdom of Navarre). On August 1, 1589, King Henry III of France was assassinated, and since Henry III had no sons, The Crown Prince François, Duke of Alençon, had died five years earlier, and Henry IV was fortunate to become the heir to the throne as a cousin, succeeding him as the new King of France.
One
France, when Henry IV succeeded to the throne, had been plagued for years by a protracted religious war. This religious war, which was fought between Catholic forces and Protestant Huguenots (i.e., Calvinists), had been going on and off for 36 years by 1589. Even Henry IV himself was involved in the brutal and fierce religious wars in his youth and served as a leader of protestants.
The wars of religion have caused serious damage to the French economy, society, culture and other fields, and a large number of Catholics and Protestants have died of suicide and murder, and the whole of France is facing a situation of disintegration. Spain also took advantage of the fire and looting, invading France in the chaos.
How to end the raging war and return the French people to peacetime? Henry IV was a Protestant, and considering that more than 90% of the population of France at that time was Catholic, Henry IV resolutely decided to convert to Catholicism, which led to a three-month truce between Catholicism and Protestantism. A ray of peace appeared in troubled France.
This is certainly not enough. In April 1598, Henry IV issued a very clever "Edict of Nantes": declaring Catholicism the state religion. This is a pragmatic decision. At the same time, Henry IV declared that Protestants had the freedom to profess Protestantism throughout France, and that Protestants had the same political rights as Catholics.
The "Edict of Nantes" eliminated the contradictions between the Catholic Church and the Protestants, the two sides shook hands and talked, and the more than 30-year-long religious war ended. Henry IV gained the hearts and minds of the people and his prestige was greatly enhanced.
Two
Subsequently, Henry IV embarked on restoration and reconstruction work to revitalize the French economy on a ruins. To this end, Henry IV appointed the famous French politician Duke Zury as Prime Minister. With the support of Henry IV, the Duke of Sully introduced a series of measures to revitalize the economy, carrying out comprehensive rectification and reform. He developed agriculture and animal husbandry; maintained the role of the market and guaranteed the free circulation of commodities; developed transportation, promoted road construction and drainage projects; protected the ecological environment and prohibited the arbitrary destruction of forests...
Under the comprehensive rectification and reform of the Duke of Sully, the French economy was revived, industry, commerce and agriculture flourished rapidly, and the national treasury changed from empty to full.
As a king, Henry IV was very sympathetic to the people. In order not to cause unnecessary casualties when he attacked Paris, he said: "Paris is worth a Mass." Subsequently, he renounced his religious beliefs and converted to Catholicism in order to get both sides to lay down their arms and sit at the negotiating table. How many militarily armed rulers could not do this?
At the end of the war, the life of the French people was still relatively difficult, often after years of hard work, even the cheapest chicken could not be eaten. After the unification of France, Henry IV often had a saying on his lips: "I will make every French peasant have a chicken in his bowl." ”
After unremitting efforts up and down, the living standards of the French people have improved a lot, and eating chicken is no longer an unattainable luxury. Since then, the French have spent chicken weekends as a holiday. Some families in the south of France today still maintain the tradition of eating chicken together on weekends. They remembered Henry IV in this unique way.
Three
Morally, Henry IV was not a perfect man. He was so keen on hunting that he didn't even change his clothes when he came back from hunting, so he broke into the bedroom so much that he emitted a strong smell. What does it taste like? According to his mistress, "It smells like a piece of rotten flesh." ”
The smell of Henry IV's body may be related to his habits. Henry IV had a great appetite and ate a large amount of food at every meal, including a variety of cooked meats and various roasts. The delicacies sent from all over the world are not rejected and swallowed. It doesn't matter, what matters is that every dish that Henry IV enjoyed was made with garlic. Therefore, henry IV only needed to talk with one mouth, and he would spit out a smell of garlic coming from his nose.
Speaking of mistresses, Henry IV was also known to be fond of women, having married two queens and having a group of mistresses throughout France. However, no matter how powerful the French king was, he could not raise hundreds of young and beautiful women in the harem like the Chinese emperor. The harem of the King of France can always have only one queen.
On 13 May 1610, Henry IV was assassinated in Paris by a fanatical Catholic and died the next day at the age of 47. The death of Henry IV plunged the whole of France into grief. Countless French people spontaneously mourned the king who rebuilt France from the ruins, praising him as a "wise king Henry" and "Henry the Great". Henry IV was one of the few kings in European history who could be called the "Great".
Henry IV's successor was Louis XIII. Many years later, when Louis XIII died, his queen said to her soon-to-be-ascended son, Louis XIV: "Learn from your grandfather (Henry IV), who cried bitterly when he died; do not learn from your father, the French laughed when he died." ”
This sentence is probably the best evaluation of Henry IV.
[References: Anecdotes of French History, The Huguenot War, Henry IV, etc.]