In China, there are "princes who will have a kind of peace", and in Europe there are "when Adam ploughed the land and Eve woven cloth, who was the nobleman?" "The whole society from top to bottom, even the people at the bottom of the society have a desire for a distant center of power, so this pursuit and ambition, which is commonplace in ancient and modern China and abroad, also determines the inevitability of dynastic change." Looking at the dynastic changes in Chinese history, the basic steps of "the old people crying and the new people laughing" are to resort to force and conspiracy, and this "law" of the winner and the loser seems to have become the highlight of the history books of the past and the relish of posterity.
In view of the complex and diverse succession system, the dynastic succession in Europe is much more complicated than in ancient China, and in addition to military confrontation and political conspiracy, they are also willing to decide the successor of a certain dynasty through direct blood marriage, signing of treaties, joint elections, etc. Taking the Bourbon Dynasty, which led the French monarchy to the peak, for example, the founding monarch Henry IV went through various tests and brewed for many years before he sat on the throne, and his history of ascension to the throne was even more exciting than the drama.
Henry IV, originally named Henri de Bourbon, was originally a king of the Kingdom of Navarre adjacent to France, because of the double in-law relationship between his grandfather and mother and the French royal nobility, Henry the Younger was a distant relative of the reigning Valois Dynasty at that time, but normally, the order of succession to the French throne was difficult to come to him, after all, the French queen at that time, Catherine de Medici, had four sons. But no one expected the death of these four crown princes of France one after another.
Catherine's eldest son succeeded to the throne as François II, but died of illness a year later. The next Charles IX also died of illness at a young age, although the second son reigned for thirteen years, but because he was too young to succeed to the throne and left no heirs, the throne passed to the third son, Henry III, and at this time Catherine's youngest son also died of illness, so Henry III was Catherine's last hope. Due to the early death of her husband Henry II, Catherine began to play a big role in the political arena, on the one hand, the heir apparent son was too young, on the other hand, to achieve her political ambitions, in short, Catherine was reluctant to retreat into the background.
During the reign of Charles IX, France fell into religious civil strife, and the conflict between Catholicism and Protestantism was protracted, and the large and small lords of the territory were deeply involved. Henry's father was the Duke of Antoine de Bourbon, Prince of France, so henry was involved in his youth and was gradually sought after as the head of Protestantism in France because of his protestant beliefs in following his mother. French Protestantism is also known as Huguenotism, so the religious conflicts of this period are called the "Huguenot Wars" in history, and as the war escalates, the production and life of France has been greatly damaged, although the French royal family is a staunch Catholic, Catherine realized that it is necessary to win over Huguenot, otherwise the continuing religious wars will definitely shake the throne. Therefore, she decided to marry her daughter Princess Margaret to the protagonist of this article, the Huguenot leader Henry, and the wedding of the two also symbolized the handshake and peace between the two major sects, so on the eve of the wedding, a large number of Huguenots rushed to Paris to celebrate, but Catherine launched the massacre of "St. Bartholomew's Night" in a peaceful and festive atmosphere, trying to exterminate the Protestants and resurrect the religious war.
At this time, Henry was not only the leader of the Protestants, but also took a big step forward in the order of succession as a "donkey", but after all, Charles IX was still on the throne at this time, and Charles IX had two younger brothers, so Henry still had a long way to go to chase the throne.
With the death of his second and fourth sons, Henry seems to have waited for the right moment. At this time, the religious war also evolved into a battle for the throne - the "Battle of the Three Henrys", followed by the reigning King Henry III of France, the Henry of the Guise family and the Henry of the "horse" Navarre, where the Guiss family was a major giant in the French political arena at that time, equivalent to the powerful vassals of ten thousand people under one person in ancient China, and naturally had ambitions for the throne.
At the same time, after the death of his brother, Henry III intended to make Henry the Protestant "horse", that is, his sister-in-law, the heir to the throne, which made many Catholics panic, so he elected Henry, Duke of Guise, to fight to ensure his faith. So the three Henrys began a life-and-death competition.
Soon, Henry III, who had already seen the ambitions of the Guise family, found someone to assassinate Henry, Duke of Guiss, but the war did not end there, and the Guiss family chose a successor to continue to confront the royal family, and before Henry III could eliminate the traitors, he was also assassinated. In this way, henry the "pack horse" took advantage of the fisherman and became the first person in the legal succession sequence after the death of Henry III, and the throne seemed to be at hand. But the heavens have sent great responsibilities to the gods, and the road to the crown cannot be smooth.
Theoretically, the establishment of the Bourbon dynasty began in 1589, when Henry became king, but in fact Henry IV, who claimed to be queen, was only recognized by the Protestants who followed him, and could not even enter the capital, Paris. Because France, known as the "eldest daughter of the Catholic Church" at that time, had a large number of Catholics, it was difficult for henry to convince the protestant, it was difficult for the people to accept, and the nobles were even more afraid of the damage to their vested interests by the Protestant rulers, and even re-elected another Catholic king in Paris, "one mountain does not allow two tigers", so the conflict re-emerged.
Although the military pacification is straightforward and straightforward, it takes time and cost money, and years of military competition have told Henry IV that this road is too long and difficult, and from time to time it is possible to lead the way and die in battle, so Henry IV made an important decision - "It is worth it to do a Mass for Paris", he announced that he abandoned the Protestant faith, converted to Catholicism, and won the recognition of the people. And for the nobles who fished in muddy waters, he bribed them with money. After this series of gestures of goodwill, Henry IV entered Paris in 1594 amid a cheer, was crowned as a Catholic, became the true king of France, and began the rule of the Bourbon dynasty. At this time, Henry had just turned forty years old, so from young Henry to middle-aged Henry, his history of ascension to the throne was long, tortuous, but also full of luck.
After entering Paris, Henry IV issued the Edict of Nantes in 1598, establishing the principle of "religion follows the state", recognizing freedom of belief, and in fact recognizing the legitimacy of the existence of Huguenotism, so that the protracted religious war of Japan finally came to an end. The more far-reaching significance of the Edict of Nantes is that it is the first edict with religious tolerance in the modern history of the world, breaking the situation of Catholic domination and adapting to the needs of the times. Regardless of the effectiveness of its implementation, Henry IV's strategy and vision of religious-aided politics was unique and therefore of great progressive significance.
Speaking of France, mentioning the history of the Bourbon monarchy, the "Sun King" Louis XIV is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, it is true that the France of the Louis XIV era is ahead of all Of Europe in terms of politics, military, culture and other aspects, and even in the war, it is common to single-handedly challenge many countries, but this kind of strength is not shaped by Louis XIV by himself, it must be traced back to the founding monarch of the Bourbon dynasty, Henry IV, whose dramatic history of ascension to the throne has shaped his wisdom, bravery and flexibility, not only to help him finally sit on the throne. Let him cherish this hard-won opportunity, and work hard to lay a solid foundation for the later Louis XIV era and the prosperity of France.
Reference: History of France
A General History of the World