in the influence of the Anglo-catholic party. The duke of Norfolk and his accomplished son, who were faithful Romanists, were suspected of designs for reversing the policy of Henry's reign, as soon as the king's death should offer the opportunity. The gallant Surrey was first sacrificed, being executed for high treason in December, 1546. The bill of attainder of the duke of Norfolk was rapidly passed through both houses, and the king signed the warrant for his execution to take place on the 29th of January. On the previous night, however, Henry's life and authority came to an end, and the duke's life was saved. Rightly to conceive the character of Henry VIII., the errors and t he exigencies of his age must be deeply considered. The very contrast between the first half of his reign (1509-29) all prosperity and gaiety, and the second half (1529-47), which presents a chaos of sanguinary despotism, strife, and gloom, is suggestive of the difficulties which he had to encounter. The nation might long have rued the reign at such a time of a weaker and more amiable monarch; and to Henry, with all his acts of cruelty and tyranny, must be awarded this great praise that he upheld the English name in a time of exceeding great danger—R. H.
KINGS OF FRANCE.
HENRY I. was the third son of Robert II., whom he succeeded in 1031. The commencement of his reign was troubled by civil wars, excited against him by his mother, Constance of Provence, who wished to place his younger brother Robert on the throne. Her preference does not seem to have been altogether misplaced, for Henry, though brave as a soldier, was indolent and incapable as a king. He had to cede the duchy of Burgundy to his brother. A terrible famine soon afterwards occurred; and the land was harassed and devastated by innumerable private and petty wars, the horrors of which, however, were somewhat mitigated by the so-called "Truce of God," established through the influence of the clergy. When William the Bastard was first struggling to enforce his sway in Normandy, he was assisted by Henry; but the duke soon became an unpleasantly powerful neighbour, and the king changed sides. Defeated, however, by William, he was glad to conclude a peace in 1059. By Anna, daughter of Jaroslav, duke of Russia, whom he married in 1044, Henry had three sons, the eldest of whom, Philip, was crowned by his orders at Rheims when he was but seven years old. This was in 1059; and in the following year King Henry died, leaving his son under the guardianship of Baldwin, earl of Flanders.—W. J. P.
HENRY II. was born in 1519; and in 1547 succeeded his father, Francis I., whose favourites and advisers he immediately displaced. In 1550 he concluded peace with England, which consented to abandon Boulogne on receipt of four hundred thousand crowns. Sternly repressing protestantism at home, he yet lent his aid to Maurice of Saxony and the German reformers in their struggle against Charles V. Invading Lorraine he captured Toul, Metz, and Verdun; and though deserted by his allies, continued the war with varying success until the emperor's abdication. A truce was signed in 1556, only to be broken in the following year. In Italy the efforts of François de Guise and Brissac were foiled by the generalship of Alva; and in Picardy the French army, commanded by the Constable Montmorency, was utterly defeated by the Spanish forces in the battle of St. Quentin, 10th August, 1557; four thousand French being slain, and the constable himself taken prisoner. In 1558 Calais was won back from the English by the genius and energy of De Guise. The peace of Château-Cambresis, in 1559, left France in possession of Calais and of her acquisitions in Lorraine, but stripped her of most of the conquests of Francis I. To confirm the peace a double marriage was concluded between Henry's daughter Elizabeth and Philip II. of Spain; and between his sister Margaret and the duke of Savoy. In the midst of the wedding festivities Henry was accidentally wounded at a tournament whilst tilting with the count de Montgomery, the shaft of whose broken lance pierced the king's right eye. After lingering a few days Henry died on 10th July, 1559. He had four sons by his wife Catherine de Medicis, the eldest of whom (already married to young Mary Queen of Scots) succeeded him as Francis II. Henry had children also by various mistresses, though none by his chief favourite, the famous Diana de Poitiers, whom he had created Duchess of Valentinois in 1548.—W. J. P.
HENRY III., third son of Henry II. by Catherine de Medicis, was born in 1551 at Fontainebleau. Though brought up in a most miserable school, and learning all its evil lessons but too readily, his natural abilities were good, his courage was unquestionable; and whilst still duke of Anjou, and but sixteen years old, he was placed at the head of an army. He earned a high military reputation by his defeat of the Huguenots at Jarnac and Moncontour. In 1573 his mother succeeded by her intrigues in procuring his election to the throne of Poland, then vacant by the death of Sigismund Augustus; but king and subjects speedily grew tired of one another, and Henry no sooner heard of the death of his brother, Charles IX., than he fled from Poland in hot haste by night, June, 1574. On reaching France he endeavoured to temporize between the catholics and Huguenots; but, whilst hoping to deceive both, he found himself trusted by neither. His personal popularity soon waned. Ostentatious in his hypocritical devotion, he was cynically shameless in his debaucheries; and the favourites whom he trusted were as degraded as himself. The war of "the three Henrys" began; the catholic Leaguers were headed by Henry de Guise, the Huguenots by Henry of Navarre, and the third Henry, though nominally king, soon found his party the weakest of them all. He attempted to arrest De Guise, but the Parisians rose against him and, after the "day of the barricades," drove him from his capital; this was in May, 1588. A seeming reconciliation, insincere on both sides, soon afterwards took place; but the king had sworn to have vengeance, and in December of the same year Henry de Guise and his brother were foully murdered. But the League survived its chieftain; Paris declared that the king had forfeited his throne; the pope excommunicated him; and as a last resource he was driven to ally himself with his former enemy, Henry of Navarre. At the head of forty thousand men these strange allies marched on Paris, and pressed the siege with vigour. It was at this critical juncture that Jacques Clément, a dominican monk, obtained admission to the king's private chamber at St. Cloud, and there, with one strong blow of his dagger, delivered the church from her enemy. Henry died on 2nd August, 1589. He had been married in 1575 to Louise de Vaudemont, a cousin of the Guises, but had no children; and the dynasty of the Valois, which had ruled France for two hundred and sixty-one years, came thus pitifully to an end.—W. J. P.
HENRY IV., King of France and Navarre, was the son of Antoine de Bourbon and Jeanne d'Albret, and was born 14th December, 1553. His mother was the only daughter and heiress of Henry d'Albret, king of Navarre; his father was the first prince of the blood royal of France through his descent from Robert, count of Clermont, sixth son of Louis IX. Henry IV. was educated among his native mountains, and was trained in the simple, hardy, and frugal habits of his countrymen. He was taken to the French court in 1565; but in the course of a few months he was recalled by his mother, who placed him at Pau under the care of Florent Chretien, by whom he was carefully instructed in Calvinistic principles. In 1569 he joined the protestants at Rochelle, and soon after took part in the disastrous battles of Jarnac and Moncontour, where he displayed not only great courage but remarkable military skill. After the assassination of the prince of Condè, his uncle, Henry of Navarre was acknowledged as the leader of the Huguenots; but, owing to the youth of the prince, the veteran Coligny was intrusted with the virtual command of their forces. Henry, however, displayed such prudence, promptitude, and coolness in the field, as to show that he wanted nothing but experience to render him a great general. After the peace of 1570 a scheme was formed by the king, Charles IX., and his mother, Catherine de Medicis, to lull the protestants into a fatal security, and thus lure them on to their destruction. With this view a marriage was proposed between Henry of Navarre and the king's sister Margaret; and the young prince and his mother were invited to the French court. On the death of his mother, 9th June, 1572, Henry became king of Navarre. His marriage to the princess Margaret was celebrated with great splendour on the 17th of August, and was followed in one week by the massacre of St. Bartholomew. Henry's life was spared on condition of his making a profession of the Romish faith; but he was detained a prisoner, and placed under strict surveillance fox about three years. His moral character was seriously injured by the corruption of manners which prevailed at this period at the French court; and, through the artful allurements of the queen-mother, he was led to indulge in these licentious practices which stained his future career, and grievously injured both his domestic comfort and his usefulness. In 1576 he made his escape from Paris, and took refuge in Alençon, where he abjured Romanism, and again assumed the leadership of the Huguenots
