2021-08-02 Mon

Henry III was King of France from 1574 until he died in 1589, as well as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1573 to 1575. Under his reign, the prolonged crisis of the Wars of Religion was made worse by dynastic rivalries arising because the male line of the Valois dynasty was going to die out with him.

As the fourth son of King Henry II of France, 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 monarch in 1573. During his brief rule, he signed the Henrician Articles into law, recognizing the Polish nobility's right to freely elect their monarch. Aged 22, Henry abandoned Poland upon inheriting the French throne when his brother, Charles IX, died without issue.

Under Henry, France named the first Consul of France in Morocco in the person of Guillaume Berard. The request came from the Moroccan prince Abd al-Malik, who had been saved by Berard, a doctor by profession, during an epidemic in Constantinople and wished to retain Berard in his service. Henry III encouraged the exploration and development of New World territories. In 1588, he granted Jacques Noel, the nephew of Jacques Cartier, privileges overfishing, fur trading, and mining in New France.

Here is an image of 1 Franc coin issued under his reign. It depicts his portrait facing left.

Image Source: Wikipedia.org