Henry IV of France

(1553-1610)

   Henry IV was the first French monarch from the Bourbon dynasty. Raised a Protestant, he converted to Catholicism in 1593 and was crowned king of France in the following year. He ended the Wars of Religion in 1598 when he signed the Treaty of Nantes that guaranteed religious freedom to the Protestant Huguenots in France. In 1600, Henry married Marie de' Medici and, in 1610, he was assassinated by a Catholic fanatic who opposed his policies. One of Henry's great concerns was the improvement of the city of Paris. He widened and paved its streets, built new quarters, and renovated old ones. The Pont Neuf and Place Dauphine (both beg. 1598), projects begun by Henry III and interrupted by civil strife, were completed under Henry IV's reign. Henry conceived the Place Royale (now Place des Vosges; 1605) as the locus for Parisians to gather during feasts and as suitable housing for the aristocracy. The Place's urban planning became the prototype to emulate in other cities of France and the rest of Europe. Covent Garden in London (c. 1630) is one of those projects based on the French urban model.