The French Religious Wars: Part III of III
Three men fight for the French throne
The Stage is Set
The final phase of the French Religious Wars was known as the War of the Three Henrys (1587–1589) and was a raw struggle for power between three political factions. The monarchists, religious moderates, and the political class all continued to support the French king Henry III of the House of Valois. Henry, Duke of Guise led the Catholic League, which was a coalition of Catholic French nobles who had effectively usurped control of the French crown. Henry de Guise sought to crush all other religious factions and prevent the rise of Henry of Navarre, leader of the Huguenots, and rightful heir to the throne.
The coalescing of the religious factions into distinct political blocks transformed a civil war into a European geopolitical struggle for influence in the French kingdom. The Catholic League was supported by Phillip II of Spain , several Catholic German kingdoms, and the pope himself. The Huguenots were financially supported by Elizabeth I of England and militarily supported by a coalition of Protestant German kingdoms and the Spanish Netherlands (modern Belgium), which was in rebellion against Spanish rule.
At the outset of this final struggle, the Catholic League, and Henry de Guise, were acting as effective…
