1-157-884 - Ann Ronan Picture Library/Heritage-Images

Henry IV, first Bourbon King of France, c1830. Henry (1553-1610) became King of Navarre in 1572 and ascended the French throne in 1594. A Protestant, he fought in the French Wars of Religion, but after becoming king he converted to Catholicism and in 1598 signed the Edict of Nantes, granting religious freedoms to the Protestants and bringing the conflict to an end. He was murdered by a fanatical Catholic in 1610.