Henry IV of France was the first Bourbon king of France. Formerly known as Henri of Navarre, he succeeded to the French throne with the extinction of House of Valois, at the death of Henry III of France.
His descendants are varied and numerous. Some of his descendants are Juan Carlos of Spain, Franz, Duke of Bavaria, Diana, Princess of Wales, actress Brooke Shields and singer and actress Jane Birkin. He had six children with his wife Marie de' Medici and also had at least eleven illegitimate children with his many mistresses. This article deals with each of his legitimate children and their respective descendants.
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Main articles: Henry IV of France, Henry IV of France's succession, and Henry IV of France's wives and mistresses |
Henri de Bourbon was born in Pau, the capital of the French province of Béarn.[1] Although baptised as a Roman Catholic, Henry was raised as a Protestant by his mother Jeanne d’Albret. On 9 June 1572, upon Jeanne's death, he became King Henry III of Navarre.[2]
When Henry was a boy, it seemed highly unlikely that he would ever inherit the throne of France, since Henry II had produced four surviving sons. However, his male-line pedigree gave him a special place of honour in the French nobility, since all sons of the Bourbon line were acknowledged as the princes of the blood. As the senior male representative of that line, Henry was officially the First Prince of the Blood.
Henry of Navarre became the legal heir to the French throne upon the death in 1584 of François, Duke of Alençon, brother and heir presumptive of the Catholic King Henry III. Because of Henry's status as the Prince du Sang, Henry III had no choice but to recognise him as the legitimate successor. The Salic law disinherited the king's sisters and all others who could claim descent by the distaff line. He was then the closest relative of the king in the legitimate male line, and as such the next senior-most representative of the House of Capet after the king himself. Catherine de Medici, the King's mother, had attempted to unite Valois and Bourbon interests. In 1572, by which time only two of her sons remained alive, she brokered a marriage between her daughter Marguerite of Valois and Henry.
On the death of Henry III on 2 August 1589, Henri of Navarre nominally became the King of France. But the powerful Catholic League, strengthened by support from Spain, forced him to the south and he had to set about winning his kingdom by military conquest, aided by money and troops bestowed by Protestant England. This set off the War of the Three Henries phase of the French Wars of Religion. The League proclaimed Henry's Catholic uncle Charles, the Cardinal de Bourbon, king as Charles X, but the Cardinal himself was Henry's prisoner. Henry was victorious at Ivry and Arques, but failed to take Paris.
With the encouragement of the great love of his life, Gabrielle d'Estrées, on 25 July 1593 Henry declared that Paris vaut bien une messe ("Paris is well worth a mass") and permanently renounced Protestantism, thus earning him the allegiance of the vast majority of his subjects and the resentment of his former allies. He was crowned King of France at the Cathedral of Chartres on 27 February 1594. In 1598, he declared the Edict of Nantes, which gave circumscribed toleration to the Huguenots. However, this action angered fanatical Catholics, who wanted Protestantism rooted out for good, and could see that Henry had no intention to do so. Therefore, in 1610, Henry was assassinated by a fanatical Catholic, François Ravaillac.[3]
| Jean d'Albret, Vicomte de Tartas | |||||||||||||||||||
| Alain I of Albret | |||||||||||||||||||
| Catherine de Rohan | |||||||||||||||||||
| John III of Navarre | |||||||||||||||||||
| Guillaume de Châtillon de Blois, Vicomte de Limoges, Seigneur d'Avesnes | |||||||||||||||||||
| Françoise of Châtillon-Limoges | |||||||||||||||||||
| Isabelle de La Tour d'Auvergne | |||||||||||||||||||
| Henry II of Navarre | |||||||||||||||||||
| Gaston IV, Comte de Foix | |||||||||||||||||||
| Gaston of Foix, Prince of Viana | |||||||||||||||||||
| Eleanor of Navarre | |||||||||||||||||||
| Catherine I of Navarre | |||||||||||||||||||
| Charles VII of France | |||||||||||||||||||
| Magdalena of Valois | |||||||||||||||||||
| Marie d'Anjou, Queen of France | |||||||||||||||||||
| Jeanne III of Navarre | |||||||||||||||||||
| Louis, Duc d'Orléans | |||||||||||||||||||
| John, Count of Angoulême | |||||||||||||||||||
| Valentina Visconti | |||||||||||||||||||
| Charles, Count of Angoulême | |||||||||||||||||||
| Alain IX de Rohan, Vicomte de Rohan et de Leon | |||||||||||||||||||
| Marguerite de Rohan | |||||||||||||||||||
| Marguerite of Brittany, Dame de Guillac | |||||||||||||||||||
| Marguerite of Angoulême | |||||||||||||||||||
| Louis, Duke of Savoy | |||||||||||||||||||
| Philip II, Duke of Savoy | |||||||||||||||||||
| Anne de Lusignan | |||||||||||||||||||
| Louise of Savoy | |||||||||||||||||||
| Charles I, Duke of Bourbon | |||||||||||||||||||
| Margaret of Bourbon | |||||||||||||||||||
| Agnes of Burgundy | |||||||||||||||||||
| 16. Louis, Count of Vendôme | |||||||||||||||||||
| 8. John VIII, Count of Vendôme | |||||||||||||||||||
| 17. Jeanne de Laval | |||||||||||||||||||
| 4. François, Count of Vendôme | |||||||||||||||||||
| 18. Louis de Beauvau, Seneschal of Anjou | |||||||||||||||||||
| 9. Isabelle de Beauvau | |||||||||||||||||||
| 19. Marguerite de Chambley | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2. Charles de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme | |||||||||||||||||||
| 20. Louis, Count of Saint-Pol | |||||||||||||||||||
| 10. Peter II, Count of Saint-Pol | |||||||||||||||||||
| 21. Jeanne de Bar | |||||||||||||||||||
| 5. Marie de Luxembourg | |||||||||||||||||||
| 22. Louis, Duke of Savoy | |||||||||||||||||||
| 11. Margaret of Savoy | |||||||||||||||||||
| 23. Anne of Cyprus | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1. Antoine of Navarre | |||||||||||||||||||
| 24. John I of Alençon | |||||||||||||||||||
| 12. John II of Alençon | |||||||||||||||||||
| 25. Marie of Brittany | |||||||||||||||||||
| 6. René of Alençon | |||||||||||||||||||
| 26. Jean IV d'Armagnac | |||||||||||||||||||
| 13. Marie of Armagnac | |||||||||||||||||||
| 27. Isabella de Navarre | |||||||||||||||||||
| 3. Françoise of Alençon | |||||||||||||||||||
| 28. Antoine of Vaudémont | |||||||||||||||||||
| 14. Frederick II of Vaudémont | |||||||||||||||||||
| 29. Marie d'Harcourt | |||||||||||||||||||
| 7. Margaret of Lorraine | |||||||||||||||||||
| 30. René of Anjou | |||||||||||||||||||
| 15. Yolande, Duchess of Lorraine | |||||||||||||||||||
| 31. Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine | |||||||||||||||||||
King Louis IX (Saint Louis) (1214/1215 – 1270)
Robert, Count of Clermont (1256–1317), brother of King Philip III
Louis I, Duke of Bourbon (1279–1342), 1st cousin of King Philip IV
James I, Count of La Marche (1315–1362), 2nd cousin of kings Louis X, Philip V, Charles IV, and Philip VI
John I, Count of La Marche (1344–1393), 3rd cousin of kings John I Posthumus and John II
Louis, Count of Vendôme (1376–1446), 4th cousin of King Charles V
François, Count of Vendôme (1470–1495), 6th cousin of King Charles VII
Charles IV, Duke of Bourbon (1489–1537), 7th cousin of kings Louis XI and Louis XII
Antoine de Bourbon (1518–1562), 8th cousin of kings Charles VIII and Francis I
Henry IV was the 9th cousin of King Henry II,
and the 9th cousin once removed of kings Francis II, Charles IX, and Henry III
| Name | Portrait | Birth | Death | Marriages and issue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Louis XIII, King of France |  |
27 September 1601 | 14 May 1643 | Married Anne of Austria in 1615 Had issue |
| Elizabeth, Queen of Spain |  |
22 November 1602 | 6 October 1644 | Married Philip IV, King of Spain in 1615 Had issue |
| Christine Marie, Duchess of Savoy |  |
10 February 1606 | 27 December 1663 | Married Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy in 1619 Had issue |
| Henrietta Maria, Queen of England |  |
25 November 1609 | 10 September 1669 | Married Charles I, King of England in 1625 Had issue |
| Gaston d'Orléans |  |
25 April 1608 | 2 February 1660 | Married (1) Marie de Bourbon, Duchess of Montpensier in 1626 Married (2) Margaret of Lorraine in 1632 Had issue |
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Main articles: Descendants of Louis XIV of France, Descendants of Philip V of Spain, and Descendants of Charles III of Spain |
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Main articles: Descendants of Philippe I, Duke of Orleans and House of Orléans |
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Main article: Descendants of Charles I of England |
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