n.
French Henri orig. duke d'Anjou
born Sept. 19, 1551, Fontainebleau, France
died Aug. 2, 1589, Saint-Cloud
King of France (157489).
The third son of Henry II and Catherine de Médicis , he commanded the royal army against the Huguenot s in the Wars of Religion . He was crowned king after the death of his brother Charles IX . During the continuing civil wars he made concessions to the Huguenots, causing the Roman Catholics to form the Holy League . The Catholics were further alarmed in 1584 when the Protestant Henry of Navarra (later Henry IV ) became heir to the throne. Henry III tried to placate the Holy League, but he was forced by a mob to flee Paris. In 1588 he had the Catholic leaders Henry, 3rd duke de Guise , and Cardinal Louis II de Lorraine assassinated. In 1589 Henry was himself assassinated by a fanatical Jacobin friar.