Episode 311: Henri III

youngest son, to attempt to coop. Interestingly enough, she also sent instructions to the Poles themselves, whom she had paid sum in which she didn't want to get up. She suggested that the polls accept either her younger son or you know, maybe elect someone knew who could be supervised

by a French commissioner. Now, both of these were awkward requests, to say the least, given that the Poles had not elected her youngest son to anything, and there was absolutely no precedent in any monarchy anywhere in Europe of a commissioner from another country being in charge of your king. Now, from the Polish perspective, they were fine that Henri was going home.

tag of seventy thousand livre. When Henri got back to France, then he could decide how to deal with these rebels, but for the moment, Catherine determined that France needed peace. The news of his ascension reached Henri in Poland on June fifteenth. When the news of Charles's death became public, it caused a lot of consternation in Krakou. Henry Coleman, self possessed, announced that a Polish diet had to be called for September and that he would hand the government

of France over to the Queen Mother. While the Polish Assembly deliberated on how best to proceed, Poland's interest had to come first. On re reassured everyone France was, after all, in his mother's safe and experienced hands. He appeared remarkably serene, and though the less trusting nobles determined to keep a close eye on him, it was generally believed that he

was going to behave honorably throughout all of this. However, beneath this false veneer of calm and patience, Marie and his advisors were actually making frantic plans for their escape. They determined that the time for this was the night of June eighteenth, only three days after the news of

Charles's death had arrived. After nearly batching his escape attempt, and that's really what it was several times in the days leading up to it, Henri and his entourage managed to get out of Krakau in the dead of night on the eighteenth of June. It wasn't long before the absence of the king and much of the Polish crown

jewels was discovered. However, almost immediately a troop of Tartar cavalry flew in an attempt to recapture the fleeing monarch, and at least according to our sources, the Tartis nearly got them. In fact, Henri barely escaped over the Vistula River in time, reaching the safety of Silesia moments before the cavalry got him. From there, Henri traveled in disguise until he reached Vienna. There he received a warm welcome

from Emperor Maximilian the Second. While in Vienna, Henri wrote to Catherine, assuring her that he had safely made his escape. The Emperor advised Henri to adopt a policy of religious toleration once back in France, as that had worked seemingly well for the Empire. He also hoped that Henri might wed his widowed daughter, though Henri had different plans on

that front, which he kept to himself. On July eleventh, fifteen seventy four, Henri reached the city of Venice, where he received a warm welcome.

She took Alacon and Navarre with her, just to be sure they didn't perpetuate any mischief while she was gone. Once Henri reached her, the two embraced and wept. He then declared France the greatest kingdom on earth and was overjoyed to be back. Then the entourage hurried on to Paris. Now Catherine was fifty five years old when her favorite son ascended the throne. Over the years, she had willingly adopted many of the numerous new innovations of modern Europe,

including tobacco. However, Catherine remains staunchly traditional when it came to the monarchy. Her son was not a first among equals. He was an absolute monarch, plain and simple. Catherine would do everything she could to keep him in that position. Her passion and capacity for work remained even in her older years, and with the ascension of her youngest but by far most confident son. I suppose the biggest question she faced was would she still be able to dominate

this new king? Unlike Charles the Ninth at his ascension, are was a grown man.

by the splendor of his own creation. Now in September in fact of fifteen seventy four. The Spanish ambassador would later write back to Madrid that the French king spent all evening dancing and banqueting. Luckily, for Catherine and Franz, Henrie the Third was at least willingly initially to feed her advice. Many of her loyal and experienced ministers were

kept on into the new reign. The king agreed with his mother that many secretaries of state had grown far too use to corresponding as they saw fit without first consulting the king Hence he decreed that he'd be shown all letters before any response was written, and personally signed the final drafts. He was, for his later faults, a hard working king. Henri also excluded by in law large the two great families of the realm, the Geeses and

the Montmorencies, from major roles in his administration. For better or worse. He was determined to be his own man. Unfortunately, while Audrey agreed with much of the political advice, he espoused a different view of how a monarch should handle himself and brought back with him many of the habits that he had picked up in Poland that were designed to keep him away from his kingdom's people. Now this

didn't please the French people at all. He no longer took his meals surrounded by the public, but behind a low wall intended to keep the crowd from coming too close. When he ate, his gentlemen attended upon him rather than

his servants. The king did permit certain individuals to approach him, but they had to ask permission first and follow a strict set of rules before engaging his majesty in conversation or lunch, as we would say, was taken around eleven o'clock in the morning, and a more elaborate supper in the evening, later followed by a ball or some sort of other entertainment. Meal times were no longer the milling

of courtiers around the person of the king. While he ate, unlike his predecessors, Auri didn't want to live as publicly, believing that overfamiliarity was just the way that people got insolent. With the king, it offended his royal dignity to be surrounded by his most senior courtiers while he stood undressed, and he ordered that from now on now one could

enter his chamber until he was clothed. Such reforms, as simple as they seem to us today, actually provoked a rather angry response, but unrestuck to them at least as long as he could, although when some nobles protested by leaving court, he was forced to relax or give up many of them, at least for the time being. In fifteen eighty five, the king would print a booklet of

precise instructions on court etiquette. This actually served as the foundation for fantastically stylized manners, customs, and rituals that would later dictate court life at the palace. Of Versailles under the famed Louis the fourteenth. But of course, as usual, the biggest issue that Henri or any French king was facing during this time period wasn't court etiquette. It was

the succession. For all his libertine values. He didn't have any children, hence rumors increased exponentially as to his ability to produce said children now that he was king. And likewise, of course, religious turmoil continued. The province of Languedoc was the major Protestant stronghold at this point, and Royalist efforts to bring the rebels there to heal were proving fruitless.

It helped that Huguenot leaders had effectively tied the idea of religious reform the idea of political and economic reform as well, just made it easier to sell to the people. Many Huguenots were demanding that the king called the Estates General to deal with the taxation issue, amongst others. France's finances remained a mess. They really had been since Henry

the second. Catherine's husband Charles, had raised taxes on just about everything during his reign, and now it seems like the population just wasn't willing to tolerate such a high level of taxation any longer. Again, I think there's a lot of ways that mid sixteenth century France looks a lot like France on the eve of the Revolution in the eighteenth century. Now, making matters worse, Angrie's beloved mistress died not long after his ascension, effectively paralyzing the king

with grief. But before we see how Henri deals with all this, we need to shift gears big time and bring a few major developments in England back up to speed. In fifteen seventy five, England saw a dramatic improvement in the financial condition of the kingdom. Trade was restored with the Low Countries, Spain was on friendlier terms once more. In April, Henri the Third offered to extend the Treaty of mutual Protection known as the Treaty of Lula. Elizabeth

immediately accepted. Waalsingham's spies had finally infiltrated at Mary Stuart's household, and the world seemed at peace for once. On May seventeen, fifteen seventy five, Matthew Parker, Elizabeth's first and most tolerant Archbishop of Canterbury, died. This was, of course an incredibly important position in the Church of England, and considering his replacement, Cecil made one of the biggest mistakes of his career

by nominating Edmund Grindle. Grindall turned out to be an incredibly strict Puritan whose prophesizings were, in the opinion of the Queen both seditious and subversive. His faults were not immediately apparent upon his appointment, but would become a matter of grave concern over the next two years.

sixteenth century slowly comes to an end. We're talking about them quite a lot in the seventeenth century.

Now during the early months of fifteen seventy seven, Walsingham's spies, now an effective force, gradually exposed a Catholic conspiracy that was mastermind by Don John of Austria, who assisted by the ever present Duke of Geese, was plotting to invade England with ten thousand troops, deposed Elizabeth and then return the Kingdom to the Catholic fold.

by day. Spain, as we know, had by now explored and colonized large swaths of the Americas. Portugal had done the same in Africa and now in Brazil. Now new markets also meant new opportunities for pirates, and this is truly when we're starting to get into the Golden age of piracy. The most famous of these, or maybe infamous, and there were several, of course, was Sir Francis Drake.

Drake on May the twenty fourth, fifteen seventy two, had sailed from Plymouth to the New World, his purpose being too exact retribution from the Spaniards who had attacked and harried his ships during earlier voyages. Fifteen months later, he returned from the Americas with a massive horde of treasure looted from Spanish ships. This was not the first time English privateers had seized Spanish treasure, but it was the

greatest haul by far. News of Drake's booty and his colorful adventures soon reached the Queen, who was jubilant at the thought of how maddened King Philip would be by such blatant piracy and fascinated by Drake's exploits. Overnight, the man became famous throughout England, notorious in Spain, where he

was called eld Daki the Dragon. Naturally, Spanish envoys complained to Elizabeth, but while she was vaguely conciliatory or pretended to be concerned, did absolutely nothing to stop these acts of piracy, and indeed she benefited from them, since much of the looted treasure went directly into the English coffers. At the end of fifteen seventy seven, Francis Drake set off in his ship the Pelican on what was to

be an epic world voyage. His priority, however, was not exploration, but once again to bother the Spaniards who had retaliated for his seizure of their treasure by attacking English ships. There was a great deal of public interest in the venture, and Walsingham arranged for Drake to be presented to the Queen before he left. According to our records, she greeted him as follows, quote Drake, so it is that I would be revenged on the King of Spain for the diver's injuries I have received end quote.

King of Scotland in his own name. Just before then, in January fifteen seventy eight, news came that the Protestant Dutch armies had suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Don John of Austria, which gave Elizabeth cause to point out to Dudley that she had been right all along about not wanting to involve England in a war, and it.

Thanks to the provocation given to King Philip by English privateers and the help supplied to the Dutch by Elizabeth, the peace with Spain was on a precarious footing, to say the least, and fears were expressed that Philip might yet invoke the Pope's interdict and make the rumored enterprise of England, that is, the invasion of England, become a reality,

making matters worse. It was just when the Duke of Anjou now again this is Catherine de Medici's youngest son, raised a soon to be fruitless plan to invade the Netherlands with French troops, which was the very very last thing that Elizabeth wanted. It was under these circumstances that Elizabeth began to consider marriage again to Anjou, the youngest son of Catherine de Medici. In fact, his messenger brought a formal marriage treated to the Queen in March fifteen

seventy nine. But there was still the issue of religion, and this divided Elizabeth's counsel as they debated the treaty. Sure, Anjou seemed happy to convert for Elizabeth's sake right now, but I mean, at this point he was the heir to the throne of France and therefore required to remain a Catholic. Plus Elizabeth was forty five and too old under the standards of the age to even consider having children.

But in the end it didn't matter. The Privy Council rejected so many French terms that Anjou could not possibly have accepted the treaty, the fact that Elizabeth certainly knew. True to her policy, however, she continued to string the French and Anjou along, insisting she might still consider the match despite her council, if only Anjou came to England. So desperate, in fact, was Anjou that he sailed for

Greenwich that August. According to all our reports, the two got along quite well despite the age difference, and for perhaps maybe the only time in her reign, it looked as though Elizabeth might not be forever the Virgin Queen.

and punishment thereof. That's the title of the pamphlet. It didn't sell very well. The pamphlet was printed, though and published in London. It was widely distributed throughout England and did influence public opinion to a large extent. Elizabeth was furious beyond belief when she read the pamphlet.

Matters went back and forth for weeks with no resolution. Yet in her heart, Elizabeth knew she could not accept the marriage treaty and keep the love of her subjects. She would never give up the ladder, so she had to reject the former. Still, in order to keep the French on her side, Elizabeth was determined to string along the negotiations as long as possible, a sport that she

was now quite accomplished in. In late November, she agreed to sign the marriage contract with the proviso that the formal treaty would need to be ratified by Parliament, and she knew there was no chance of that. This would allow her the ability to say no without actually doing so. In the words of the Archbishop of York quote the French matter was dashed end quote. They just didn't know

it yet. Now next week, in our episode, we stick with England because things are finally going to come to a head with May Stewart and she finally loses hers