HENBY 504 HENRY 1572. Then followed the horrible scenes of St. Bartholomew, Aug. 24. Henry- was obliged to make a profession of the Catholic faith to save his life; but Cath- arine of Medicis endeavored to dissolve the marriage just celebrated. As she was unsuccessful in this, she adopted the plan of corrupting the noble youth by the pleasures of a licentious court; and he did not escape the snare. In 1576, how- ever, he took advantage of a hunting ex- cursion to quit the court, and professed himself again of the Protestant Church. Catharine, who after the decease of Charles IX., administered the govern- ment in the name of his successor, Henry III., now thought it advisable to conclude a treaty of peace with the Huguenots (1576), securing to them religious free- dom. Exasperated by this event, the Catholics formed the celebrated League, which Henry III. was obliged to confirm; and the religious war was recommenced. In 1587 Henry obtained a victory over the Catholics at Coutras, in Guienne. In 1589, on the assassination of Henry III., Henry of Navarre succeeded to the throne ; but he had to secure his claim by hard fighting and by the profession of the Catholic faith. The same year he won the victory of Arques, and the fol- lowing year that of Ivry, over the forces of the League, headed by the Duke of Mayenne. After a protracted and obsti- nate struggle, convinced that he should never enjoy quiet possession of the French throne, without professing the Catholic faith, Henry at length yielded to the wishes of his friends, was in- structed in the doctrines of the Roman Church, and professed the Catholic faith, July 25, 1593, in the Church of St. Denis. He happily escaped an attempt to as- sassinate him; was solemnly anointed king at Chartres in 1594; and entered the capital amid the acclamations of the people. Peace was not fully re-estab- lished till 1598, when the treaty of _Ver- vins was signed. In 1610, while riding through the streets of Paris, his coach was obstructed in the Rue de la Feron- nerie by two wagons. A fanatic named Ravaillac took advantage of the moment to perpetrate a long meditated deed; and the king received a fatal stab from the hand of this assassin, in the 57th year of his age and the 27th of his reign. Henry V. of France. See Chambord. GERMANY. Henry I., surnamed the Fowler, Em- peror of Germany, born in 876, was the son of Otho, Duke of Saxony, and elected to the imperial dignity in the year 918. He reunited the German princes, and subdued the Hungarians, formed good laws, and built several cities. He van- quished the Bohemians, the Slavonians and the Danes, and conquered the king- dom of Lorraine. He died in 936. Henry II., great-grandson of the pre- ceding; born 972. He succeeded his father as Duke of Bavaria, and in 1002 was elected King of Germany, and crowned at Mentz and at Aix-la-Chapelle. Two years later he was crowned King of Lombardy at Pavia, his rival, Har- douin, avoiding a combat with him. He was engaged in frequent wars, in Italy, in Bohemia, Bavaria, etc. In 1014 he received the imperial crown at Rome, his wife, Cunegunde, being crowned with him. They were both distinguished for their piety and devotion to the Church, and were canonized. He died in 1024. Henry III., son of the Emperor Con- rad II.; born in 1017; succeeded his father in the imperial dignity in 1039. Nature had given him the talents, and education the character, suitable for an able ruler. In everything he undertook he displayed a steady and persevering spirit; the clergy were compelled to ac- knowledge their dependence on him, and the temporal lords he held in actual sub- jection. He deposed three popes, and raised Clement II. to the vacant chair; and he was as successful in his wars as in his administration. He died in 1056. Henry IV., son of the preceding; bom in 1050, and at the death of his father was only five years old. His mother, Agnes, was made regent, and on her death the chief power was seized by his uncles, the Dukes of Saxony and Ba- varia. Henry made war on them, and threw off their yoke. He, however, of- fended his subjects by the licentiousness of his manners, and quarreled vidth the Pope, Gregory VII., about investitures. The latter being appealed to in a subse- quent dispute between Henry and the Duke of Saxony, cited Henry to his tri- bunal, who then deposed the Pope, to be in turn excommunicated by him. The emperor was compelled to submit, went to Canossa, where the Pope then was, and after being kept three days in the court- yard, received absolution. The quarrel was soon renewed, deposition, excommu- nication, and election of new popes and emperors followed. Henry's eldest son, Conrad, rebelled against him, but was overcome, and died in Florence in 1101. He then caused his second son, Henry, to be elected his successor, and crowned; but the latter also rebelled, and making himself master of his father's person, in 1106, by stratagem, compelled him to ab- dicate the throne. Henry IV. died in 1106. Henry V., the son and successor of the preceding; born in 1081. In 1106 he
