ABSTRACT
Henry III's sense of humour was also of a mischievous kind which earned him enemies. His subsequent decision to ally with Henry of Navarre, a Protestant, seen by Catholics as a relapsed heretic, disqualified him as acclaimed Catholic hero - victor of Jarnac and Moncontour - in 1569, transforming him into a tyrant. Henry's misfortune was compounded by absence of a Dauphin which he interpreted as a divine punishment that needed to be lifted by a penitential assault on the Almighty. His violent death was followed by a change of dynasty: the Bourbons took over from Valois who had ruled France since 1328. Henry III is commonly seen by historians as a failure, yet he was a serious-minded and painstaking monarch who did set out to enhance his authority by instigating a number of reforms. Although Henry IV often stayed at Fontainebleau, where he liked to hunt, or Saint-Germain, it was in Paris that he built monuments celebrating his reign.
