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Henry (Name borne by various European)
a name borne by various European rulers as follows:
ENGLAND.
HENRY I., surnamed Beauclerc ("fine scholar"), youngest son of William the Conqueror; born in Selby in Yorkshire, in 1068. He was hunting with William Rufus when that prince was killed, in 1100, and instantly riding to London, caused himself to be proclaimed king, to the prejudice of his elder brother Robert, then absent as a Crusader. He reestablished by charter the laws of Edward the Confessor, recalled Anselm to the primacy, and married Matilda, HENRY thus conciliating in turn the people, the Church, and the Scots. Robert landed an army, but was pacified with a pension, and the promise of succession in event Robert prisoner in 1106, and reduced however, Henry invaded Normandy, took Robert prisoner in 1106, and reduced the duchy. He was successful also in the struggle with France. The last drowned in returning from Normandy, William was In 1120 his only drowned in returning from Normandy, where, three years later, a revolt occurred in favor of Robert's son. The son Henry appointed as his heir his daugh- Henry appointed as his heir his daughter Matilda or Maud, whom he had married first to the Emperor Henry V., and then to Geoffrey Plantagenet of Anjou. Henry died at Rouen in 1135, and was succeeded by Stephen. sted
HENRY II., first of the Plantagenet line, born in Normandy in 1133, son of Geoffrey, Count of Anjou, and Matilda, daughter of Henry I. He was invested with the Duchy of Normandy, by the consent of his mother, in 1150; in 1151 he succeeded to Anjou and Maine, and by a marriage with Eleanor of Guienne gained Guienne and Poitou. In 1152 he invaded England, but a compromise was effected, by which Stephen was to retain the crown and Henry to succeed at his death, which took place in 1154. The commencement of his reign was marked by the dismissal of the foreign merceby the dismissal of the foreign mercebrother, Godfrey, who attempted to seize Anjou and Maine, and in a temporary ously till the contest with Thomas Becket regarding the Constitutions of Clarendon.
Becket's death in the way of penance and expiation, Henry only gave up the article in the Constitutions of Clarendon which ecclesiastical cases. Before this matter Henry's was terminated, Henry, in 1171, comwas terminated, Henry, in 1171, compart of which had been reduced by Richpart of which had been reduced by Richmonly known as Strongbow. He last years were embittered by his sons, to whom he had assigned various territories. The eldest son, Henry, who had been not only declared heir to England, tories. The eldest son, Henry, who had but actually crowned in his father's lifetime, was induced by the French mon- Normandy, Anjou, Maine and Touraine, but actually crowned in his father's lifediate resignation either of the kingdom time, was induced by the French mon- arch to demand of his father the immemandy. Queen Eleanor excited her other sons, Richard and Geoffrey, to make sim- HENRY gun in 1173 by an attack on the fron- tiers of Normandy, and an invasion of Henry's dominions was beland gave them support; and a general gun in 1173 by an attack on the frontiers of Normandy, and an invasion of England by the Scots, attended by considerable disturbance in England. Conciliating the Church by his penance, Henry took prompt action; William of bulent, and though the deaths of Henry These, however, once more became turand Geoffrey reduced the numbers of and Geoffrey reduced the numbers of bulent, and though the deaths of Henry centers of disturbance, the king was ranks among the greatest English kings Richard and Philip of France. He died shortly after at Chinon in 1189. He ranks among the greatest English kings both in soldiership and statecraft.
On Pem- HENRY III., eldest son of King John in 1216. The regency was intrusted to chester, in 1207. He succeeded his father in 1216. The regency was intrusted to at Lincoln, and compelled the dauphin who, in 1217, defeated the French army at Lincoln, and compelled the dauphin Louis to retire to France. broke's death, in May, 1219, Hubert de Burgh and Peter des Roches, Bishop of jealousies and dissensions disturbed their Winchester, became regents; but mutual power. Henry was crowned a second time, in 1220, and two years later was character unfitted him to rule, and the real power remained with his ministers.
His fondness for foreign counsellors, his unsuccessful wars with France, and his attempts to govern without parliaments, excited much ill-humor in the nation. sitions on his subjects, made necessary by his son Edmund. At length, in 1258, he was virtually deposed by the "Mad Par- liament," which assembled at Oxford, and a council of state was formed under the presidency of Simon de Montfort.
The popular leaders quarreled among in their hands. But in 1262 civil war bethemselves, while the king was a prisoner gan, the king being compelled to employ foreign mercenaries. In 1264 the battle of Lewes was fought, at which the king, Prince Edward, Earl Richard, king of the Romans, and his son Henry, were made prisoners by the barons. Soon after, De Montford, now virtually sovereign, summoned a Parliament, which met in January, 1265, and was the first to which knights of the shires and representatives of cities and boroughs were called; thus constituting the first House of Commons. In August of that year HENRY De Montfort was defeated and killed by Prince Edward, at the battle of Evesham, and the king regained his liberty. But the war lasted two years longer. In 1270 Prince Edward set out on the crusade, and before his return Henry died at Westminster, Nov. 16, 1272.
HENRY IV. (called Bolingbroke), Duke of Hereford, and eldest son of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster; born in Bolingbroke in Lincolnshire, 1366. Having deposed his cousin, Richard II., in 1399, ascended the throne as Henry IV. This usurpation gave rise to the civil war between the houses of York and Lancaster, which broke out under the sway of Henry VI. His reign was disturbed by a rebellion headed by the Duke of Northumberland and his son Percy, surnamed "Hotspur."
After subduing all opposition, Henry IV. died overwhelmed with remorse for many of his unscrupulous deeds, in 1413.
HENRY V. (surnamed Monmouth), one of the most illustrious of the line of English sovereigns, and whose early life of riot and dissipation gave but little promise of his after virtues; born in 1388, ascended the throne on the death of his father, Henry IV. In obedience to the dying advice of his parent, to give the public mind employment, he declared war against France, laying claim to that throne in right of his ancestors, and at once led a powerful army to the invasion of that kingdom; and after taking Harfleur and devastating the north ern provinces, fought and won the glorious battle of Agincourt. To check Henry's further progress and avert the total ruin of his country, the French monarch concluded a truce with Henry, who, to ratify the arrangement, espoused Charles' daughter, the Princess Catharine. No king ever sat on the English throne who was more beloved and honored than the gallant Harry "Monmouth." He died in 1422.
HENRY VI., the only son of the above; born 1421, was but ten months old at the death of his father, and was proclaimed king on the day after that event. His grandfather, Charles VI., King of France, died soon after, and the Duke of Orleans assumed the title of king by the king name of Charles VII. This renewed the war between England and France, and the English, for a while, were successful. Henry was crowned at Paris, and the great Duke of Bedford, his guardian, obtained several important victories. But the raising of the s siege of Orleans by Joan of Arc gave a new turn to affairs, and the English power declined, and was, in the end, quite subverted. The death of the Duke of Bedford was a fatal blow to the cause of Henry; and, to add HENRY to his misfortunes, the York party in England grew strong, and involved the country in a civil war. They adopted the white rose as their badge of distinction, and the Lancastrians the red. Hence the title given to the struggle "the War of the Roses." After various contests, the king was defeated, and taken prisoner.
However, his wife, Margaret of Anjou, carried on the war with spirit, and for some time with considerable success.
Richard, Duke of York, was slain at Wakefield, and Henry recovered his liberty; but Edward, Earl of March, son of Richard, laid claim to the crown, and routed the queen's forces at Ludlow, but was himself afterward defeated at St.
Alban's. At length the York party prevailed, and Henry was sent to the Tower, where it is believed, he was slain by Richard, Duke Gloucester. He was found dead in the Tower in 1471.
HENRY VII. (Tudor), son of Edmund, Earl of Richmond, and of Margaret, of the house of Lancaster, born in 1456. By the assistance of the Duke of Brittany, he landed in Wales with some troops, and laid claim to the crown in 1485. The people, disgusted at the cruelties of Richard III., joined him in such numbers that he was enabled to give the usurper battle at Bosworth Field, where Richard was slain, and Henry crowned on the spot.
He united the houses of York and Lancaster by marrying Elizabeth, daughter of Edward IV. His reign met with little disturbance, except from two impostors, set up by Lady Margaret, sister to Edward IV. One was a joiner's son, called Lambert Simnel, who personated Richard, Duke of York, who had been murdered by the Duke of Gloucester in the tower. On being taken prisoner, Henry made him a scullion in his kitchen. The other was Perkin Warbeck, who said he was the Duke of York; but he was soon taken, and hanged at Tyburn. Henry reigned 24 years, and greatly increased trade and commerce; but his avarice was excessive. He died in 1509.
HENRY VIII., born in 1491; succeeded his father, Henry VII., at the age of 19.
The first years of his reign were auspicious owing to his generosity; but at length his conduct grew capricious and arbitrary. The Emperor Maximilian and Pope Julius II., having leagued against France, persuaded Henry to join them, and he, in consequence, invaded that kingdom, where he made some conquests.
About the same time, James IV., King of Scotland, invaded England, but was defeated and slain at Flodden Field. Cardinal Wolsey succeeded in bringing Henry over from the imperial interests to those of the French king. When Lu- HENRY ther commenced his reformation in Germany, Henry wrote a book against him, for which he was complimented by the Pope with the title of "Defender of the Faith." But this attachment to the Roman see did not last long; for, having conceived an affection for Anne Boleyn, he determined to divorce his wife, Catharine of Aragon, to whom he had been married 18 years. His plea for the divorce was that Catharine was his brother Arthur's widow. The divorce being refused by the Pope, Henry assumed the title of Supreme Head of the English Church, put down the monasteries, and alienated their possessions to secular purposes. His marriage with Anne Boleyn followed; but he afterward sent her to the scaffold, and married Lady Jane Seymour, who died in child-bed. He next married Anne of Cleves; but she not proving agreeable to his expectations, he put her away, and caused Cromwell, Earl of Essex, the projector of the match, to be beheaded. His next wife was Catharine Howard, who was beheaded for adultery; after which he espoused Catharine Parr, who survived him. He was a man of strong passions and considerable learning. The historian Froude has vindicated his memory in many respects. He died in 1547.
FRANCE.
HENRY I., born in 1004, succeeded his father, Robert I., in 1031, and died in 1060, after a reign of 23 years, frequently disturbed by civil and foreign wars. HENRY II., son of Francis I. and his queen, Claude, born 1518. His marriage with Catharine de Medicis was celebrated at Marseilles, in 1533, by her uncle, Pope Clement VII. Henry succeeded his father in 1547, and at once made a complete change in the court and ministry. The most influential persons in his reign were the Cardinal of Lorraine and his brother Francis, Duke of Guise, the Constable de Montmorenci, the Marshal de St. André, and Diana of Poitiers, the king's favorite mistress, whom he made duchess of Valentinois. He carried on war with England, and recovered Boulogne for France; war with the Pope and with Spain; fighting for the Protestants in Germany, while he persecuted them in France; acquired by conquest Metz, Toul, and Verdun; and retained them under the treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis, which closed the war in 1559. By the same treaty Calais was confirmed to France. The siege of Metz by Charles V., and its defense by the Duke of Guise; the battle and siege of Renti; the great victory of the Spaniards at St. Quentin; and the battle of Gravelines, are the chief military events of this reign, Mary, HENRY the young queen of Scots, was brought to France about 1549 and betrothed to the dauphin François. Henry died in July, 1559, from the effects of a wound accidentally inflicted by the Count of Montgomery at a splendid tournament a few days before.
HENRY III., third son of Henry II. and Catharine de Medicis; born in 1551. He was first known as Duke of Anjou, and distinguished himself as a soldier at the battle of Jarnac and Moncontour. He was elected King of Poland in 1573, but being proclaimed King of France on the death of Charles IX., in 1574, he escaped, not without risk, from Poland, and returned to France. The country was distracted with the conflicting factions, and wasted with civil war; and the king, feeble in character and self-indulgent, was governed by ignoble favorites. The famous Catholic League was formed, with the Duke of Guise at its head; Henry of Navarre put himself at the head of the Huguenots, and won the battle of Coutras; Paris fell into the power of the League in 1588, and the king fled to Chartres and Rouen; later in the same year he convoked the states-general at Blois, and there had the two Guises assassinated, a crime which excited the revolt of Paris and the principal cities of the kingdom. The Duke of Mayenne was named by the League lieutenant-general of the royal estate and crown of France, and Henry, roused at last to action, joined his rival, Henry of Navarre, and advanced to besiege Paris. At St. Cloud, which he made his headquarters, he was stabbed by a fanatic, Jacques Clement, and died the day after, Aug. 1, 1589.
Henry III. left no children, and was the last sovereign of the Valois line.
HENRY IV. (Quatre), called The Great, King of France and Navarre; born in 1553 in Pau, in Béarn. His father, Anthony of Bourbon, was descended from a son of Louis IX.; his mother was Jeanne d'Albret, daughter of Henry, King of Navarre. He was brought up in the simple and hardy manner of the peasantry of Béarn, and thus laid the foundation of a vigorous constitution and temperate habits. When the perfidious design of destroying the Huguenot chiefs by a massacre was formed by Charles IX. and his mother, Catherine, one of their means to lull suspicion was to propose to Queen Jeanne a marriage between Henry and Margaret of Valois, the king's youngest sister. While preparations were making for the marriage festival, Henry's mother died at Paris, not without strong sus suspicions of poison.
Having assumed the title of King of Navarre, his marriage took place, Aug. 18, 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 Catharine 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, however, he took advantage of a hunting excursion to quit the court, and professed himself again of the Protestant Church.
Catharine, who after the decease of Charles IX., administered the government 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 freedom. 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 following year that of Ivry, over the forces of the League, headed by the Duke of Mayenne. After a protracted and obstinate 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 instructed 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 assassinate him; was solemnly anointed king at Chartres in 1594; and entered the capital amid the acclamations of the people. Peace was not fully re-established till 1598, when the treaty of Vervins was signed. In 1610, while riding through the streets of Paris, his coach was obstructed in the Rue de la Feronnerie 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, Emperor 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- HENRY quished the Bohemians, the Slavonians and the Danes, and conquered the kingdom of Lorraine. He died in 936. HENRY II., great-grandson of the preceding; 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, Hardouin, 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 Conrad 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 acknowledge their dependence on him, and the temporal lords he held in actual subjection. 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; born 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 Bavaria. Henry made war on them, and threw off their yoke. He, however, offended his subjects by the licentiousness of his manners, and quarreled with the Pope, Gregory VII., about investitures.
The latter being appealed to in a subsequent dispute between Henry and the Duke of Saxony, cited Henry to his tribunal, 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 courtyard, received absolution. The quarrel was soon renewed, deposition, excommunication, 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 abdicate the throne. Henry IV. died in HENRY V., the son and successor of the preceding; born in 1081. In 1106 he HENRY rebelled against his father, and dethroned him, assuming the imperial crown in his stead. In 1111 he married Matilda, the daughter of Henry I., King of England; and the rich dowry he received with his princess gave him the means of undertaking an expedition to demand the imperial crown from the Pope. Finding that Pascal refused to crown him, Henry caused the Pope to be conveyed away from the altar while at mass; and cut down, in the streets of Rome, all who opposed him. At length the Pope yielded, and Henry was crowned in 1112, without making any new concessions. Soon after his return to Germany the Pope excommunicated him; which led to a new war, the invasion of Italy, and the election of a rival Pope. Peace was not made till 1122, when the emperor renounced his claims.
He died in 1125.
HENRY VI., son of Frederick Barbarossa; born in 1165. He was elected King of the Romans when four years of age, and succeeded his father on the imperial throne in 1190. The same year, on the death of William II., King ng of Sicily, he claimed that crown in right of Constance, his wife, daughter of King Roger. After being crowned at Rome with his wife in 1191, he made an unsuccessful attempt to conquer Naples. In 1193 he gave Leopold, Duke of Austria, a small price to hand over to his keeping his royal prisoner, Richard I. of England, whom he detained nearly a year, and released for a heavy ransom.
With this money he undertook another expedition against Sicily and succeeded.
He was crowned at Palermo in 1194. A revolt broke out in consequence of his tyranny, and he returned to suppress it.
He died in Messina in 1197.
HENRY VII., succeeded Albert I. in 1308. He undertook an expedition to Italy, and compelled the Milanese to crown him King of Lombardy. He then suppressed a revolt which had broken out in upper Italy; took several cities by storm; and, having captured Rome, he was crowned Roman emperor by the cardinals sent from Avignon, while in the streets the work of murder and pillage was still going on. He died in 1313.
HENRY (RAPSON), LANDGRAVE OF OF THURINGIA, was elected Emperor by the ecclesiastical princes in 1246, when Pope Innocent IV. deposed Frederick II. He died in 1247 of a wound received fight ing his rival.