Today in History 08/18 (Henry IV of France)

Lived: Dec 13, 1553 – May 14, 1610 (age 56)
Nationality: French
Spouse: Marie de’ Medici (m. 1600) · Margaret of Valois (m. Aug 18, 1572)
Children: Louis XIII of France (Son) · Henrietta Maria of France (Daughter) · Catherine Henriette de Bourbon (Daughter) · Gaston, Duke of Orléans (Son) · Christine Marie of France (Daughter) · Elisabeth of France (Daughter) · César, Duke of Vendôme (Son) · Nicolas Henri, Duke of Orléans (Son)
Parents: Jeanne d’Albret (Mother) · Antoine of Navarre (Father)
Siblings: Catherine de Bourbon (Sister)Highlights
- 1572: Baptised as a Catholic but raised in the Protestant faith by his mother Jeanne d’Albret, Queen of Navarre, Henry inherited the throne of Navarre in 1572 on the death of his mother.
- 1572: In 1572, after the massacre of French Calvinists, he was forced by Catherine de’ Medici and other powerful Roman Catholic royalty to convert.
- 1572: Henry IV of France married Margaret of Valois on August 18, 1572.
- 1594: Since Reims, the traditional location for the coronation of French kings, was still occupied by the Catholic League, Henry was crowned King of France at the Cathedral of Chartres on 27 February 1594.
- 1598: In 1598 he issued the Edict of Nantes, which granted circumscribed toleration to the Huguenots.
- 1610: Although a formal Roman Catholic, he valued his Calvinist upbringing and was tolerant toward the Huguenots until his death in 1610, and issued the Edict of Nantes which granted many concessions to them.

Henry III of France on his deathbed designating Henry IV of Navarre as his successor (1589)
wiki/Henry_IV_of_France
(1572) A royal wedding bids to bridge religions in France.
Also on this day,
1612 | Lancashire Witch trials begin in England
Also on this day,
1612 | Lancashire Witch trials begin in England
Twelve citizens of Lancashire, England have been accused of 10 murders by way of witchcraft. A brew of familial bad blood, local leaders keen to please King James, and the reputation of Pendle Hill, a wild and wooly part of Lancashire, will lead to the mass hanging of 10 “witches.”1920 | American women get the right to vote
The US women’s suffrage movement has walked an arduous road, from 1848’s Seneca Falls Convention, through decades of activism, and some violent resistance, but the journey ends as the Nineteenth Amendment to the US Constitution is ratified 42 years after Congress first introduced it.1963 | Ole Miss graduates its first African American student
Congratulations are in order as James Meredith graduates with a political science degree from the segregated University of Mississippi, or ‘Ole Miss,’ less than a year after federal troops had to quell racist violence when he became the first African American to enroll in the history of the school.
Today in History 08/18/17

Nineteenth Amendment in the National Archives
wiki/Nineteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution