Henry III
from the gates. He was assassinated {113} by a Burgundian monk as he
approached the city "he had loved more than his wife," and Henry of
Navarre, though a heretic, now claimed the right of entrance.

Navarre was the lineal descendant of Saint Louis of France, but for ten
generations no ancestor of his in the male line had ruled the French
kingdom. He was the grandson of Margaret, sister of Francis I, and
Henry d'Albret, who had borne captivity with that monarch. Many were
pledged to him by vows made to the dying King, who had come to look on
him as a doughty champion; many swore that they would die a thousand
deaths rather than be the servants of a heretic master.

In February 1590, Henry laid siege to Dreux in order to place himself
between his enemies and Paris. Mayenne, the leader of the opposite
camp, drew him to Ivry, where a battle was fought on March 14th,
resulting in the complete discomfiture of the Catholic Leaguers. The
white plume of Navarre floated victorious on the field, and the black
lilies of Mayenne were trampled. The road to Paris lay open to the
heretic King, who invested the city on the northern side, but did not
attack the inhabitants. The blockade would have reduced the hungry
citizens to submission at the end of a month if the Duke of Parma had
not come to their relief at the command of the Spanish sovereign.

Philip II wished his daughter to marry the young Duke of Guise and to
ascend the French throne with her husband. For that reason he
supported Paris in its refusal to accept the Protestant King of
Navarre. It was not till March 1594, that the King, known as Henri
Quatre, was able to lead his troops into Paris.

Navarre had been compelled to attend Mass in public and to ask
absolution from the Archbishop of Bourges, {114} who received him into
the fold of the Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Church before the
coronation. He was now the "most Christian King," welcomed with blaze
of bonfires and the blare of trumpets. He was crowned at Chartres
because the Catholic League held Rheims, and he entered Paris by the
Porte Neuve, through which Henry III had fled from the Guises some six
years previously. The Spaniards had to withdraw from his capital,
being told that their services would be required no longer.

Henry IV waged successful wars against Spain and the Catholic League,
gradually recovering the whole of his dominions by his energy and
courage. He settled the status