Henry IV: The Most Important Ruler In France's History

Henry IV was one of the most important rulers in France's history because he settled the religious wars between the huguenots ( protestants) and the catholics and also restored France to strong place. Henry did this by installing the edict of nantes which like i said before allowed the protestants to live in peace and worship and live wherever and whoever they wanted. since henry switched from protestantism to catholicism many people hated him for this and this was the cause of his death because in 1610, a crazed lunatic jumped into his cart and stabbed him to death. Although henry's son did inherit the throne, he was not by any means fit to rule. in 1624 Louis XIII appointed cardinal richelieu to power. richelieu united the country by doing two things, he

cardinal richelieu brought France together by eliminating the things that separated the poor from the rich, and the protestants from the catholics. perhaps the most important and powerful ruler of France was louis XIV. louis improved the economy by using a theory which was adviced to him called mercantilism This theory meant that the goal was to import less than they exported and that France should become self sufficient. this theory greatly improved France. unfortunately after louis most trusted financial advisor:Jean baptiste Colbert died, louis removed the edict of nantes which meant that protestants were no longer welcome to live in france. This caused a great dent in the economy because all of the protestants left which meant that many of the workers that had once contributed to the working force were now gone. although this hurt the economy it didn't ruin it. SInce france was so powerful its population increased, which meant that their army expanded. france had nearly 4 times as many people as england and ten times as much as the