Interpretation Of Henry IV And Passage A By Davies

Joshua Zindani.
Henry IV: Interpretation
Henry IV’s reign was filled with many ups and downs as he inherited the position whilst France was in a state of turmoil. Both passages highlight that France was torn apart by religious conflict and foreign affairs. France’s economic landscape was virtually non-existent due to the acts of the monarchs who came before Henry IV. Despite these initial similarities between the two passages, they differ massively when it comes to examining the core content within. Firstly, Passage A by Davies takes a much more positive approach crediting Henry IV with several successes in a wide range of areas such as religion and foreign policy. On the other hand passage B by Greengrass takes a much more negative outlook

Along with this A highlights the fact that Henry IV had converted to become a Catholic to share the religion with most of his people. This was not the first time that Henry had converted to a catholic as he was forced to do so after the events of St Bart’s under the rule of Charles IX. This wilful abjuration of his faith to support his people suggests that Henry was willing to do what he saw best for France and its people no matter his own beliefs. Suggesting that his reign was spearheaded by his willingness to correct the wrongs of past monarchs and unite the entirety of France on peaceful terms. Despite Henry leaving the Huguenots to become a catholic this did not mean that he was going to repeat the wrongdoings of previous monarchs and cast the Huguenots aside instead he granted them near religious freedom and Henry IV had not forgotten where he came from. How Henry achieved this support for the Huguenots via the edict of Nantes[1598]. This edict granted the Huguenot population many rights which had been stripped away from them

This was an improvement by Henry on the work of Charles whom he had witnessed first-hand. These immense efforts by Henry IV to try and make both sides happy highlight his strong will to improve France. Passage A presents these facts which can be backed up by historical evidence which makes for a convincing explanation of how Henry IV dealt with religion. Passage A also highlights the military success that Henry saw as he was able to defeat Spain which had been causing issues for France back in the days of Louis XII. The presentation of these arguments furthers the explanation of passage A as France had to no longer deal with Spain under Henry. The final major area which passage A covers is the economic aspects of his reign. France had seen economic ruin under the previous monarchs due to the wild spending on wars, mass borrowing and the collapse of several key industries in France. This meant that Henry and his head of finance Sully had a huge task ahead of them. Despite the