Henri III was born in Fontainebleau into 1551, it is the third wire of Henri II and Catherine de Médicis.
It becomes, a little against its liking, King de Pologne (1573-1574) under the name of Henri Ist As soon as it learns death from his brother it flees of Cracow in order to appear like the successor of Charles IX and to draw aside any inclination on behalf of his brother François Duc of Alencon (which will become Duc of Anjou besides).
It joined Catherine de Médicis in Lyon where it starts by reorganizing the Council by introducing his comrades-in-arms there (the nice ones), in particular Epernon and future Duke of Merry.
The nice ones of Henri III were the noble ones of sword, which constituted its favourites - such is indeed the meaning of the " nice " word in XVIe century, other than any sexual connotation, even if made out directed against the king went until speaking about " nice about berth ".
Henri III is crowned in Rheims on February 13 1575. He marries Louise of Lorraine-Vaudémont niece of the duke Charles III of Lorraine, the shortly after his sacring (they will not have children).
It very quickly became obvious that the royal couple was sterile - this sterility was perhaps the consequence of a miscarriage of the queen. The royal husbands tried by all kinds of means of obtaining a heir, at the same time by receipts of doctors or bonesetter, by pilgrimages and mortifications.
The private life of the king and his tastes caused the hostility, because of its refinements - jewels, in particular earrings, perfumes, clothing... -, of its nature nonin conformity with the idea that its contemporaries were done of their sovereign - periods of abatement, mystical crises -, and especially of its " nice ".
Henri III is the last of these " Valois declining " which controlled the kingdom of France then in prey with the wars of religion. Its reign, as that of his/her brothers who had preceded it on the throne, was marked by the intrigues, the assassinations and the difficulty in releasing a party which supports truly the policy of the king.
In the storm of years 1570-1580, Henri III however did not show the impotent monarch, however the extinction of its line, while involving most serious of the dynastic crises of Ancien Régime, underlined its weaknesses and its errors.
In 1589, Henri III and King de Navarre approach and agree to Tours on April 30 1589 in order to fight against the League. May 18 they gain the battle of Bonneval, take Pontoise on July 26 and engage the head office of Paris. It is then, August 1 1589, that Henri III is assassinated by a monk, Jacques Clément. For as much the King time has to designate Henri de Bourbon like his successor, it will be the King Henri IV.