Query: The first French king of the House of Bourbon succeeded Henry III of France.

Relevant passages:
Henry IV of France <=SEP=> Henry IV ( Henri IV , read as Henri-Quatre -LSB- ɑ̃ʁi.katʁ -RSB- ; 13 December 1553 -- 14 May 1610 ) , also known by the epithet `` Good King Henry '' , was King of Navarre ( as Henry III ) from 1572 to 1610 and King of France from 1589 to 1610 . He was the first French monarch of the House of Bourbon , a branch of the Capetian dynasty .   Baptised as a Catholic but raised in the Protestant faith by his mother Jeanne d'Albret , Queen of Navarre , he inherited the throne of Navarre in 1572 on the death of his mother . As a Huguenot , Henry was involved in the French Wars of Religion , barely escaping assassination in the St. Bartholomew 's Day massacre , and later led Protestant forces against the royal army .   Henry , as Head of the House of Bourbon , was a direct male-line descendant of Louis IX of France , and `` first prince of the blood '' . Upon the death of his brother-in-law and distant cousin Henry III of France in 1589 , Henry was called to the French succession by the Salic law . He initially kept the Protestant faith and had to fight against the Catholic League , which denied that he could wear France 's crown as a Protestant . To obtain mastery over his kingdom , after four years of stalemate , he found it prudent to abjure the Calvinist faith . As a pragmatic politician ( in the parlance of the time , a politique ) , he displayed an unusual religious tolerance for the era . Notably , he promulgated the Edict of Nantes ( 1598 ) , which guaranteed religious liberties to Protestants , thereby effectively ending the Wars of Religion . He was assassinated in 1610 by François Ravaillac , a fanatical Catholic , and was succeeded by his son Louis XIII .   Considered a usurper by some Catholics and a traitor by some Protestants , Henry became target of at least 12 assassination attempts . An unpopular king immediately after his accession , Henry 's popularity greatly improved after his death , in light of repeated victories over his enemies and his conversion to Catholicism . The `` Good King Henry '' ( le bon roi Henri ) was remembered for his geniality and his great concern about the welfare of his subjects . He was celebrated in the popular song Vive le roi Henri and in Voltaire 's Henriade .

Henry III of France <=SEP=> Henry III ( 19 September 1551 -- 2 August 1589 ; born Alexandre Édouard de France , Henryk Walezy , Henrikas Valua ) was a monarch of the House of Valois who was elected the monarch of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1573 to 1575 and ruled as King of France from 1574 until his death . He was the last French monarch of the Valois dynasty .   As the fourth son of King Henry II of France and Catherine de ' Medici , Henry was not expected to assume the throne of France . He was thus a good candidate for the vacant Commonwealth throne , and he was elected with the dual titles King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania .   Henry 's rule over the Commonwealth was brief , but notable . The Henrician Articles he signed into law accepting the Commonwealth throne established Poland as an elective monarchy subject to free election by the Polish nobility . Of his three older brothers , two would live long enough to ascend the French throne , but both died young and without a legitimate male heir . He abandoned Commonwealth upon receiving word that he had inherited the throne of France at the age of 22 .   The kingdom of France was at the time plagued by the Wars of Religion , and Henry 's authority was undermined by violent political parties funded by foreign powers : the Catholic League ( supported by Spain ) , the Protestant Huguenots ( supported by England and the Dutch ) and the Malcontents , led by Henry 's own brother , the Duke of Alençon , which was a party of Catholic and Protestant aristocrats who jointly opposed the absolutist ambitions of the king . Henry III was himself a politique , arguing that a strong and religiously tolerant monarchy would save France from collapse .   After the death of Henry 's younger brother Francis , Duke of Anjou , and when it became apparent that Henry would not produce an heir , the Wars of Religion grew into a succession crisis that resulted in a war known as the War of the Three Henrys . Henry III 's legitimate heir was his distant cousin Henry , King of Navarre , a Protestant . The Catholic League , led by Henry I , Duke of Guise , sought to exclude Protestants from the succession and championed the Catholic Charles , Cardinal of Bourbon , as Henry III 's heir .   In 1589 , Jacques Clément , a Catholic fanatic , murdered Henry III , who was succeeded by the King of Navarre who , as Henry IV , would assume the throne of France after converting to Catholicism , and become the first French king of the House of Bourbon .