Hero or Tyrant? Henry III, King of France, 1574–89 par Robert J Knecht (review)

Reviews 249 Knecht, Robert J. Hero or Tyrant? Henry III, King of France, 1574–89. Farnham: Ashgate, 2014. ISBN 978-1-4724-2930-8. Pp. 370. £75. It is surprising indeed to see the word“hero”in connection with Henry III, the last Valois ruler, son of Catherine de’ Medici and predecessor of Henry IV. Knecht’s fascinating, comprehensive history of one of France’s most reviled kings provides much-needed insight and a fresh perspective on Henry who, as the title suggests, was a man of contradictions and conflicting images and actions. The chapters are thematic and closely follow the trajectory of Henry’s life, from his childhood to his assassination in 1589 at age 37. Knecht asserts he is “attempting to fill a void” (xiii), since the only biography of Henri III in English dates from 1858. Knecht has garnered an impressive array of primary and secondary sources to describe Henry’s life and give a voice to this much-maligned monarch. Written in an informative, readable style with the occasional wry observation that humanizes the subject and captures the reader’s interest, Knecht maintains a professional objectivity while enlightening the reader as to the myriad complexities and difficulties of Henry’s reign. Illustrations and engravings add contextual imagery, placing the reader in the historical setting in a way that is accessible even to non-historians.Knecht’s work also incorporates contemporary accounts about the king and his deeds, including a derogatory poem about the Polish written after Henry, an unwilling Polish king, snuck out of Poland“like a traitor”(85) to return to his beloved France. Letters from an English visitor to the Court also provide commentary on the curious goings-on viewed by an outsider.Knecht’s detailed descriptions of the inner workings of Henry’s court highlight the rigors of ruling during a particularly tumultuous period in French history and inspire a number of questions on the nature of his reign, widely considered a “failure” (315). Was Henry’s seemingly erratic ruling style a reaction to being dominated and over-ruled by his mother? Did Henry truly seek peace for his kingdom above all, which is why he vacillated wildly on the Huguenot question? Was he terribly insecure, seeking advice not just from his mother but from a vast number of courtiers and mignons? Was Henry unstable in other ways, ranging from exaggerated periods of piety and self-flagellation to extravagant displays of pomposity and excess? Knecht neither avoids identifying Henry’s shortcomings nor downplays Henry’s role in atrocities such as the Blois murders, but he also pays tribute to Henry’s skills and accomplishments, such as a more static French court and the many reforms he established,despite these accomplishments being overshadowed by Henry IV and mitigated by the horrors of the Wars of Religion.As Knecht notes,Henry had the“misfortune to become king when France was torn by civil strife”(315). By placing the focus on Henry and framing this discussion in the context of the political and social events of his era, Knecht’s work represents an important and much-needed contribution to the English-language accounts of this last monarch of the Valois dynasty, leaving it to the reader to decide: hero or tyrant? University of Wisconsin, Whitewater Sheila Turek ...