France during Henry IV

Autor u ovome uratku prikazuje francusko društvo za vrijeme i nakon religijskih ratova, odnosno kako se Francuska nosila s posljedicama tih dugotrajnih sukoba. Nakon 40 godina sukoba, s dolaskom nove dinastije Bourbon došla su i bolja vremena. Henrik Bourbon se morao izboriti za svoju krunu na koju mu je pravo bilo osporavano jer nije bio katoličke vjeroispovijesti. Za vlast nad zemljom se izborio dijelom vojno, ali većim dijelom pomirljivim pristupom svojim protivnicima, te posebno prelaskom na katoličanstvo čime su njegovi protivnici ostali bez argumenata kojim su osporavali njegov legitimitet. Nakon što je primirio ostatke pobunjenika donio je Nanteski edikt koji je uspostavio vjerski mir u državi. Nakon toga se posvetio revitalizaciji države koja je bila u teškom stanju. Veoma brzo, uz pomoć prijatelja Sullya i ostalih savjetnika, je obnovio financije, gospodarstvo i administraciju čime je Francuska ponovno postala jedna od najjačih sila EuropeThe author gives an insight into French society during religion wars and how France coped with its consequences after the conflicts ended. After 40 years of struggle, better times came with the new Bourbon dynasty. Unlikely ruler Henry Bourbon had to fight his way up to crown as he was a protestant in mostly catholic country in times of great religious hatred. He managed that partially thanks to his military success, but mostly to his conciliatory approach to his enemies. He gained the crucial advantage when he decided to convert to catholicism as his enemies were left without arguments against his reign. After he has beaten rebellious leftovers he established religious peace through Edict of Nantes. Once he has finished with peace matters, he committed to improving the state of the country which was at the time disastrous. With the assistance of his great friend Sully and other trusted advisers, great work was done in the financial, economic and administrative areas as France quickly rose from the ashes