Henry Iv: How Did He Contribute

Henry IV became the King of France in 1593 after the religious war, known as the war of the three Henries, and after civil war that torn apart France. Before he ascended the King of France, he was a Huguenot who took a part in religious war. But when he became the king, he converted to Catholic to satisfy the wishes of most population of France. For all that handicap, he was able to build absolute France.

The first thing he did, after he became the king, was enactment of the Edit of Nantes which granted the religious tolerance to the Protestants. This effectively ended the civil war within in France. The Treaty of Vervins with Spain gave Henry the Catholic supports and withdraws of Philip II's troop in France. This gave Henry the freedom to re-build France.

After he brought stability in religion, he started to focus on economy. With his minister, Maximilien de BÐ"©thune, duc de Sully, Henry started to reorganized finances. Under Henry's control, Sully reduced the interest on money borrowed by the crown and he started to buy back the royal lands that sold off to raise capital for the crown. Sully decreased the number of parishes around France to make tax collection easier. Furthermore he developed new tax, the Paulette, was an amount, paid annually, to ensure that a royal office could be passed down in the form of an inheritance to that holder's next generation, to increase the crown's revenue. The Gabelle, or salt tax, and the Don Gratuit, the church tax were collected. With all these fiscal policy, Henry was able to gain a lot of wealth. He was able to use wealth freely without Parliament's consent.

Beside tax, Henry also concentrated industry and agriculture. His minister, Sully, encouraged agriculture. He passed laws prohibiting nobles from trampling on fields to give freedom for land to pheasants. Differ from Sully; Henry viewed more on the industry. He set up of textile industries, such as silk. It did not help the economy right away, but Henry saw that it will be beneficial in long run. This work of agriculture and industry helped to boost up the population of France during Henry IV's reign. To support industry, Henry ordered the building of infrastructure, such as roads and bridges. This improved communication and helped regulation of trade between cities. Henry also improved the postal services as an indispensable factor of regulating trade. In this object, Henry let the State to spend freely. As a result of all