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قديم 02-20-2012, 09:56 PM
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تابع ...37- هنري الرابع

Far-East Asia

During the reign of Henry IV, various enterprises were set up to develop trade to faraway lands. In December 1600, a company was formed through the association of Saint-Malo, Laval and Vitré to trade with the Moluccas and Japan.[31] Two ships, the Croissant and the Corbin, were sent around the Cape in May 1601. One was wrecked in the Maldives, leading to the adventure of François Pyrard de Laval, who managed to return to France in 1611.[31][32] The second ship, onboard which was François Martin de Vitré, reached Ceylon and traded with Aceh in Sumatra, but was captured by the Dutch on the return leg at Cape Finisterre.[31][32] François Martin de Vitré was the first Frenchman to write an account of travels to the Far East in 1604, at the request of Henry IV, and from that time numerous accounts on Asia would be published.[33]
From 1604 to 1609, following the return of François Martin de Vitré, Henry IV of France developed a strong enthusiasm for travel to Asia and attempted to set up a French East India Company on the model of England and the Netherlands.[32][33][34] On 1 June 1604, he issued letters patent to Dieppe merchants to form the Dieppe Company, giving them exclusive rights to Asian trade for 15 years. No ships were sent, however, until 1616.[31] In 1609, another adventurer, Pierre-Olivier Malherbe returned from a circumnavigation and informed Henry IV of his adventures.[33] He had visited China and in India had an encounter with Akbar.[33]
Character

Henry IV proved to be a man of vision and courage. Instead of waging costly wars to suppress opposing nobles, Henry simply paid them off. As king, he adopted policies and undertook projects to improve the lives of all subjects, which made him one of the country's most popular rulers ever.
A declaration often attributed to him is:

Si Dieu me prête vie, je ferai qu’il n’y aura point de laboureur en mon royaume qui n’ait les moyens d’avoir le dimanche une poule dans son pot!
(If God keeps me, I will make sure that there is no working man in my kingdom who does not have the means to have a chicken in the pot every Sunday!)


This statement epitomizes the peace and relative prosperity Henry brought to France after decades of religious war, and demonstrates how well he understood the plight of the French worker or peasant farmer. This real concern for the living conditions of the 'lowly' population – who in the final analysis provided the economic basis on which the power of the king and the great nobles rested – was perhaps without parallel among the Kings of France. It also made Henry IV extremely popular with the population.
Henry's forthright manner, physical courage and military successes also contrasted dramatically with the sickly, effete languor of the last tubercular Valois kings, as evinced by his blunt assertion that he ruled with "weapon in hand and arse in the saddle" (on a le bras armé et le cul sur la selle). He was also a great womanizer, fathering many children by a number of his mistresses.
Nicknames

Henry was nicknamed Henry the Great (Henri le Grand), and in France is also called le bon roi Henri ("the good king Henry") or le vert galant which is an expression (impossible to render shortly in English) implying that he was a lively, dashing fellow, courteous, but bold and confident with women and eager to please.[35] In English he is most often referred to as Henry of Navarre.
Assassination

Although he was a man of kindness, compassion and good humor, and was much loved by his people, Henry was the subject of attempts on his life by Pierre Barrière in August 1593[36] and Jean Châtel in December 1594.[37]
King Henry IV was ultimately assassinated in Paris on 14 May 1610 by a Catholic fanatic, François Ravaillac, who stabbed the king to death in Rue de la Ferronnerie, while his coach's progress was stopped by traffic congestion for the Queen's coronation ceremony,[38][39] as depicted in the engraving by Gaspar Bouttats. Hercule de Rohan, duc de Montbazon was with him when he was killed; Montbazon himself was wounded but survived. Henry was buried at the Saint Denis Basilica.
His widow, Marie de' Medici, served as regent for their 9-year-old son, Louis XIII, until 1617.[40]
Legacy

The reign of Henry IV had a lasting impact on the French people for generations afterwards. A statue of him was built in his honor at the Pont Neuf in 1614, only four years after his death. Although this statue—as well as those of all the other French kings—was torn down during the French Revolution, it was the first to be rebuilt, in 1818, and it stands today on the Pont Neuf. A cult surrounding the personality of Henry IV emerged during the Restoration. The restored Bourbons were keen to play down the contested reigns of Louis XV and Louis XVI and instead emphasised the reign of the benevolent Henry IV. The song "Vive Henri IV" ("Long Live Henry IV") was used during the Restoration as an unofficial anthem of France, played in the absence of the king. In addition, when Princess Caroline of Naples and Sicily (a descendant of his) gave birth to a male heir to the throne of France, seven months after the assassination of her husband Charles Ferdinand, duc de Berry by a Republican fanatic, the boy was conspicuously named Henri, in reference to his forefather Henry IV. The boy was also baptised in the traditional way of Béarn/Navarre, with a spoon of Jurançon wine and some garlic, as had been done when Henry IV was baptised in Pau (although this custom had not been followed by any later Bourbon king).
Henry IV's popularity continued, when the first edition (in French) of his biography, Histoire du Roy Henry le Grand, was published in Amsterdam in 1661. It was written by Hardouin de Péréfixe de Beaumont, successively Bishop of Rhodez and Archbishop of Paris, primarily for the edification of Louis XIV, grandson of Henry IV. A translation into English was made by James Dauncey for another grandson, King Charles II of England. An English edition came of this, published at London two years later in 1663. Numerous French editions have been published. However, only one more (with disputable accuracy) English edition was published, before 1896, when a new translation was published.
He also gave his name to the Henry IV style of architecture, which he patronised. He is the eponymous subject of the royal anthem of France, "Marche Henri IV