Henry IV, a man of kindness, compassion…
May 1610 CE
Henry IV, a man of kindness, compassion and good humor, and much loved by his people, has nevertheless been the subject of several murder attempts: by Pierre Barrière in August 1593 and by Jean Châtel in December 1594.
François Ravaillac, a factotum in the courts of Angoulême, had claimed in 1609 to have experienced a vision instructing him to persuade King Henry to convert the Huguenots to Catholicism.
Between Pentecost 1609 and May 1610 Ravaillac has made three separate trips to Paris with the intent of communicating his vision to the king, and lodged with Charlotte du Tillet, mistress of Jean Louis de Nogaret de La Valette, duc d'Épernon.
Unable to meet the king, he has interpreted Henry's decision to invade the Spanish Netherlands as the start of a war against the Pope.
Determined to stop him, he decides to kill Henry.
He lies in wait on May 14, 1610, in the Rue de la Ferronnerie in Paris (now south of the Forum des Halles); when the king passes, his carriage is halted by a blockage in the street, and Ravaillac stabs Henry to death.
Hercule de Rohan, duc de Montbazon, who is with him when he is killed, is wounded but survives.
Ravaillac is immediately seized and taken to the Hôtel de Retz to avoid a mob lynching, before being transferred to the Conciergerie.