Editing French Wars of Religion (section)

== {{anchor|1593–1598}} Toward peace (1593–1598) ==

=== Conversion ===
[[File:Entrance of Henry IV in Paris 22 March 1594.jpg|thumb|Entrance of Henry IV in Paris, 22&nbsp;March 1594, with 1,500&nbsp;[[cuirassier]]s]]
[[File:Départ des espagnols de Paris le 22 mars 1594 Musée Carnavalet.jpg|thumb|Departure of Spanish troops from Paris, 22&nbsp;March 1594]]
[[File:Henry IV en Herculeus terrassant l Hydre de Lerne cad La ligue Catholique Atelier Toussaint Dubreuil circa 1600.jpg|thumb|[[Henry IV of France|Henry&nbsp;IV]], as [[Hercules]] vanquishing the [[Lernaean Hydra]] (i.e. the [[Catholic League (French)|Catholic League]]), by [[Toussaint Dubreuil]], circa 1600. [[Louvre Museum]].]]
Despite the campaigns between 1590 and 1592, Henry&nbsp;IV was "no closer to capturing Paris".<ref>Knecht 2000, p.&nbsp;264.</ref> Realising that Henry&nbsp;III had been right and that there was no prospect of a Protestant king succeeding in resolutely Catholic Paris, Henry agreed to convert, reputedly stating "''Paris vaut bien une messe''" ("[[Paris is well worth a mass]]"). He was formally received into the Catholic Church in 1593, and was crowned at [[Chartres]] in 1594 as League members maintained control of the [[Reims Cathedral|Cathedral of Reims]], and, sceptical of Henry's sincerity, continued to oppose him. He was finally received into Paris in March&nbsp;1594, and 120&nbsp;League members in the city who refused to submit were banished from the capital.<ref name="KnechtFrenchCivilWars270">Knecht 2000, p.&nbsp;270.</ref> Paris' capitulation encouraged the same of many other towns, while others returned to support the crown after [[Pope Clement VIII|Pope Clement&nbsp;VIII]] absolved Henry, revoking his [[excommunication]] in return for the publishing of the [[Council of Trent|Tridentine Decrees]], the restoration of Catholicism in [[Béarn]], and appointing only Catholics to high office.<ref name="KnechtFrenchCivilWars270" /> Evidently Henry's conversion worried Protestant nobles, many of whom had, until then, hoped to win not just concessions but a complete reformation of the French Church, and their acceptance of Henry was by no means a foregone conclusion.{{sfn|Sutherland|1980|pp=296–300}}{{sfn|Salmon|1975|p=294}}{{sfn|Benedict|1999|p=36}}

=== {{anchor|1595–1598}} War with Spain (1595–1598) ===
By the end of 1594, certain League members still worked against Henry across the country, but all relied on Spain's support. In January&nbsp;1595, the king declared war on Spain to show Catholics that Spain was using religion as a cover for an attack on the French state{{snd}}and to show Protestants that his conversion had not made him a puppet of Spain. Also, he hoped to reconquer large parts of northern France from the Franco-Spanish Catholic forces.<ref>Knecht 2000, p.&nbsp;272.</ref> The conflict mostly consisted of military action aimed at League members, such as the [[Battle of Fontaine-Française]], though the Spanish launched a concerted offensive in 1595, taking [[Siege of Le Catelet (1595)|Le Catelet]], [[Siege of Doullens|Doullens]] and [[Cambrai]] (the latter after a fierce bombardment), and in the spring of 1596 [[Siege of Calais (1596)|capturing Calais]] by April. Following the Spanish capture of [[Amiens]] in March&nbsp;1597 the French crown [[Siege of Amiens (1597)|laid siege]] until its surrender in September. With that victory Henry's concerns then turned to the situation in [[Brittany]] where he promulgated the [[Edict of Nantes]] and sent [[Pomponne de Bellièvre|Bellièvre]] and Brulart de Sillery to negotiate a peace with Spain. The war was drawn to an official close after the [[Edict of Nantes]], with the [[Peace of Vervins]] in May&nbsp;1598.{{sfn|Holt|2005|p=165}}{{sfn|Babelon|2009|pp=610–611}}{{sfn|Salmon|1975|p=294}}

=== {{anchor|1598–1599}} Resolution of the war in Brittany (1598–1599) ===
In early 1598, the king marched against Mercœur in person, and received his submission at [[Angers]] on 20&nbsp;March 1598. Mercœur subsequently went to exile in Hungary. Mercœur's daughter and heiress was married to the [[César de Bourbon, duc de Vendôme|Duke of Vendôme]], an illegitimate son of Henry IV.{{sfn|Pitts|2012|pp=207–208}}