Editing Henry III of France (section)

==King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (1574–1575)==
Following the death of the Polish ruler [[Sigismund II Augustus]] on 7 July 1572, [[Jean de Monluc]] was sent as the French envoy to Poland to negotiate the election of Henry to the Polish throne in exchange for military support against Russia, diplomatic assistance in dealing with the [[Ottoman Empire]], and financial subsidies.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Manetsch |first=Scott M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZH9Rkw4Yl8EC&pg=PA80 |title=''Theodore Beza and the quest for peace in France, 1572–1598'' |publisher=BRILL |date=2000 |isbn=9-0041-1101-8 |page=80}}</ref> [[Charles IX of France|Charles IX]] allowed Henry's envoys to give up to 50,000 [[écu]]s to important people in Poland-Lithuania as a bribe, but this would increase to 100,000 each.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Roşu |first=Felicia |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/990854634 |title=Elective monarchy in Transylvania and Poland-Lithuania, 1569-1587 |date=2017 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-878937-6 |edition= |location=Oxford, United Kingdom |oclc=990854634}}</ref>

[[File:Henri on the throne in front of the Polish Diet.jpg|thumb|right|Henry III on the Polish throne, in front of the [[Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] and [[Szlachta|aristocracy]] surrounded by [[halberdiers]], 1574]]

On 16 May 1573, Polish nobles chose Henry as the first elected monarch of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]]. The Lithuanian nobles boycotted this election, however, and it was left to the Lithuanian ducal council to confirm his election.{{Sfn|Stone|2001|page=118}} The commonwealth elected Henry, rather than [[Habsburg]] candidates, partly in order to be more agreeable to the [[Ottoman Empire]] (a traditional ally of France through the [[Franco-Ottoman alliance]]) and strengthen a [[Polish-Ottoman alliance]] that was in effect.{{Sfn|Davies|2007|p=10}}  In addition to this, Henry was not a powerful ruler in his own right, as he was only a Prince, nor did France border the Commonwealth, so he wouldn't have the capacity to strip the Polish Nobility of their [[Nobility privileges in Poland|historic rights]].<ref name=":0" />

A Polish delegation went to La Rochelle to meet with Henry, who was leading the Siege of La Rochelle. Henry left the siege following their visit.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Greengrass |first=Mark |title=''Governing passions: peace and reform in the French kingdom, 1576–1585'' Mark Greengrass |date=2007 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-1992-1490-7 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=4aTeF5p6FYAC&pg=PA17 17]}}</ref> In Paris, on 10 September, the Polish delegation asked Henry to take an oath, at [[Notre Dame de Paris|Notre Dame Cathedral]], to "respect traditional Polish liberties and the law on religious freedom that had been passed during the [[Interrex (Poland)|interregnum]]".{{Sfn|Stone|2001|page=119}} As a condition of his election, he was compelled to sign the ''[[Pacta conventa (Poland)|pacta conventa]]'' and the [[Henrician Articles]], pledging [[religious tolerance]] in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.<ref name="jasienica">{{Cite book |last=Paweł Jasienica |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ltseAAAAMAAJ&q=Rzeczpospolita+Obojga+Narod%C3%B3w+Jasienica |title=Rzeczpospolita Obojga Narodów (The Commonwealth of the Both Nations) |date=1982 |isbn=8-3060-0788-3 |location=Warsaw |language=pl}}</ref> Henry chafed at the restrictions on monarchic power under the Polish-Lithuanian [[political system]] of "[[Golden Liberty]]".<ref name=jasienica/> The [[General sejm|Polish-Lithuanian parliament]] had been urged by [[Anna Jagiellon]], the sister of the recently deceased king Sigismund II Augustus, to elect him based on the understanding that Henry would wed Anna afterward.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Zbigniew Satała |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HBI1AAAAIAAJ&q=anna+jagiellonka |title=Poczet polskich królowych, księżnych i metres |date=1990 |isbn=8-3700-7257-7 |location=Warsaw |language=pl}}</ref>

At a ceremony before the [[Parlement#The Parlement of Paris|Parlement of Paris]] on 13 September, the Polish delegation handed over the "certificate of election to the throne of Poland-Lithuania".{{Sfn|Stone|2001|page=119}} Henry also gave up any claims to succession and he "recognized the principle of free election" under the Henrician Articles and the ''[[Pacta conventa (Poland)|pacta conventa]]''.{{Sfn|Stone|2001|page=119}}

[[File:Grottger Escape of Henry of Valois.jpg|thumb|left|''Escape of Henry III from Poland'', by [[Artur Grottger]], 1860]]

[[File:Emanuel van Meteren Historie ppn 051504510 MG 8760 henrick de III.tif|thumb|Engraving of Henry III]]

It was not until January 1574 that Henry was to reach the borders of Poland. On 21 February, Henry's coronation was held in [[Kraków]].{{Sfn|Stone|2001|pp=120–121}} In mid-June 1574, upon learning of the death of his brother Charles IX, Henry left Poland and headed back to France.{{Sfn|Stone|2001|pp=120–121}} Henry's absence provoked a constitutional crisis that the Parliament attempted to resolve by notifying Henry that his throne would be lost if he did not return from France by 12 May 1575.{{Sfn|Stone|2001|pp=120–121}} His failure to return caused Parliament to declare his throne vacant.{{Sfn|Stone|2001|pp=120–121}}

The short reign of Henry at [[Wawel Castle]] in Poland was marked by a clash of cultures between the Polish and the French. The young king and his followers were astonished by several Polish practices and disappointed by the rural poverty and harsh climate of the country.<ref name=jasienica/> The Poles, on the other hand, wondered if all Frenchmen were as concerned with their appearance as their new king appeared to be.<ref name=jasienica/>

In many aspects, Polish culture had a positive influence on France. At Wawel, the French were introduced to new technologies of septic facilities, in which litter (excrement) was taken outside the castle walls.<ref name="placet">{{Cite web |last=Krzysztof Prendecki |date=30 October 2006 |title=Kuracja wiedzą |url=http://placet.pl/?mod=Artykuly&id=85 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320004843/http://placet.pl/?mod=Artykuly&id=85 |archive-date=20 March 2012 |access-date=5 January 2009 |website=placet.pl |language=pl}}</ref> On returning to France, Henry wanted to order the construction of such facilities at the [[Louvre]] and other palaces.<ref name="placet"/> Other inventions introduced to the French by the Polish included a bath with regulated hot and cold water as well as dining forks.<!-- {{Fact}} because Willy (2007) does not mention Poland. ''Henri III (1551–1589) [...] he is widely credited for having introduced the fork into France.''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Willy, Lawrence R. Schehr |title=The third sex |publisher=University of Illinois Press |date=2007 |isbn=0-2520-3216-0 |page=110}}</ref>-->

In 1578, Henry created the [[Order of the Holy Spirit]] to commemorate his becoming first King of Poland and later King of France on the Feast of [[Pentecost]] and gave it precedence over the earlier [[Order of St. Michael]], which had lost much of its original prestige by being awarded too frequently and too readily. The Order would retain its prestige as the premier [[chivalric order]] of France until the end of the French monarchy.