I remember Louis XIV from history class, but not Henry IV
A few years ago, a poll was taken in France of the most loved King. Henri Quatre won. He is the King who made the phrase popular, “A chicken in every pot.” He wanted the poor of France to have a chicken in the pot on Sunday instead of just the rich and famous. He was the King of Navarre and was a Protestant who fought for the Protestants during the religious war. When he became the next in line for the Royal Title King of France, it was demanded that he convert to Catholicism. You will even today hear his response, “Paris is worth a Mass.” As king, he did much good for the French people of all walks of life, wrote the Edict of Nantes which gave equal rights to Protestants and was ultimately assassinated by a fanatical Catholic. He is still known as “Good King Henry.”
He inaugurated the stone bridge in Paris known as the Pont Neuf connecting isle de la Cite with the left bank in 1607 and rode across it on a white horse. The Pont Neuf( New Bridge) is actually the oldest bridge in Paris. A beautiful statue of him stands at the end of the bridge on the Cite side.