name	Navarra
native name
official name	Chartered Community of Navarre
settlement type	Autonomous Community
flag size	150px
flag alt	Flag of Navarra
image shield	Escudo de Navarra (oficial).svg
shield size	90px
shield alt	Coat-of-arms of Navarra
map caption	Map of Navarra
coordinates type	type:adm1st_region:ES-NA
coordinates display	inline,title
subdivision type	Country
subdivision name	Spain
seat type	Capital
seat	Pamplona
area total km2	10391
area footnotes	(2.2% of Spain; Ranked 11th)
population as of	2007
population total	620337
population blank1 title	Pop. rank
population blank1	15th
population blank2 title	Percent
population blank2	1.3% of Spain
population density km2	auto
demographics1 name1	Ethnic groups
demographics type2	Demonym
demographics2 name1	English
demographics2 info1	Navarrese
demographics2 name2	Spanish
demographics2 info2	Navarro/a
blank1 name sec1	Official languages
blank1 info sec1	Spanish and Basque
blank2 name sec1	Statute of Autonomy
blank2 info sec1	August 16, 1982
blank name sec2	Parliament
blank info sec2	Cortes Generales
blank1 name sec2	Congress seats
blank1 info sec2	5 (of 350)
blank2 name sec2	Senate seats
blank2 info sec2	5 (of 264)
postal code type	ISO 3166-2
postal code	NA
leader title	President
leader name	Yolanda Barcina (UPN)
website	Gobierno de Navarra
footnotes	}}

Navarre (, ; , ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre (; ) is an autonomous community in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Country, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and Aquitaine in France. The capital is the city of Pamplona.

History

During the time of the Roman Empire, the territory of the province was inhabited by the Vascones, a pre-Roman tribe who populated the southern slopes of the Pyrenees. In the northern, mountaineous areas the Vascones escaped large-scale Roman settlement but not so in the flatter areas to the south which were amenable to large-scale Roman farming.

The area was never fully subjugated either by the Visigoths or by the Moors. In AD 778, the Basques defeated a Frankish army in the Battle of Roncevaux Pass. Two generations later, in 824, the chieftain Iñigo Arista was chosen King of Pamplona, laying a foundation for the later Kingdom of Navarre. That kingdom reached its zenith during the reign of Sancho III of Navarre and covered the area of the present-day Navarre, Basque country, and La Rioja, together with parts of modern Cantabria, Castile and León, and Aragon.

After Sancho III died, the Kingdom of Navarre was divided between his sons and never fully recovered its importance. The army of Navarre fought beside other Christian Spanish kingdoms in the decisive battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212, after which the Muslim conquests on the Iberian Peninsula were slowly reduced to a small territory in the south.

In AD 1515, the bulk of Navarre south of the Pyrenees—Upper Navarre—was at last absorbed into the incipient Kingdom of Spain but retained some exclusive rights. The small portion of Navarre lying north of the Pyrenees—Lower Navarre—later came under French rule when its Huguenot sovereign became King Henry IV of France; with the declaration of the French Republic and execution of Louis XVI, the last King of France and Navarre, the kingdom was merged into a unitary French state.

Community

The community ceremonies, education, and social services, together with housing, urban development, and environment protection policies are under the responsibility of its own institutions.

Unlike other regions (but like the Basque Country), Navarre has almost full responsibility for collecting and administering taxes which must follow the overall guidelines established by the Spanish government but may have some minor differences.

Geography and Climate

Navarre is made up of 272 municipalities and has a total population of 601,874 (2006), of which approximately one-third live in the capital, Pamplona (195,769 pop.), and one-half in the capital's metropolitan area (315,988 pop.). There are no other large municipalities in the region. The next largest are Tudela (32,802), Barañáin (22,401), Burlada (18,388), Estella - Lizarra (13,892), Zizur Mayor (13,197), Tafalla (11,040), Villava/Atarrabia (10,295), and Ansoáin (9,952).

Despite its relatively small size, Navarre features stark contrasts in geography, from the Pyrenees mountain range that dominates the territory to the plains of the Ebro river valley in the south. The highest point in Navarre is Hiru Erregeen Mahaia, with an elevation of 2,428 metres (7,965 feet). Other important mountains are Txamantxoia, Kartxela, the Larra-Belagua Massif, Sierra de Alaiz, Untzueko Harria, Sierra de Leyre, Sierra del Perdón, Montejurra, Ezkaba, Monte Ori, Sierra de Codés, Urbasa, Andia and the Aralar Range.

Cultural heritage

Navarre is a mixture of its Vasconic tradition, the Trans-Pyrenean influx of people and ideas and Mediterranean influences coming from the Ebro. The Ebro valley is amenable to wheat, vegetables, wine, and even olive trees as in Aragon and La Rioja. It was a part of the Roman Empire, inhabited by the Vascones, later controlled on its southern fringes by the Muslims Banu Qasi, whose authority was taken over by the taifa kingdom of Tudela in the 11th century.

During the Reconquista, Navarre gained little ground at the expense of the Muslims. Starting in the 11th century, the Way of Saint James grew a very important milestone for the territory and source of European cultural influence. Gascons and Occitanians altogether from beyond the Pyrenees (called ''Franks'' ) were granted privileges to foster their settlement in Navarrese towns, causing them to bring along their craft, culture and Romance languages.

Jews and Muslims couldn't escape the drastic measures imposed on them and were expelled for the most part in a process spanning half a century at the end of the 15th century and start of the 16th, definitely after Navarre was seized by Castile-Aragon.

Energy policy

Navarre leads Europe in its use of renewable energy technology and was planning to reach 100% renewable electricity generation by 2010. By 2004, 61% of the region's electricity was generated by renewable sources consisting of 43.6% from 28 wind farms, 12% from over 100 small-scale water turbines, and 5.3% from 2 biomass and 2 biogas plants. In addition, the region had what was then Spain's largest photovoltaic power plant at Montes de Cierzo de Tudela (1.2 MWp capacity) plus several hundred smaller photovoltaic installations.

Developments since 2004 have included further photovoltaic plants at Larrión (0.25 MWp) and another at Castejón (2.44 MWp), also once the largest in Spain.

Languages

Spanish is the official language in Navarre, together with Basque, which also has official status in the Basque-speaking area. The northwestern part of the community is largely Basque-speaking, while the southern part is almost entirely Spanish-speaking, aside from Fitero. The capital, Pamplona, is in the mixed region. Navarre is divided into three parts linguistically: regions where Basque is widespread (the Basque-speaking area), regions where Basque is present (the mixed region), and regions where Basque is absent (the Spanish-speaking area).

See also

Basque language

Euskadi

Kingdom of Navarre

Kings of Navarre

Lower Navarre

Parliament of Navarre

Renewable energy in the European Union

References

External links

Official website (in Basque/English/French/Spanish)

History of Navarre

(LAS BARDENAS, CAVERN, GROTTE VALTIERRA, CUEVAS DE VALTIERRA)

Bardenas Reales desert (Navarra)

Northern Spanish region leads way on renewable energy

Euskara Kultur Elkargoa-''Basque Cultural Foundation''

Navarra en Fotos

Saint James route and wine

Guide to the Navarra Pyrenees mountains.

Category:Autonomous communities of Spain Category:Provinces of Spain Category:NUTS 2 statistical regions of the European Union Category:States and territories established in 1982 Category:Regions of Europe with multiple official languages

ar:منطقة نابارا ذاتية الحكم an:Navarra frp:Comunôtât forâla de Navarra ast:Navarra az:Navarra be:Навара, аўтаномная супольнасць be-x-old:Навара (аўтаномная супольнасьць) bs:Navara br:Nafarroa bg:Навара ca:Navarra cs:Navarra cy:Navarra da:Navarra de:Navarra et:Navarra el:Ναβάρρα es:Navarra eo:Navaro ext:Navarra eu:Nafarroako Foru Erkidegoa fa:نابارا fr:Communauté forale de Navarre fy:Navarra ga:Navarra gd:Nafarroa gl:Navarra - Nafarroa ko:나바라 지방 hy:Նավարրա (ինքնավար համայնք) hr:Navara io:Navarra id:Navarra os:Наваррæ (автономон æмбалад) is:Navarra it:Navarra he:נווארה pam:Navarre ka:ნავარა (ავტონომიური გაერთიანება) kw:Navarra lad:Navarra la:Navarra lv:Navarra lb:Navarra lt:Navara mk:Навара (автономна покраина) hu:Navarra mr:नाबारा arz:نافارا ms:Navarre (Komuniti berautonomi) nah:Navarra nl:Navarra (regio) ja:ナバラ州 no:Navarra nn:Navarra nov:Navarra oc:Comunautat Forala de Navarra pnb:ناوارا pms:Navara pl:Nawarra pt:Navarra ro:Navarra qu:Nawarra ru:Наварра (автономное сообщество) sc:Navarra scn:Navarra simple:Navarre sk:Navarra sr:Навара sh:Navarra fi:Navarra sv:Navarra tl:Nafarroa roa-tara:Navarra th:แคว้นนาวาร์ tr:Navarra (özerk topluluk) uk:Наварра vec:Navara vi:Navarre war:Navarra zh:納瓦拉

Name	Henry IV
Succession	King of France
Reign	2 August 1589 14 May 1610 ()
Coronation	27 February 1594
Cor-type	france
Predecessor	Henry III
Successor	Louis XIII
Succession1	King of Navarre
Reign1	9 June 1572 – 14 May 1610
Predecessor1	Jeanne III
Successor1	Louis II
Spouse	Margaret of France Marie de' Medici
Issue	Louis XIII of France Elisabeth, Queen of Spain Christine, Duchess of Savoy Nicholas Henri, Duke of Orléans Gaston, Duke of Orléans Henrietta Maria, Queen of England and Scotland
House	House of Bourbon
Father	Antoine of Navarre
Mother	Jeanne III of Navarre
Birth date	December 13, 1553
Birth place	Pau, Kingdom of Navarre (Lower Navarre)
Death date	May 14, 1610
Death place	Paris, France
Place of burial	Saint Denis Basilica, France }}

Henry IV (13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), ''Henri-Quatre'', was King of France from 1589 to 1610 and King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610. He was the first monarch of the Bourbon branch of the Capetian dynasty in France.

As a Huguenot, Henry was involved in the Wars of Religion before ascending the throne in 1589. Before his coronation as King of France at Chartres, he changed his faith from Calvinism to Catholicism and, in 1598, he enacted the Edict of Nantes, which guaranteed religious liberties to the Protestants, thereby effectively ending the civil war. One of the most popular French kings, both during and after his reign, Henry showed great care for the welfare of his subjects and displayed an unusual religious tolerance for the time. He was assassinated by a fanatical Catholic, François Ravaillac.

Life

Early life

''Henri'' de Bourbon was born in Pau, the capital of the French province of Béarn. His parents were Queen Jeanne III and King Antoine of Navarre. Although baptised as a Roman Catholic, Henry was raised as a Protestant by his mother; Jeanne declared Calvinism the religion of Navarre. As a teenager, Henry joined the Huguenot forces in the French Wars of Religion. On June 9, 1572, upon Jeanne's death, he became King Henry III of Navarre.

First marriage and Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre

It had been arranged, before Jeanne's death, that Henry would marry Margaret of Valois, daughter of Henry II and Catherine de' Medici. The wedding took place in Paris on 18 August 1572 on the parvis of Notre Dame Cathedral. On 24 August, the Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre began in Paris and several thousand Protestants who had come to Paris for Henry's wedding were killed, as well as thousands more throughout the country in the days that followed. Henry narrowly escaped death thanks to the help of his wife and promised to convert to Catholicism. He was made to live at the court of France, but escaped in early 1576; on 5 February of that year, he formally abjured Catholicism at Tours and rejoined the Protestant forces in the military conflict.

Wars of Religion

Henry of Navarre became the legal heir to the French throne in 1584 upon the death of Francis, Duke of Alençon, brother and heir to the Catholic King Henry III, who had succeeded Charles IX in 1574. Because Henry of Navarre was the next senior agnatic descendant of King Louis IX, King Henry III had no choice but to recognise him as the legitimate successor. Salic law disinherited the king's sisters and all others who could claim descent by the distaff line. However, since Henry of Navarre was a Huguenot, this set off the War of the Three Henries phase of the French Wars of Religion. The third Henry, the Duke of Guise, pushed for complete suppression of the Huguenots, and had much support among Catholic loyalists. This set off a series of campaigns and counter-campaigns culminating in the battle of Coutras. In December 1588, Henry III had Henry I of Guise murdered, along with his brother, Louis Cardinal de Guise. This increased the tension further and Henry III was assassinated shortly thereafter by a fanatic monk.

Upon the death of Henry III on 2 August 1589, Henry of Navarre nominally became king of France. But the Catholic League, strengthened by support from outside, especially from Spain, was strong enough to force him to the south. He had to set about winning his kingdom by military conquest, aided by money and troops sent by Elizabeth I of England. Henry's Catholic uncle, Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon, was proclaimed king by the League, but the Cardinal himself was Henry's prisoner. Henry was victorious at Ivry and Arques, but failed to take Paris after laying siege to the city in 1590.

After the death of the old Cardinal in 1590, the League could not agree on a new candidate. While some supported various Guise candidates, the strongest candidate was probably Isabella Clara Eugenia, the daughter of Philip II of Spain, whose mother Elisabeth had been the eldest daughter of Henry II of France. The prominence of her candidacy hurt the League, which became suspect as agents of the foreign Spanish. Nevertheless Henry remained unable to take control of Paris.

"Paris is well worth a Mass"

On 25 July 1593, with the encouragement of the great love of his life, Gabrielle d'Estrées, Henry permanently renounced Protestantism, thus earning the resentment of the Huguenots and of his former ally, Queen Elizabeth I of England. He was said to have declared that ''Paris vaut bien une messe'' ("Paris is well worth a Mass"), but there is much doubt whether he actually said this himself. His entrance into the Roman Catholic Church secured for him the allegiance of the vast majority of his subjects and he was crowned King of France at the Cathedral of Chartres on 27 February 1594. In 1598, however, he declared the Edict of Nantes, which gave circumscribed toleration to the Huguenots.

Name	King Henry IVPar la grâce de Dieu, Roi de France et de Navarre
Dipstyle	His Most Christian Majesty
Offstyle	Your Most Christian Majesty
Altstyle	Monsieur le Roi }}

Relations with the Jesuits

Second marriage

Henry's first marriage was not a happy one, and the couple remained childless. Henry and Margaret had separated even before Henry had succeeded to the throne in August 1589, and Margaret lived for many years in the château of Usson in Auvergne. After Henry became king of France, it was of the utmost importance that he provide an heir to the crown in order to avoid the problem of a disputed succession. Henry himself favoured the idea of obtaining an annulment of his marriage to Margaret, and taking as a bride Gabrielle d'Estrées, who had already borne him three children. Henry's councilors strongly opposed this idea, but the matter was resolved unexpectedly by Gabrielle's sudden death in the early hours of 10 April 1599, after she had given birth to a prematurely stillborn son. His marriage to Margaret was annulled in 1599, and he then married Marie de' Medici in 1600.

For the royal entry of Marie into Papal Avignon, 19 November 1600, the Jesuit scholars bestowed on Henry the title of the ''Hercule Gaulois'' ("Gallic Hercules", ''illustration''), justifying the extravagant flattery with a genealogy that traced the origin of the House of Navarre to a nephew of Hercules' son Hispalus.

Achievements of his reign

During his reign, Henry IV worked through his faithful right-hand man, the minister Maximilien de Béthune, duc de Sully (1560–1641), to regularise state finance, promote agriculture, drain swamps to create productive crop lands, undertake many public works, and encourage education, as with the creation of the ''Collège Royal Henri-le-Grand'' in La Flèche (today Prytanée Militaire de la Flèche). He and Sully protected forests from further devastation, built a new system of tree-lined highways, and constructed new bridges and canals. He had a 1200 m canal built in the park at the royal Château at Fontainebleau (which can be fished today), and ordered the planting of pines, elms and fruit trees.

The king renewed Paris as a great city, with the Pont Neuf, which still stands today, constructed over the Seine river to connect the Right and Left Banks of the city. Henry IV also had the ''Place Royale'' built (since 1800 known as Place des Vosges), and added the ''Grande Galerie'' to the Louvre. More than 400 metres long and thirty-five metres wide, this huge addition was built along the bank of the Seine River, and at the time was the longest edifice of its kind in the world. King Henry IV, a promoter of the arts by all classes of people, invited hundreds of artists and craftsmen to live and work on the building's lower floors. This tradition continued for another two hundred years, until Emperor Napoleon I banned it. The art and architecture of his reign have since become known as the "Henry IV style".

King Henry's vision extended beyond France, and he financed several expeditions of Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Monts and Samuel de Champlain to North America that saw France lay claim to Canada.

International relations under Henry IV

The reign of Henry IV saw the continuation of the rivalry between France and the Habsburgs of Spain and the Holy Roman Empire for the mastery of Western Europe, which would only be resolved after the end of the Thirty Years' War.

Spain and Italy

During Henry's struggle for the crown, Spain had been the principal backer of the Catholic League, trying to thwart Henry. A Spanish army from the Spanish Netherlands, under Alexander Farnese intervened in 1590 against Henry and foiled his siege of Paris. Another Spanish army helped the nobles opposing Henry to win the Battle of Craon against his troops in 1592. After Henry's coronation, the war continued as an official tug-of-war between the French and Spanish states, until terminated by the Peace of Vervins in 1598.

This enabled Henry to turn his attention to Savoy, fighting a war against this duchy, that was ended by the Treaty of Lyon in 1601 which effected territorial exchanges between France and the Duchy of Savoy.

Germany

In 1609 Henry's intervention helped to settle diplomatically the War of the Jülich succession.

It was widely believed that in 1610 Henry was preparing for a war against the Holy Roman Empire, however the preparations were terminated by his assassination and the subsequent rapprochement with Spain under the regency of Marie de' Medici.

Ottoman Empire

Even before Henry's accession to the throne, the French Huguenots were in contact with the Moriscos in plans against Habsburg Spain in the 1570s. Around 1575, plans were made for a combined attack of Aragonese Moriscos and Huguenots from Béarn under Henri de Navarre against Spanish Aragon, in agreement with the king of Algiers and the Ottoman Empire, but these projects foundered with the arrival of John of Austria in Aragon and the disarmament of the Moriscos. In 1576, a three-pronged fleet from Constantinople was planned to disembark between Murcia and Valencia while the French Huguenots would invade from the north and the Moriscos accomplish their uprising, but the Ottoman fleet failed to arrive.

After his crowning, Henry IV continued the policy of Franco-Ottoman alliance and received an embassy from Mehmed III in 1601. In 1604, a "Peace Treaty and Capitulation" was signed between Henry IV and the Ottoman Sultan Ahmet I, giving numerous advantages to France in the Ottoman Empire.

In 1606–7, Henry IV sent Arnoult de Lisle as Ambassador to Morocco, in order to obtain the observance of past friendship treaties. An embassy was sent to Tunisia in 1608, led by Savary de Brêves.

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. 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. The second ship, onboard which was François Martin de Vitré, reached Ceylon and traded with Acheh in Sumatra, but was captured by the Dutch on the return leg at Cape Finisterre. 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.

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. 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. In 1609, another adventurer, Pierre-Olivier Malherbe returned from a circumnavigation and informed Henry IV of his adventures. He had visited China and in India had an encounter with Akbar.

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:

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'' (a French idiom which can be translated as "the ladies' man" or "the old charmer") a reference to both his dashing character and his attractiveness to women. 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 and Jean Châtel in December 1594.

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, 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.

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".

Missing head

The head of his embalmed body was lost after revolutionaries ransacked the Basilica of St Denis and desecrated his grave in 1793. An embalmed head, reputed to be that of Henry IV, was passed among private collectors until French journalist Stephane Gabet followed leads to track down the head to the attic of a retired tax collector, Jacques Bellanger, in January 2010. According to Gabet, a couple purchased the head at a Paris auction in the early 1900s, and Bellanger bought it from the wife in 1955. In 2010, a multidisciplinary team led by Philippe Charlier, a forensic medical examiner at Raymond Poincaré University Hospital in Garches, confirmed that it was the lost head of Henry IV, using a combination of anthropological, paleopathological, radiological, and forensic techniques. The head had a light brown colour and excellent preservation. A lesion just above the nostril, a hole in the right earlobe indicating a long-term use of an earring, and a healed facial wound, which Henry IV would have received from a previous assassination attempt by Jean Châtel in 1594, were among the identifying factors. Radiocarbon dating gave a date of between 1450 and 1650, which fits the year of Henry IV's death, 1610. The team was not able to recover uncontaminated mitochondrial DNA sequences from the head, so no comparison was possible with other remains from the king and his female-line relatives. The head will be reinterred in the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Denis after a national Mass and funeral in 2011.

Genealogy

Henry IV was the son of Antoine de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme and Queen Jeanne III of Navarre. He was born in the Château de Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, in the southwest of France (former province of Béarn). Henry's mother was the daughter of Marguerite de Navarre, a sister of King Francis I of France, making him a second cousin of Kings Francis II, Charles IX and Henry III. It was to his father, however, a tenth-generation descendant of King Louis IX, that Henry owed his succession to the throne of France: in application of the Salic Law, which disregarded all female lines, Henry was the senior descendant of the senior-surviving legitimate male line of the Capetian dynasty. Upon the death of Henry III of France, who had no son to succeed him, the crown passed to Henry IV. The new king, however, had to fight for some years to be recognised as the legitimate king of France by the Catholics, who were opposed to his Protestant faith.

Ancestors

Marriages and legitimate children

On 18 August 1572, Henry married his second cousin Margaret of Valois; their childless marriage was annulled in 1599. His subsequent marriage to Marie de' Medici on 17 December 1600 produced six children:

27 September 1601 22 November 1602 12 February 1606 16 April 1607 25 April 1608 25 November 1609

!Name!!Birth!!Death!!Notes
Louis XIII of France	Louis XIII, King of France	|	14 May 1643	Married Anne of Austria in 1615.
Elisabeth of Bourbon	Elisabeth, Queen of Spain	|	6 October 1644	Philip IV of Spain>Philip IV, King of Spain, in 1615.
Christine Marie of France	Christine Marie, Duchess of Savoy	|	27 December 1663	Victor Amadeus I of Savoy>Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy, in 1619.
Nicolas Henri, Duke of Orléans	|	17 November 1611	.
Gaston, Duke of Orléans	|	2 February 1660	Married (1) Marie de Bourbon, Duchess of Montpensier, in 1626.Married (2) Marguerite of Lorraine in 1632.
Henrietta Maria of France	Henrietta Maria, Queen of England, Queen of Scots and Queen of Ireland	|	10 September 1669	Charles I of England>Charles I, King of England, King of Scots and King of Ireland, in 1625.

Notes

References

Vol. 2 (copies 1 & 2) at Google Books.

Further reading

;Non-fiction

;Fiction

George Chapman (1559?–1634), ''The Conspiracy and Tragedy of Charles, Duke of Byron'' (1608), éd. John Margeson (Manchester: Manchester University press, 1988).

Alexandre Dumas , ''La Reine Margot'' (''Queen Margot'') (1845)

Heinrich Mann, '''' (1935); '''' (1938) M. de Rozoy, '''' (1774).

External links

Henri IV – An unfinished reign Official website published by the French Ministry of Culture

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ar:هنري الرابع ملك فرنسا an:Henrique III de Navarra be:Генрых IV, кароль Францыі bs:Henrik IV, kralj Francuske br:Herri IV (Bro-C'hall) bg:Анри IV ca:Enric IV de França cs:Jindřich IV. Francouzský cy:Harri IV, brenin Ffrainc da:Henrik 4. af Frankrig de:Heinrich IV. (Frankreich) et:Henri IV el:Ερρίκος Δ' της Γαλλίας es:Enrique IV de Francia eo:Henriko la 4-a (Francio) eu:Henrike III.a Nafarroakoa fa:آنری چهارم fr:Henri IV de France ga:Anraí IV na Fraince ko:앙리 4세 io:Henri 4ma di Francia id:Henri IV dari Perancis is:Hinrik 4. Frakkakonungur it:Enrico IV di Francia he:אנרי הרביעי, מלך צרפת ka:ანრი IV (საფრანგეთი) la:Henricus IV (rex Franciae) lb:Henri IV. vu Frankräich lt:Henrikas IV Burbonas hu:IV. Henrik francia király mk:Анри IV mr:चौथा हेन्‍री, फ्रान्स arz:هنرى الرابع (ملك فرنسا) nl:Hendrik IV van Frankrijk ja:アンリ4世 (フランス王) no:Henrik IV av Frankrike nn:Henrik IV av Frankrike oc:Enric de Borbon pl:Henryk IV Burbon pt:Henrique IV de França ro:Henric al IV-lea al Franței qu:Enric III ru:Генрих IV (король Франции) scn:Enricu IV di Francia simple:Henry IV of France sk:Henrich IV. (Francúzsko) sl:Henrik IV. Francoski sr:Анри IV fi:Henrik IV (Ranska) sv:Henrik IV av Frankrike th:พระเจ้าอองรีที่ 4 แห่งฝรั่งเศส tr:IV. Henry (Fransa) uk:Генріх IV (король Франції) vi:Henri IV của Pháp yo:Henry IV of France zh:亨利四世 (法兰西)

name	Henry III
native name	Alexandre Édouard de France
succession	King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania
reign	16 May 1573 – 12 May 1575
coronation	21 February 1574 (Wawel)
cor-type	poland
predecessor	Sigismund II AugustusInterrex
regent	Jakub Uchański, Interrex
successor	Anna the Jagiellonian and Stephen Bathory
succession1	King of France
reign1	30 May 1574 – 2 August 1589
coronation1	13 February 1575 (Reims)
cor-type1	Coronation
predecessor1	Charles IX
successor1	Henry IV
spouse	Louise of Lorraine
styles	''HM'' The King of FranceThe Dauphin of Viennois''HM'' The King of PolandThe Duke of OrléansThe Duke of Angoulême
house	House of Valois
father	Henry II of France
mother	Catherine de' Medici
birth date	September 19, 1551
birth place	Château de Fontainebleau, France
death date	August 02, 1589
death place	Saint-Cloud, France
place of burial	Saint Denis Basilica, France
signature	Signature of Henry III Valois as King of Poland.PNG }}

Henry III (19 September 1551 – 2 August 1589, born Alexandre Édouard de France, , ) was King of France from 1574 to 1589. As Henry of Valois, he was the first elected monarch of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with the dual titles of King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1573 to 1575.

Early life

Childhood

Henry was born at the Royal Château de Fontainebleau, Seine-et-Marne, fourth son of King Henry II and Catherine de' Medici, grandson of Francis I of France and Claude of France, and brother of Francis II of France and Charles IX of France. He was made Duke of Angoulême and Duke of Orléans in 1560, and Duke of Anjou in 1566.

In 1564, his name became ''Henri''. He was his mother's favourite; she called him ''chers yeux'' ("Precious Eyes") and lavished fondness and affection upon him for most of his life. His elder brother, Charles, grew to detest him, resenting Henry's greater health and activity.

Youth

In his youth, he was considered the best of the sons of Catherine de' Medici and Henry II. Unlike his father and elder brothers, he had little interest in the traditional Valois pastimes of hunting and physical exercise. Although he was both fond of fencing and skilled in it, he preferred to indulge his tastes for the arts and reading. These predilections were attributed to his Italian mother.

At one point in his youth he showed a tendency towards Protestantism as a means of rebelling. At the age of nine, calling himself ''un petit Huguenot'', he refused to attend Mass, sang Protestant psalms to his sister Margaret (exhorting her all the while to change her religion and cast her Book of Hours into the fire), and even bit the nose off a statue of Saint Paul. His mother firmly cautioned her children against such behaviour, and he would never again show any Protestant tendencies—instead becoming nominally Roman Catholic.

Rumored homosexuality

It has long been claimed that Henry was homosexual or at least bisexual. The scholar Louis Crompton provides substantial contemporary evidence of Henry III's homosexuality, and the associated problems at court and politics. Despite this, it is still disputed. For example, some modern historians, such as P. Erlanger, J. F. Solnon, Nicolas Le Roux, and J. Boucher found evidence to support the idea that Henry was not homosexual (though still perhaps bisexual), as he had many famous mistresses. They found that there were no men named with whom he could have had sex, and that he was well-known at the time for his taste in beautiful women. They concluded that his supposed homosexuality was based on his dislike of war and hunting being interpreted as effeminate, an image cultivated by political opponents (both Protestants and Catholics) to turn the opinion of the French people against him. Most recently, Gary Ferguson has offered a detailed assessment of Henri III and his court, in the context of a discussion of the question of homosexuality in the French Renaissance.

Elizabeth

In 1570, discussions commenced to arrange for Henry to court Elizabeth I of England. Elizabeth, almost 37, was in need of a husband in order to produce an heir. However, nothing came of these discussions. Elizabeth is viewed by historians as having intended only to arouse the concern of Spain, rather than to have seriously contemplated marriage. The chance of marriage was further blighted by their differing religious views—Henry was at least formally a Catholic while Elizabeth was a Protestant—and his opinion of Elizabeth. Henry tactlessly referred to Elizabeth as a ''putain publique'' (a "public whore") and made stinging remarks about their difference in age. Upon hearing (inaccurately) that she limped because of a varicose vein, he called her an "old creature with a sore leg".

Wars of Religion

Prior to ascending the throne, he was a leader of the royal army in the French Wars of Religion against the Huguenots, and took part in the victories over them at Battle of Jarnac and Battle of Moncontour. While still Duke, he was involved in the plot for the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre (but did not participate), in which thousands of Huguenots were killed; his reign as King, like the ones of his elder brothers Francis II and Charles IX, would see France in constant turmoil over religion.

Henry continued to take an active role in the French Wars of Religion, and in 1572–1573 led the Siege of La Rochelle, a massive military assault on the Huguenot-held city of La Rochelle by Catholic troops during the fourth phase of the French Wars of Religion. At the end of May 1573, Henry learned that he had been elected King of Poland, a country with a large Protestant minority, and political considerations forced him to negotiate an end to the assault. An agreement was reached on 24 June 1573 and Catholic troops ended the siege on 6 July 1573.

Polish reign (1573–1574)

In 1573, following the death of the Polish ruler Sigismund II Augustus, Jean de Monluc was sent as the French envoy in Poland to negotiate the election of Henry of Valois, future Henry III of France, on the Polish throne, in exchange for military support against Russia, diplomatic assistance in dealing with the Ottoman Empire, and financial help.

On 16 May 1573 Polish nobles elected Henry, as the first elected monarch of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. However, the Lithuanian nobles boycotted this election, and it was left to the Lithuanian ducal council to confirm his election. Thus 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 thereby strengthening a Polish-Ottoman alliance which was also in effect.

A Polish delegation went to La Rochelle to meet with Henry who was leading the Siege of La Rochelle (1572–1573). Henry left the siege following their visit. In Paris, on 10 September, the Polish delegation asked Henry to take an oath, at Notre Dame Cathedral, to "respect traditional Polish liberties and the law on religious freedom that had been passed during the interregnum". As conditions for his royal election, he was compelled to sign the ''pacta conventa'' and the Henrician Articles, pledging religious tolerance in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Henry chafed at the restrictions on monarchic power under the Polish-Lithuanian political system of "Golden Liberty". The 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.

It was at a ceremony before the Paris parlement on 13 September that the Polish delegation handed over the "certificate of election to the throne of Poland-Lithuania". Henry also gave up any claims to succession and he "recognized the principle of free election" under the Henrician Articles and the ''pacta conventa''.

It was not until January 1574 that Henry was to reach the borders of Poland. On 21 February, Henry's coronation was held. It was in mid June 1574 that Henry would take leave of Poland and head back to France, upon hearing of his brother, Charles IX's death. Henry's absence 'provoked a constitutional crisis' which Parliament attempted to resolve by notifiying Henry that his throne would be lost if he did not return from France by 12 May 1575. His failure to return caused Parliament to declare his throne vacant.

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. The Polish, on the other hand, wondered if all Frenchmen were as concerned with their appearance as their new King appeared to be.

In many aspects, Polish culture had a positive influence on France. At Wawel, the French were introduced to new methods of septic facilities, in which litter (excrement) was taken outside the castle walls. On returning to France, Henry ordered the construction of such facilities at the Louvre and other palaces. Other inventions introduced to the French by the Polish included a bath with regulated hot and cold water and the fork.

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 through its having been awarded too frequently and too readily. The Order would retain its prestige as the premier order of France until the end of the French monarchy.

French reign (1575–1589)

Henry was crowned king of France on 13 February 1575, at Reims Cathedral. Although he was expected to produce an heir after he married Louise of Lorraine (14 February 1575), they were unable to conceive a child. In 1576, Henry signed the Edict of Beaulieu, granting many concessions to the Huguenots. His action resulted in the Catholic activist, Henry I, Duke of Guise, forming the Catholic League. After much posturing and negotiations, Henry was forced to rescind most of the concessions that had been made to the Protestants in the edict.

In 1584, the King's youngest brother and heir presumptive, Francis, Duke of Anjou, died. Under Salic Law, the next heir to the throne was Protestant Henry III of Navarre, a descendant of St. Louis IX. Under pressure from the Duke of Guise, Henry III issued an edict suppressing Protestantism and annulling Henry III of Navarre's right to the throne.

Henry began a great friendship with the Feuillant reformer Jean de la Barrière and built a monastery for him and his followers to commemorate their friendship in 1587.

On 12 May 1588, when Henry I, Duke of Guise, entered Paris, Henry III fled the city.

On 23 December 1588, at the Château de Blois, the Duke of Guise arrived in the council chamber where his brother Louis II, Cardinal of Guise, waited. The Duke was told that the King wished to see him in the private room adjoining the royal bedroom. There guardsmen murdered the Duke, then the Cardinal. To make sure that no contender for the French throne was free to act against him, the King had the Duke's son imprisoned.

Henry I, Duke of Guise, had been very popular in France, and the citizenry turned against King Henry for the murders. The ''Parlement'' instituted criminal charges against the King, and he joined forces with his heir, the Protestant Henry of Navarre, setting up the Parliament of Tours.

Overseas relations

Under Henry, France named the first Consul of France in Morocco, in the person of Guillaume Bérard. The request came from the Moroccan prince Abd al-Malik who had been saved by Bérard during an epidemic in Constantinople, and wished to retain Bérard in his service.

Assassination

On 1 August 1589, Henry III lodged with his army at Saint-Cloud, Hauts-de-Seine, prepared to attack Paris, when a young fanatical Dominican friar, Jacques Clément, carrying false papers, was granted access to deliver important documents to the King. The monk gave the King a bundle of papers and stated that he had a secret message to deliver. The King signaled for his attendants to step back for privacy, and Clément whispered in his ear while plunging a knife into his abdomen. Clément was killed on the spot by the guards.

At first the King's wound did not appear fatal, but he enjoined all the officers around him, in the event that he did not survive, to be loyal to Henry of Navarre as their new king. The following morning—the day that he was to have launched his assault to retake Paris—Henry III died.

Chaos swept the attacking army, most of it quickly melting away; the proposed attack on Paris was postponed. Inside the city, joy at the news of Henry III's death was near delirium; some hailed the assassination as an act of God.

Burial

Henry III was interred at the Saint Denis Basilica. Childless, he was the last of the Valois kings. Henry III of Navarre succeeded him as Henry IV, the first of the Bourbon kings. During the French Revolution he was disinterred from his tomb, his body being desecrated and thrown into a common grave.

Name	King Henry IIIPar la grâce de Dieu, Roi de France
Dipstyle	His Most Christian Majesty
Offstyle	Your Most Christian Majesty
Altstyle	Monsieur Le Roi }}

References in popular culture

The Alexandre Dumas, père's play, ''Henry III and His Court'' (1829)

The Alexandre Dumas, père's novels: ''La Reine Margot'' (1845), ''La Dame de Monsoreau'' (1846) and ''Les quarante-cinq'' (1847).

The Stanley Weyman novel, ''A Gentleman of France'' (1893) involves the events of Henry's reconciliation with the Huguenots and struggle against the Catholic League, leading to his assassination.

The American silent film ''Intolerance'' (1916) depicts Henry as effeminate but not explicitly homosexual. He is portrayed by British-born American actor Maxfield Stanley.

The French movies ''La Reine Margot'' (1954) and ''La Reine Margot'' (1994), both based on Alexandre Dumas, père's novel of the same title, are fictional depictions of the lives of Henry III's family, his sister Margot, and her Protestant husband Henry around the time of the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre. In the 1994 film Henry is played by the actor Pascal Greggory. In Dumas' novel, Henri was not portrayed as homosexual, whereas, in the 1954 film, he was shown as an effeminate, comical queen. In the 1994 film, he was portrayed as a more sinister character, bisexual and showing sexual interest for his sister. His brother dies by being accidentally poisoned by his mother, who had intended to kill Henry of Navarre instead.

As the Duke of Anjou, the future Henry III plays a significant role in the French film ''The Princess of Montpensier'', based on the novel of the same title by Madame de La Fayette.

The film ''Elizabeth'', released in 1998, depicts a fictional courtship between Elizabeth I of England and Henry III whilst still Duke of Anjou. In reality, the two never met and the Queen of England was actually courted by his younger brother François, Duke of Anjou. The film borrows some of the aspects of Henry III's life and features Anjou as a comical foolish transvestite. The role is portrayed by French actor Vincent Cassel.

In the film ''Dangerous Beauty'' he has a short affair with the main character, venetian courtesan Veronica Franco. He appears masculine, although he declared to Veronica that the "rumors" about him were true. He is played by British actor Jake Weber.

In an episode of ''Animaniacs'', entitled "The Three Muska-Warners", an Elmer Fudd-like Henri III is protected by Yakko, Wakko and Dot. In this version, Henri is portrayed by Jeff Bennett as nervous and jumpy, and for no apparent reason speaks with an English accent.

Chabrier's opéra-comique ''Le roi malgré lui'' (1887) deals with the unhappy Polish episode, with Henri as the reluctant King of Poland. In Krakow he conspires with Polish nobles to depose himself. His friend Nangis changes places with him but in the end the plot fails and the curtain falls on Henri being crowned.

One episode of the science fiction novel "Vive le Roi!" by Vivian Davis takes place in a forest clearing near St. Cloud at an early morning hour of 1 August 1589, with a group of time travelers preparing to prevent the King's assassination as part of a complicated series of interventions in French history aimed at preventing the French Revolution and keeping France a monarchy into the twenty-first century. The appearance of Time Police agents foils the plot, and Henry III's assassination goes ahead – a protagonist remarking "A pity, but history should not be tampered with".

Literature

Pierre Matthieu, ''La Guisiade'' (1589).

Christopher Marlowe, ''The Massacre at Paris'' (1593).

George Chapman, ''The Tragedy of Bussy D'Ambois'' (1607).

George Chapman, ''The Revenge of Bussy D'Ambois'' (1613).

John Dryden & Nathaniel Lee, ''The Duke of Guise'' (1683).

Alexandre Dumas ''Les deux dianes'' (1846)

Robert Merle ''Paris ma bonne ville'' (1980)

Robert Merle ''Le prince que voilà'' (1982)

Robert Merle ''La violente amour'' (1983)

21st century play ''Henry III of France'' (2009) http://www.archive.org/details/JohannesKepler-henryIiiOfFrance_680

See also

History of Poland (1569-1795)

St. Bartholomew's Day massacre

Les Mignons

Order of the Holy Spirit

Ancestors

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Notes

References

|trans_title=The Commonwealth of the Both Nations |location=Warsaw |publisher=Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy |year=1982 |isbn=8306007883 }} |editor-first=M. |editor-last=Lazard |lastauthoramp=yes |editor2-first=G. |editor2-last=Schrenck |location=Genève |publisher=Droz |year=1992 |isbn=2600006095 }} |location=Warsaw |publisher=Glob |year=1990 |isbn=8370072577 }}

External links

Portraits of Henri III

history

historytoday

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Category:1551 births Category:1589 crimes Category:1589 deaths Category:16th-century French people Category:People from Fontainebleau Category:Roman Catholic monarchs Category:LGBT royalty Category:Assassinated French people Category:Dauphins of France Category:Dauphins of Viennois Category:Deaths by stabbing Category:Dukes of Angoulême 301 Category:Dukes of Orléans Category:Generalissimos Category:Grand Dukes of Lithuania Category:Heirs presumptive to the French throne Category:House of Valois-Angoulême Category:Kings of France Category:Knights of the Garter Category:Murdered monarchs Category:Nostradamus Category:People murdered in France Category:People of the French Wars of Religion Category:Polish monarchs Category:Recipients of the Order of the Holy Spirit

ar:هنري الثالث ملك فرنسا az:III Henri be:Генрых III Валуа be-x-old:Генрык Валезы bs:Henrik III, kralj Francuske br:Herri III (Bro-C'hall) bg:Анри III (Франция) ca:Enric III de França cs:Jindřich III. Francouzský cy:Harri III, brenin Ffrainc da:Henrik 3. af Frankrig de:Heinrich III. (Frankreich) et:Henri III el:Ερρίκος Γ΄ της Γαλλίας es:Enrique III de Francia eo:Henriko la 3-a (Pollando-Litovio) eu:Henrike III.a Frantziakoa fa:آنری سوم fr:Henri III de France ko:앙리 3세 io:Henri 3ma di Francia id:Henri III dari Perancis is:Hinrik 3. Frakkakonungur it:Enrico III di Francia he:אנרי השלישי, מלך צרפת ka:ანრი III ვალუა la:Henricus III (rex Franciae) lt:Henrikas Valua hu:III. Henrik francia király mk:Анри III mr:तिसरा हेन्री, फ्रान्स ms:Henri III dari Perancis nl:Hendrik III van Frankrijk ja:アンリ3世 (フランス王) no:Henrik III av Frankrike nn:Henrik III av Frankrike oc:Enric III de França pl:Henryk III Walezy pt:Henrique III de França ro:Henric al III-lea al Franței ru:Генрих III (король Франции) simple:Henry III of France sk:Henrich III. (Francúzsko) sr:Анри III Валоа fi:Henrik III (Ranska) sv:Henrik III av Frankrike tl:Henry III ng Pransiya th:พระเจ้าอองรีที่ 3 แห่งฝรั่งเศส tr:III. Henry (Fransa Kralı) uk:Генріх III (король Франції) vi:Henri III của Pháp yo:Henry III of France zh:亨利三世 (法兰西)

name	Asia Argento
birth date	September 20, 1975
birth place	Rome, Italy
birth name	Aria Asia Anna Maria Vittoria Rossa Argento
other names	Aria Argento
occupation	Actress, director, singer, model
years active	1984–present
spouse
website	http://www.asiargento.it/ }}

Aria Asia Anna Maria Vittoria Rossa Argento (born 20 September 1975) is an Italian actress, singer, model and director.

Family and early life

Her mother is actress Daria Nicolodi and her father is Dario Argento, an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter, well known for his work in the Italian giallo genre and for his influence on modern horror and slasher movies. Her maternal great-grandfather was composer Alfredo Casella.

When Asia Argento was born in Rome, the city registry office refused to acknowledge ''Asia'' as an appropriate name, and instead officially inscribed her as Aria Argento. She nonetheless uses the name Asia Argento professionally. Argento has said that as a child she was lonely and depressed due, in part, to her parents' work. Her father used to read her his scripts as bedtime stories. At age eight, Argento published a book of poems. At the age of 14, she ran away from home. She was an introvert and read to make up for having no friends.

In an interview with ''Filmmaker Magazine'' she stated that she was agoraphobic while she was writing ''Scarlet Diva'' and that she could not leave her apartment for months. She said: "I was afraid to go out of my apartment for a long time, I could only go out to work."

Argento has mentioned in interviews that she does not have a close relationship with her father. She has mentioned that he was absent when she was a child. She has also mentioned that she did not have a happy childhood. Regarding her relationship with her father and her reason for acting, she has stated that:

Career

Asia Argento started acting at the age of nine, playing a small part in a film by Sergio Citti. She also had a small part in ''Demons 2'', a 1986 film written and produced by her father, at the age of 10, as well as its unofficial sequel, ''La Chiesa (The Church)'', when she was 14, and ''Trauma'' (1993), when she was 18. She received the David di Donatello (Italy's version of the Academy Award) for Best Actress in 1994 for her performance in ''Perdiamoci di vista!'', and again in 1996 for ''Compagna di viaggio'', which also earned her a Grolla d'oro award. In 1998, Argento began appearing in English-language movies, such as ''B. Monkey'' and ''New Rose Hotel''.

Argento has proven her ability to work in multiple languages, adding French, with a role as Charlotte de Sauve in 1994's ''La Reine Margot''. That same year, she made her first foray into directing, calling the shots behind the short films ''Prospettive'' and ''A ritroso''. In 1996, she directed a documentary on her father, and in 1998 a second one on Abel Ferrara, which won her the Rome Film Festival Award.

Argento directed and wrote her first movie, ''Scarlet Diva'' (2000), which her father co-produced. Four years later she directed her second movie, ''The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things'' (2004), based on a book by JT LeRoy, the pen name of Laura Albert, this time in the United States. According to a ''Paris Review'' interview with Laura Albert, Argento and Savannah Knoop, who played the role of JT's public persona, became lovers.

In addition to her cinematic accomplishments, Argento has written a number of stories for magazines such as ''Dynamo'' and ''L'Espresso'', while her first novel, titled ''I Love You Kirk'', was published in Italy in 1999. She has modeled for and endorses the brand "Miss Sixty". She became a fan of the band Hondo Maclean when they wrote a track named after her. She liked the track so much she sent them pictures which they used as the cover of their 2003 EP ''Plans for a better day''.

From 17 to 25 October 2006, Argento contributed a video diary to Nick Knight's website, SHOWstudio. The title of the 54 entries/episodes was "Don't Bother To Knock" and detailed Argento's daily life with three entries (noon, 6 pm and midnight) posted every day. The content of the entries were partially controlled by a discussion forum and together formed a cohesive whole, a sort of "mini-movie" anyone could view for free. In the clips Argento discusses topics such as freaks, her father, Federico Fellini and her sexuality; she also journals a pregnancy, a new love interest and her unraveling psyche. The last visual of the diary is a digitally manipulated portrait of Argento taken by Knight, slowly burning away.

She appeared in Placebo's music video for "This Picture", and appeared on Placebo frontman Brian Molko's cover version of "Je t'aime... moi non plus". Argento has also starred in Catherine Breillat's period drama, ''Une vieille maîtresse'' (The Last Mistress).

She dubbed the Italian version of the video game ''Mirror's Edge'' in the role of the runner Faith Connors.

Argento has been part of the Legendary Tiger Man's project ''Femina'', which was released on 14 September 2009. She is featured on the song "Life Ain't Enough for You", which was released as a single along with the B-side "Il Mio Stomacco É Il Piu Violento de Tutta Italia", in which she also contributes vocals.

Personal life

Besides Italian, she also speaks fluent Finnish and English. She can also speak French, which she learned for her role in ''Les Morsures de L’Aube''.

Her first child, Anna Lou, was born on 20 June 2001. Italian rock and roll musician Marco Castoldi (lead singer of Bluvertigo), also known as Morgan, is the father. She named her daughter after her half-sister Anna Ceroli, who died in a motorcycle accident. She and her daughter live in Rome.

Asia married film director Michele Civetta on 27 August 2008 in Arezzo. Her second child, Nicola Giovanni, was born on 15 September 2008 in Rome.

Filmography

''Demoni 2'' (1986)

''Palombella Rossa'' (1988)

''La Chiesa'' (1989)

''Trauma'' (1993)

''La Reine Margot'' (1994)

''The Stendhal Syndrome'' (1996)

''Traveling Companion'' (1996)

''Viola bacia tutti'' (1997)

''New Rose Hotel'' (1998)

''B. Monkey'' (1998)

''The Phantom of the Opera'' (1998)

''Les Misérables'' (miniseries) (2000)

''Scarlet Diva'' (2000)

''The Red Siren'' (2002)

''xXx'' (2002)

''(s)AINT'' (2003) (''Marilyn Manson'' music video)

''The Keeper'' (2004)

''The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things'' (2004)

''Last Days'' (2005)

''Cindy: The Doll Is Mine'' (2005)

''Land of the Dead'' (2005)

''Live Freaky Die Freaky'' (2006)

''Sean Lennon's Friendly Fire'' (2006)

''Marie Antoinette'' (2006)

''Transylvania'' (2006)

''Une vieille maîtresse'' aka ''The Last Mistress'' (2007)

''Désengagement'' (2007)

''Boarding Gate'' (2007)

''The Mother of Tears'' (2007)

''Coin Locker Babies'' (2008)

''De la guerre'' (2008)

''Diamond 13'' (2009)

''King Shot'' (2010)

References

External links

OdetoAzia: An Asia Argento Official Fansite

Category:1975 births Category:Child writers Category:Female film directors Category:Italian film actors Category:Italian film directors Category:Italian people of Brazilian descent Category:Italian screenwriters Category:Italian television actors Category:Italian voice actors Category:Living people Category:People from Rome (city)

de:Asia Argento es:Asia Argento eo:Asia Argento fr:Asia Argento id:Asia Argento it:Asia Argento la:Asia Argento nl:Asia Argento ja:アーシア・アルジェント pl:Asia Argento pt:Asia Argento ro:Asia Argento ru:Ардженто, Азия fi:Asia Argento sv:Asia Argento tr:Asia Argento

birth name	Isabelle Yasmine Adjani
birth date	June 27, 1955
birth place	Gennevilliers (North Paris), Hauts-de-Seine, France
years active	1970–present
occupation	Actress, singer
website	http://www.isabelleadjani.net/ }}

Isabelle Yasmine Adjani (born 27 June 1955) is a French film actress and singer. Adjani has appeared in 30 films since 1970. She holds the record for most César Awards for Best Actress with five, for ''Possession'' (1981), ''One Deadly Summer'' (1983), ''Camille Claudel'' (1988), ''Queen Margot'' (1994) and ''Skirt Day'' (2009). She was also given a double Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Award in 1981 and a Berlin Film Festival Best Actress Award in 1989. She also received two Academy Award nominations for Best Actress. She performs in French, English and German.

Early life

Adjani was born in an immigrant neighborhood Gennevilliers, Hauts-de-Seine, a suburb of Paris (some sources say Bavaria, Germany She grew up speaking German fluently as a first language. After winning a school recitation contest, she began acting in amateur theater by the age of twelve. At the age of 14, she starred in her first motion picture ''Le Petit bougnat'' (1970).

Career

She first gained fame as a classical actress for her interpretation of Agnès, the main female role in Molière's ''L'École des femmes'', but soon left the Comédie française she had joined in 1972, to pursue a film career. After minor roles in several films, she enjoyed modest success in the 1974 film ''La Gifle'' (or ''The Slap''). The following year, she landed her first major role in François Truffaut's ''The Story of Adèle H.'' Critics enthused over her performance, with Pauline Kael calling her acting talents "Prodigious". She was nominated for the Best Actress Oscar and offers for roles in Hollywood films, such as Walter Hill's 1978 crime thriller ''The Driver''. She then played Lucy in Werner Herzog's 1979 remake of ''Nosferatu'' (1979).

In 1981, Adjani received the Cannes Film Festival's best actress award for the Merchant Ivory film ''Quartet'' based on the novel by Jean Rhys, and for the horror film ''Possession''. The following year, she received her first César Award for ''Possession'', in which she portrays a woman having a nervous breakdown. In 1983, she won the César, for her depiction of a vengeful woman in the blockbuster ''One Deadly Summer''. That same year, she released the French pop album ''Pull marine'' written and produced by Serge Gainsbourg. She starred in a music video for the hit title song ''Pull Marine'', which was directed by Luc Besson. In 1988, she co-produced and starred in a biopic of the sculptor ''Camille Claudel''. She received her third César and second Oscar nomination for her role in the film, which was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Following this publicity, she was chosen by ''People'' magazine as one of the '50 Most Beautiful People' in the world. Her fourth César win was for the 1994 film ''Queen Margot'', an ensemble epic directed by Patrice Chéreau.

Personal life

In 1980 she had a son, Barnabé Nuytten with cinematographer Bruno Nuytten. Adjani was romantically linked to actor Warren Beatty from 1986 to 1987, and Daniel Day Lewis in 1989.

In 2009, she denounced statements by Pope Benedict XVI claiming that condoms are not an effective method of AIDS prevention. Adjani was made a Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur on Wednesday, 14 July 2010. She speaks German, French, Italian, and English.

Filmography

! Year	! Film	! Role	Notes
1970	''''	Rose
1972	''Faustine et le bel été''	Camille
1974	''La Gifle''	Isabelle Doulean
1975	''''	Adèle Hugo	Cartagena Film Festival Golden India Catalina for Best ActressDavid di Donatello for Best ActressNational Board of Review Award for Best ActressNational Society of Film Critics Award for Best ActressNew York Film Critics Circle Award for Best ActressNominated—Academy Award for Best ActressNominated—César Award for Best Actress
1976	''''	Stella
1976	''Barocco''	Laure	Nominated—César Award for Best Actress
1977	''Violette & François''	Violette Clot
1978	''''	The Player
1979	''Nosferatu the Vampyre''	Lucy Harker
1979	''''	Emily Brontë
1981	''Clara et les Chics Types''	Clara
1981		Anna/Helen	Best Actress Award (Cannes Film Festival)
1981		Marya Zelli	[[Best Actress Award (Cannes Film Festival)
1981	''[[L' Année prochaine... si tout va bien''	Isabelle
1982	''Tout feu, tout flamme''	Pauline Valance
1982	''Antonieta''	Antonieta Rivas Mercado
1983	''Mortelle randonnée''	Catherine Leiris/Lucie, 'Marie'
1983	''One Deadly Summer''	Eliane dite 'Elle'	César Award for Best Actress
1985		Héléna	Nominated—César Award for Best Actress
1986	''T'as de beaux escaliers tu sais''
1987		Shirra Assel
1988		Camille Claudel
1993	''Toxic Affair''	Pénélope
1994			César Award for Best Actress
1996		Mia Baran
2002	''''	Charlotte/Leïla
2002		Ellénore	Cabourg Romantic Film Festival Award for Best Actress
2003		Viviane Denvers
2003	''Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran''	La star
2009	''''	Sonia Bergerac	César Award for Best Actress
2010	''Mammuth''		Entered into the 60th Berlin International Film Festival

Discography

''Pull marine'' (1983; produced and written by Serge Gainsbourg)

References

Further reading

Adjani, Isabelle (1980). ''Isabelle Adjani'' in : Jean-Luc Douin (Hrsg.): ''Comédiennes aujourd'hui : au micro et sous le regard''. Paris: Lherminier. ISBN 2-862-44 020-5

Austin, Guy (2003). ''Foreign bodies: Jean Seberg and Isabelle Adjani'', S. 91–106 in: ders., ''Stars in Modern French Film''. Londres: Arnold. ISBN 0-340-76 019-2

Austin, Guy (2006). ''Telling the truth can be a dangerous business : Isabelle Adjani, race and stardom'', in : ''Remapping World Cinema : Identity, Culture and Politics in Film'', herausgegeben von Stephanie Dennison und Song Hwee Lim, London: Wallflower Press. ISBN 1-904-76 462-2

Halberstadt, Michèle (2002). ''Adjani aux pieds nus – Journal de la repentie''. Paris: Editions Calmann-Lévy. ISBN 2-702-13 293-6

Roques-Briscard, Christian (1987). ''La passion d'Adjani'', Lausanne'' et al.'': Favre. ISBN 2-828-90 279-X

Zurhorst, Meinolf (1992). ''Isabelle Adjani. Ihre Filme – Ihr Leben''. Heyne Film – und Fernsehbibliothek, Band 163. München: Heyne. ISBN 3-453-05 238-2

External links

Category:1955 births Category:Living people Category:People from Hauts-de-Seine Category:César Award winners Category:French female singers Category:French film actors Category:French-language singers Category:French people of Algerian descent Category:French people of German descent Category:Kabyle people Category:Best Actress César Award winners Category:Lounge music

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