By the hostility of the League the king was forced to an alliance with Henry of Navarre.

This is interesting as showing how completely the position of the two leading parties had become reversed.

The throne, once the strongest ally of the church, was now supported chiefly by the Huguenots who had formerly been in rebellion.
Indeed by this time "the wars of religion" had become to a very large extent dynastic and social.
On August 1, 1589, the king was assassinated by a Dominican fanatic.
His death was preceded shortly by that of Catharine de' Medici.
[Sidenote: Henry IV, 1589-1610] Henry IV was a man of thirty-five, of middle stature, but very hardy and brave.

He was one of the most intelligent of the French kings, vigorous of brain as of body.

Few could resist his delicate compliments and the promises he knew how to lavish.