King of France and Poland

laurentyvan

A half-franc of Henri III, king of France and Poland minted in 1587 in Paris-value approx 1900FRF.
half franc
Since he was king of two countries, they doubled up on his image
The period from François I to Louis XIII was to be riddled by wars of religion. The old idea of one king, one faith was shattered by the Protestants, who, while they recognised themselves to be the loyal subjects of the King of France, didn't want to practise his religion. It would be more than a century before an end was put to the civil wars which brought about the exile of many French protestants to Germany, Switzerland, America and South Africa.
I hope that John Z will be going after this early polish issue

JohnZ

OK, I'll bite. Is it yours? eBay?

laurentyvan

I wish it were mine
Quite a nice web site... I saw the polish reference and thought of you.
go herelink

1jester

Ahh, that's old Henryk Walezy, who was king of Poland from 1573-1575, and again in 1589. I don't know much about him, nor about the specific details of his reign, and I'm curious why he's listed as King of Poland during these time periods. If the coin you show is from 1587, that is not during that time period and yet it lists him as king of Poland on the coin and others during his reign. Poland had King Batory from 1576-1586, who was followed in 1587 by the Vasa king Sigmunt III.

tbirde56

Here's a tidbit more from rulers.org:
4 Jul 1569 Accord of Lublin, colloquially known as "Union of Lublin,"
joining Poland and Lithuania officially, but not
constitutionally, into United Commonwealth of the Two
Nations, in short, The Commonwealth.
6 Jul 1572 Last hereditary Polish king dies; power to elect the king
moves from the Diet to the whole nobility; election as
Polish king and grand prince of Lithuania is carried out
jointly, but conduct of interregnum is separate.

1jester

Very interesting link, Tbirde! It doesn't list all the rulers, but does list the forms of government. And it's fascinating to read about all the growing (and survival) pains undergone by Poland over the 1000+ years of her history.

I still don't know why King Henry III of France would have been listed as king in 1589, but he was elected in 1573 to lead Poland after the death of the last hereditary ruler.