By 1585, France had collapsed into civil war among three rival claimants — Henry of Navarre (Huguenots), Henry of Guise (Catholic League), and Henry III (royalists). This internal paralysis removed France from the European chessboard, giving Philip of Spain a free hand to pursue his plans against both the Dutch rebels and England. ✦ AI generated
Tom Holland / Dominic Sandbrook · The Rest Is History · 2026-08-10 · original ↗
starts at this moment · 23:06
The French basically have been removed as a factor in his calculations because people who listen to our previous episode may remember there are these three Henrys doing this delicate minuet around each other. But by 1585, all three men are starting to go to war with each other. So you've got the Huguenots under Henry of Navarre, you've got the Catholic League under Henry of Guise, and you've got the royalists who are loyal to the king Henry III. And all these three factions are turning on each other. And the resulting war is going to rage for four years and it will come to be known inevitably as the War of the Three Henrys. And for as long as it's raging, France effectively is paralyzed. And for as long as France is paralyzed, Philip of Spain has a free hand. He doesn't need to worry about what the French will do.
verbatim transcript · starts at 23:06
23:06would be a anxious about the French and b he's too busy fighting the Dutch. Or is he? Well, the the French basically have been removed as a factor in his calculations because people who listen to our previous episode may remember um there are these three or three Henry's doing this delicate minuette around each other. But by 1585, all three men are starting to go to war with each other. So you've got the
23:36Hugenos under Henry of Navar, who I think was going to be played by Pedro Pascal in our film of this story. You've got the Catholic League under Henry of Geese, >> Mads Nicholson. >> Mads Nicholson. He's got a great scar across his face. Um, passionate Catholic. And you've got the royalists who are loyal to the king Henry III. So Andrew Scott and all these three factions are turning on each other. And
23:59the resulting war is going to rage for four years and it will come to be known inevitably as the war of the three Henry's. And for as long as it's raging, France effectively is paralyzed. And for as long as France is paralyzed, Philip of Spain has a free hand. He doesn't need to worry about what the French will do. >> So that's the French. What about what's
24:20going on in the low countries? Because that really has been the cockpit of um Europe's wars of religion for the last few years. Well, what's happened there is that the the most dynamic and significant leader of the Dutch rebels has been eliminated, William of Orange, William the Silent, and he had been assassinated the previous summer on the 10th of July 1584. He'd been shot um on a staircase in his kind of very modest
24:47quarters in Delft. Um, William of Orange had once been one of the richest men in Europe, but he has spent all his money on keeping the Dutch revolt afloat. So, he's now basically bankrupt. Um, and the assassin had been um inspired to murder the Prince of Orange by two factors. Firstly, his own devout Catholicism, but secondly, by a bounty that Philip had placed on William's head in 1580. And as