Bourbon dynasty

A branch of the Capetian dynasty that ruled France from 1589 to 1792 and again from 1814 to 1830, with a brief restoration in 1814–1815.

Henry IV of France: King of France from 1589 to 1610 who founded the French Bourbon line. His accession began Bourbon rule and ended the Valois dynasty.
Capetian dynasty: A dynasty descended from Hugh Capet that ruled France and other European realms. The Bourbons were a cadet branch of this wider royal house.
French Wars of Religion: A series of conflicts between Catholics and Protestants in France from 1562 to 1598. Their settlement enabled Henry IV to secure acceptance as king.
Versailles Palace: A former royal residence near Paris that became the principal court of France under Louis XIV. Its court embodied the dynasty’s concentration of aristocratic life around the king.
Louis XIII of France: King of France from 1610 to 1643, son and successor of Henry IV. His reign strengthened royal authority under the guidance of Cardinal Richelieu.
Robert, Count of Clermont: A son of Louis IX who founded the House of Bourbon through his marriage to Beatrice of Bourbon. His descendants formed the branch that eventually inherited the French crown.
Edict of Nantes: A 1598 royal decree granting French Protestants limited rights and religious freedoms. Henry IV used it to pacify the kingdom after the religious wars.
War of the Spanish Succession: A European conflict from 1701 to 1714 over the Spanish throne and the balance of power. A Bourbon prince’s Spanish inheritance made the dynasty central to a continental war.
Louis XIV: King of France from 1643 to 1715, known for an exceptionally long reign and centralized monarchy. His reign became the dynasty’s most powerful and emblematic period.
House of Bourbon: A European royal house descended from the Capetian dynasty’s Bourbon branch. The French ruling dynasty was one branch of this broader house.

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