Why did Henry IV issue the Edict of Nantes in 1598?

Henry IV issued the Edict of Nantes in 1598 primarily to bring an end to the Wars of Religion, a series of violent conflicts between Protestants and Roman Catholics that had devastated France for nearly 40 years.12

By the late 16th century, these civil wars had left the kingdom on the brink of disintegration. Henry IV, who had converted to Roman Catholicism to secure his throne and unify the country, recognized that lasting peace required a formal compromise. The edict served as a landmark decree of religious toleration, granting the Huguenots freedom of conscience, civil rights, and the ability to maintain military strongholds. By balancing the restoration of Catholicism as the state church with these protections for the Protestant minority, Henry IV successfully stabilized the nation and concluded decades of internal strife.21