Edict of Union

The Edict of Union, signed in 1588, was a decree made by King Henry III of France during the War of the Three Henrys. This war was the final conflict in the French Wars of Religion. The edict was signed under duress from the Catholic faction, led by Henri I de Lorraine, 3rd Duke of Guise, and the Holy League. It declared that no heretic could succeed to the French throne and named Guise as lieutenant general of the kingdom.1

This edict was a significant event because it represented a major concession of power by the king to the Catholic League. The king's inability to enforce his own authority and his subsequent assassination of the Duke of Guise and his brother demonstrated the intense religious and political divisions within France at the time. The Edict of Union was a pivotal moment that ultimately led to the king's assassination and the eventual accession of Henry of Navarre (who converted to Catholicism) as Henry IV, bringing an end to the Wars of Religion with the Edict of Nantes in 1598.123