The Real War of Thrones

In the turbulent formative centuries of early Europe, power-hungry family dynasties fought for domination of the continent. The conflicting ambitions of the Plantagenet king of England, Edward III, and the Valois king of France, Philip VI, brought intrigue, war, kidnapping and mayhem to France.

In the middle of the Renaissance, the son of Francis I shake up the foundations of Europe. Henry II, the King of France, secures a claim to the Scottish crown by marrying young queen Mary Stuart to his son, the future Francis II, heir to the French throne.

Henri IV is the new King of France. But he is Protestant and few people accept to see him wearing the crown. In April 1590, the king and his troops - 21,000 men - arrived at the gates of Paris. The powerful Catholic League, with twice as many men, prevented him from entering the capital to join his throne. Unable to take the city by force, the king decided to starve it. For several weeks, the people of Paris starve and the plague spreads. However, the League still refused to submit. It will take five years of battles to Henry IV and a conversion to Catholicism before being crowned in the cathedral of Chartres.