Sincerity, simplicity, and sympathy had taken the place of dissimulation, craft, and cruelty.

Uplifting agencies were everywhere at work, reaching even to the peasantry, that forgotten element in the nation.
The formal abjuration of the Protestant faith was made by the King in the Church of St.Denis in 1593.

This church also witnessed the marriage of Henry with Marie de' Medici, after his release from her debased relative, Margaret of Valois, daughter of Catharine de' Medici.
Henry IV., great although he was, was not above the ordinary weaknesses of humanity, and, captivated by the beauty of Marie, was a willing party to the Italian marriage which was urged upon him, which marriage was the one mistake of a great reign.
It was not to be expected that any minister would rise to the full stature of Henry IV.

at this time.

But in the Duke of Sully he had a wise and efficient instrument for his plan, which was out of the chaos left by the devastation of thirty years of religious wars, to evolve peace and prosperity; and to create economic conditions upon a foundation insuring growth and permanence.
The royal authority, impaired by the successors of Francis, must first be restored.