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 The Wars of Religion 337 struggle between claimants of the throne of France, as a result of which the Huguenot Henry of Navarre ascended the throne as Henry IV in 1589. The new king had many enemies, and his kingdom was devas- tated and demoralized by years of war. He soon saw that he must accept the religion of the majority of his people if he wished to reign over them. He accordingly asked to be readmitted to the Catholic Church (1593), excusing himself on the ground that "Paris was worth a Mass." He did not forget his old friends, however, and in 1598 he issued the Edict of Nantes, which insured by law some protection for the Protestants. 570. The Edict of Nantes. By this edict of toleration the Calvinists were permitted to hold services in all the towns and villages where they had previously held them, but in Paris and a number of other towns all Protestant services were prohibited. The Protestants were to enjoy the same political rights as Catholics and to be eligible to government offices. A number of fortified towns were to remain in the hands of the Huguenots, where they could defend themselves if attacked. 571. Ministry of Sully. Henry IV chose Sully, an upright and able Calvinist, for his chief minister. Sully set to work to reestablish the kingly power, which had suffered greatly under the last three brothers of the house of Valois. In 1610 Henry IV, like William the Silent, was assassinated just in the midst of his greatest usefulness to his country. Sully could not agree with the regent, Henry's widow, and so gave up his position and retired to private life. 572. Richelieu. Before many years Richelieu, perhaps the greatest minister France has ever had, rose to power, and from 1624 to his death in 1642 he governed France for Henry IV's son, Louis XIII (1610-1643). Unlike Sully he was a Catholic and was made a cardinal by the Church. He reduced the power of the Huguenots by depriving them of their fortified towns, not so much on religious grounds as on account of the danger they had become to the king's power. Something will be said of his policy in con- nection with the Thirty Years' War (588).