Henry III of France died without a successor.
Henry III ( 19 September 1551 -- 2 August 1589 ; born Alexandre Édouard de France , Henryk Walezy , Henrikas Valua ) was a monarch of the House of Valois who was elected the monarch of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1573 to 1575 and ruled as King of France from 1574 until his death . Of his three older brothers , two would live long enough to ascend the French throne , but both died young and without a legitimate male heir . After the death of Henry 's younger brother Francis , Duke of Anjou , and when it became apparent that Henry would not produce an heir , the Wars of Religion grew into a succession crisis that resulted in a war known as the War of the Three Henrys . Henry III 's legitimate heir was his distant cousin Henry , King of Navarre , a Protestant . In 1589 , Jacques Clément , a Catholic fanatic , murdered Henry III , who was succeeded by the King of Navarre who , as Henry IV , would assume the throne of France after converting to Catholicism , and become the first French king of the House of Bourbon .