In 1589 the Huguenot Henry IV inherited the throne of France. As the first Protestant to claim the French crown, he was rejected by many of his subjects. Four years later, following the advice of his mistress, he re-entered formal communion with the Catholic Church, securing the allegiance of the Catholic majority. He is said to have justified this move with the phrase “Paris vaut bien une messe” – “Paris is well worth a Mass.”….