In the 16^th century in France, a war between the Protestant minority and the Catholic majority could not be avoided. In 36 years, between 1562 and 1598 there were 8 wars interspersed with periods of fragile peace. In 1598, King Henri IV, a Protestant converted to Catholicism, issued the edict of Nantes which established religious coexistence between Catholics and Protestants. In 1610, Henri IV was assassinated.