King Henry IV of France, who reigned between 1589 and 1610, must have been a remarkable man. In order to preserve his life, he had been sent away to be raised by very ordinary farming folk. When he came into his inheritance, having said that Paris was worth a Mass and thus changing his religion from Protestant to Catholic, he also declared that he wished to rule a nation where every peasant could have a chicken in the pot once a week. He was of course, as all good people ar
