Henry III de Valois in Russian historiography

Abstract

The article examines the works of Russian historians specializing in Francology in the 19th – 21st centuries concerning the personality of the French king Henry III de Valois and the period of his reign (1574–1589). The article reveals historiographical trends, changes in attitudes towards the king and his policies in the context of socio-political and scientific priorities of each era,
starting from the positivist school and the personalized trend of pre-revolutionary historiography. The article examines the historiographical features of the Soviet historical school with its anti-monarchist, class and socio-economic approaches. It emphasizes the institutional and microhistorical analysis of anthropological nature in modern Russian historiography (not only French studies, but also Russian studies), supported by new sources about Henry III, including his correspondence with the Russian court, and traces a tendency towards a positive revision of his political and personal heritage and place in French history.