In Blood and Religion Ronald Love explores the symbiosis of religion and politics in the early career of Henri IV of France, examining the king's strong religious beliefs - imbibed in early youth from his mother, Jeanne d'Albret, queen of Navarre - and the profound effect they had not only on his private conscience but on his political and military decisions as Huguenot leader and French monarch. Fundamental aspects of Henri's developing character, his motivations and leadership, and the contemporary conditions under which he laboured are scrutinized from his birth in 1553 to the opening years of his reign.