| Henri | |
| Fictional Character | |
| In High Places POD: 1348 | |
| Type of Appearance: | Posthumous references |
| Nationality: | France |
| Religion: | New Revelation, converted from Catholicism |
| Date of Birth: | Mid 14th century |
| Date of Death: | 1381 |
| Cause of Death: | Execution by wheel |
| Occupation: | Prophet, religious leader, founder of the New Revelation |
| Parents: | God (father, according to the Final Testament) |
| Relatives: | Jesus (half-brother, according to the Final Testament) |
Henri (d. 1381) lived and died in an alternate where the Great Black Deaths wiped out 80% of the population of Europe. More than a generation after the deaths began, Henri appeared in Avignon, France, seat of the Papacy, preaching patience and promise of a better world, and praying for the end of the Deaths. In the desperate times, he gained a substantial following, much to the chagrin of the Pope and the King of France. The fact that he appeared just as the plague was finally winding down further added to his reputation as a divine figure. When Henri proclaimed himself the Second Son of God, the King and the Pope ordered Henri tortured on the wheel, and then burned.
However, the next day, the King and the Pope were killed in an accident when the church they were praying in collapsed for no clear reason. This confirmed in the minds of his followers that Henri had been right. Henri was officially proclaimed the Son of God. Soon, belief in Henri surpassed that of his "older brother", Jesus, with believers in the New Revelation appearing all over those parts of Europe that remained Christian. The sign of the wheel replaced the sign of the cross.
Henri had no known analog in any other alternate Crosstime Traffic had explored. When Jacques, a follower of the Second Revelation, came to the home timeline, he had a brief crisis of faith when he learned this, uncomfortable with the possibility that a quirk of fate, not divine intervention, had shaped his religious beliefs.
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