Henri IV had what today might be termed a keen sense of communication. We can see this in his desire to control how information he deemed to be important was disseminated. After the Battle of Ivry, for example, he drew up a veritable military communiqué describing his victory. A very modern communication sensibility can also be seen in his distribution of tracts – to reassure Parisians after his entry into the capital in 1594, for example, or to inform his subjects about the state of his health after Jean Châtel's failed assassination attempt in the same year.
Henri IV was preoccupied with what people thought of him, and with the image he wanted to convey to his contemporaries and leave to future generations. Thus, he sought to control how his deeds and gestures were described. All available means were used to "illustrate" important events: proclamations, chronicles, histories, prints, engravings, paintings (particularly works by François Bunel and François Pourbus), sculptures and medallions. Henri also had need to be recognised. Very early on, the royal propaganda machine spread the image of the king, with his large nose, white feather, white sash across his breastplate, moustache and goatee.
Thus, over time, this illustrated history of Henri IV's life and actions provided a basis for the creation of the legend.