Wars Of Religion France

In France, called the Wars of Religion a series of eight conflicts that have ravaged the kingdom of France in the second half of the ^sixteenth century and which opposed Catholics and Protestants , known as Huguenots.

From the sixteenth ^century, is opposed to Catholicism, Protestantism, opposition leads to a terrible civil war. The first persecution against those who adhere to new ideas began in the 1520s ^{The causes of conflict}

The royal power in decline

These troubles coincided with a weakening of royal authority. Kings Francis ^I and Henry II allowed no challenge to their power. When Henry II died accidentally on July 10th 1559 , his successor Francis II and Charles IX are too young to impose their authority. They can not tear each other to prevent the French. Between the two warring camps, the queen mother Catherine de Medici wavers between religious tolerance and repression, which only heightens the tension.

The character feudal country is sharply with the increasing independence of the princes and parties that dangerously increase their network of clients. The meeting of the Estates General , conducted three times during the religious wars, has witnessed the weakening of royal authority. The king needs the support of his subjects to make informed decisions to be respected. On this occasion, the royal power was challenged by lawyers and scholars who imagine a greater subordination of the king in respect of such meetings.

The noble clans

The Kings are too young to rule, different political camps are trying to win to control the royal power. Three great noble clans, also all linked by various family ties, and will oppose:

• 
  the Montmorency : This is an ancient and powerful family that derives its wealth of great political ascent of the Constable Anne de Montmorency in the reign of Henry II. In this family are illustrated both the constable's son, Francois de Montmorency and Henri Damville and their cousins, the three brothers Chatillon ( Gaspard de Coligny , Franois Andelot and Odet, Cardinal de Chatillon ). Although divided between Catholics and Protestants, Montmorency-Chatillon unite occasionally to counter the growing influence of the Guises, their rivals. Without reducing the wars of religion to a private dispute between two families , they compete in the race to mobilize their immense respective clientele, spread across the kingdom.

• 
  the Guise : What are the leaders of the Catholic party. Cousins of the Duke of Lorraine , they know their political ascent through Claude Lorrain and his son Francis , the first two Dukes of Guise. Through the marriage of Mary Stuart with the heir to the throne, Lorraine strengthen the links between their home and the Valois dynasty. In their family were also illustrated Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine , Henry I, Duke of Guise and Charles, Duke of Mayenne. If the hostility manifested by the Guises against the policy of religious tolerance of Catherine de Medici sometimes causes them to shelve the reign of Charles IX , the Catholic intransigence allows them to cultivate a great popularity among the people. Praised as champions of the faith, they return triumphantly to the front of the scene from Henry III through the League. In 1588 , the Leaguers in Paris succeeded in driving Henri III of the capital, which significantly strengthens the influence of Lorraine. Catherine de Medici herself eventually "prier" his son "to make content" The Duke of Guise. The following year, the League deposed the king following the assassination of two leaders of the house, their surviving brother, Charles, Duke of Mayenne, became the main opponent to the advent of the Protestant King Henri IV.

• 
  the Bourbons : Descendants of St. Louis in the direct line, these are princes of the blood. The members of this house are therefore takes precedence over all other gentlemen of the kingdom and sit near the king in the ceremonies. Despite the indecision and flip-sides of the political and religious head of household Antoine de Bourbon , the Bourbon stand out as leaders of the Protestant party during the wars of religion through the younger brother of Antoine, Louis de Conde , then the son of Last Henri de Cond. But the son of Antoine de Bourbon and Jeanne d'Albret, Henri de Navarre , which is eventually to become progressively head of the Huguenots, despite a forced conversion to Catholicism after temporary and the massacre of St. Bartholomew.

The interference of neighboring countries

In 1572, the Queen of England Elizabeth ^I allied with France against Spain

The religious wars also cause interference to neighboring countries that keep the fires of unrest to better weaken France. After losing the Battle of St. Quentin in 1557 and signed the Treaty of Le Cateau in 1559 , France saw the weakening of its supremacy to the King of Spain Philip II. Because of civil war, it has declined in the second half of the sixteenth ^century enjoyed Spain and England. But despite the rise of these two countries, France remains a great power in Europe by its demographics, wealth and prestige.

To lower France, Spain and England continue to lend a hand to the rebellious subjects. Britain's Queen Elizabeth ^I is involved in supporting Protestants and the King of Spain in supporting the Guise clan, uncompromising supporter of Catholicism. During the wars of religion, France is thus divided by two factions supported financially and militarily by foreign countries. During the 1580s, France seems even become a battleground where competing Spain and England interposed by parties.

Neighbors bordering France also have territorial ambitions. The UK intends to recover the town of Calais, which it did not accept the loss in 1558. Spain hopes to recover the northern part of Navarre. The Savoy , allied with Spain intends to recover the Italian squares occupied by France since the wars of Italy.

Religious wars in France are very dependent on European context. This is particularly the case against the Spanish Netherlands where the politico-religious rife since the date of 1566. The war against the Spanish Netherlands is automatically propagated to the French conflict and vice versa.

The King of France is also using foreign mercenaries to help restore his authority. It brought together Swiss and Italian troops sent by the pope. The troopers and lansquenets German are widely used in the conflict by both parties. Spaniards use Flemish troops.

Causes strictly religious

Recent historiography tends to focus on the actual causes of religious wars of religion. The brilliant work of Denis Crouzet , Warriors of God (Champ Vallon, 1990) showed how the eschatological fears linked to the belief in an impending end of the world have been undertaken in the 1560s to an "abuse of divine possession "seeking to reinstate the purity of the kingdom. Thus we observe many rituals of violence designed to bring to light the corruption of heretics stagings macabre mutilation of corpses ... The Calvinists have meanwhile tried to disenchant this world full of divine signs demonstrating the rationality of the religion of the Word, resulting in a more moderate violence as a first step, however, before adopting a subsequent terrorist tactic seeking to intimidate the opponent. According to the analysis of Denis Crouzet, the massacre of St. Bartholomew , far from simply breaking the dynamics of the Huguenot party, led paradoxically to a decrease in violence Catholic after the dream of unity in God, Catholics have sunk in the melancholy of the awareness of futility of violence. The League, which marks the last phase of the wars of religion of its footprint, has sought to limit violence and eschatological prophetic beginnings of religious unrest, to adopt an attitude of repentance in anticipation of the coming of Christ.

Towards Civil War

The execution of the magistrate Anne du Bourg , who had strongly criticized Henry II for his religious repression in 1559

Development of French Protestantism

The first religious troubles appear during the reign of Francis ^I (1515-1547). Despite his affection for the humanism , the king sees the reform as harmful to his authority. In 1529, Berquin, a friend of Erasmus is executed. From the case Cupboard (1534), the king began to persecute Protestants. In 1545, 3000 Luberon Vaudois massacred by order of the Parliament of Aix and with the consent of the king .

Under the reign of his son Henry II (1547-1559), as religious tensions rise dangerously. The king sets up anti-Protestant legislation. It multiplies the repressive edicts. The Edict of Compigne in 1547 subject to the secular courts ruling Protestants soon as there is public scandal. The edict of 1557 Ecouen request to kill without trial or any Protestant fugitive rebel . In 1559, letters of Ecouen mission to give some notables to visit the province to suppress heresy . Finally, the "fiery chamber" created in 1547 to the parliament of Paris to condemn to the stake "heretics" is run in two years 37 people .

Despite this persecution, Protestantism has grown considerably. Punishment intended by the king remains limited by the weakness of its institutions. The king has no judicial support large enough to implement its policy . The edicts are poorly implemented because a significant portion of his officers felt sympathy for the Reformation. Protestantism is spreading especially among urban people with access to culture: bourgeois, artisans, clergymen, scholars, writers and judicial officers . The king responds. The Edict of Chateaubriand, in 1551, specifies in detail the methods of repression. It increases the penalties imposed on librarians, publishers and distributors of banned books. Nevertheless.

French nobility comes to reform, from 1555. Of great personages of the court, such as the Prince of Conde and Francis Andelot contribute to its development. At the end of the reign of Henry II, Protestantism made such progress that the first churches were formed.

The king's reaction was brutal. She is like the arrest of six members in parliament of Paris, Anne du Bourg , at the meeting of 10 June 1559. The king died a month later. His loss opens a period of uncertainty. The Treaty of Le Cateau was the nobles left unemployed and available for internal wars.

The tensions are exacerbated

The Cardinal of Lorraine

Francis II

In 1560 , various opposition parties to control the royal power since July 1559 placed in the hands of the young king Francis II , 15 years old and frail. He entrusts the government with his wife's uncle, the Duke of Guise and the Cardinal of Lorraine Catholic supporters of firmness against Protestants . The legitimacy of their presence in power is challenged by the Protestants that the Prince of Conde.

The most extreme among them are a secret trial to Guise. A French gentleman, a refugee in Switzerland, The Renaudie , is responsible for enforcing the award. This leads to the Conspiracy of Amboise. The Renaudie recruits five hundred gentlemen. He wants to surprise the Court Blois , May 6, 1560. But the Guises were warned. The Court therefore retreats to Amboise. The conspirators, who want to enter illegally into the castle of Amboise, are betrayed. The attack, however, take place. Done poorly, it fails . The repression was fierce. The conspirators captured were hanged on the terrace of the castle . Many Protestants were outraged by the repression that they inspire feelings of hatred. At the Court, the conspiracy of Amboise weakens the position of Guise and reinforces that of the queen mother Catherine de Medici more willing than they to a policy of conciliation. Surrounded by advisers moderate and close to the Reformation, she won the King's amnesty for "crimes of heresy," the convocation of the Estates General and the preparation of a national council .

The most determined attempt of the Protestant coups. Churches are busy. Repression resumed with a vengeance in September . The Prince of Conde was arrested on the personal orders of King . Some bishops and presidents of parliament called the royal army to help. In Languedoc, the Comte de Villars routs Protestant ministers and churches makes the Catholic faith .

Catherine de Medici

Michel de L'Hospital

On the death of Francis II in December 1560, Catherine de Medici opened the regency on behalf of all young Charles IX , ten years. She spreads the Guise of power and seeks the chancellor Michel de l'Hospital common ground between Catholics and Protestants. The religious debate then gives rise to an intense political debate. On one side the Catholics want to be religious unity around the king on behalf of the old adage: "A king, one law, one faith." On the other, a current attempts to sever the political and religious problems in order to maintain, above all, the cohesion of the state, proponents of this movement believe that in matters of religion, we must define essential points on which agreement. Protestants and Catholics who are opposed to their mean by the term averaging for the former and policies for the latter .

The States-General that occur during the summer of 1560 saw two opposing views: those who want to root out heresy by force on the one hand, and those who, on the other hand, fear that the crackdown will ruin the kingdom. The Ordinance of Orleans in 1560 is taken on behalf of the king shortly after the end of the Estates General. It gives certain religious requirements of the bond authority. Thus, it becomes mandatory homer Sunday, prohibits making fun of religion ... In spring 1561, tensions rise. Catholic preachers inflame the masses. The Protestants felt threatened begin to arm, began to fortify the towns under their control and even to ban the Catholic religion. The synod of Sainte-Foy (November 1561) creates a Protestant military organization and designates the warlords . The Regent authorizes the Colloquy of Poissy to try to maintain unity and avoid religious war. Twelve Protestant ministers including Theodore Beza expose their doctrine facing an audience of Catholic clergy. But the confrontation ended in failure after the intervention of the Jesuit General Lainez said that we can not discuss the truths established by the Catholic Church excommunicated with .

The year 1561 is the culmination of Protestantism in France. There are about two million Protestants in France. End 1561, there are over six hundred and seventy Reformed churches in the kingdom. It is estimated that currently over a quarter of the kingdom's population is Huguenot . The animosity becomes extreme at the end of the year. French Protestantism, ceasing to be exclusively a church, became a party.

The country is on the brink of religious crisis. Depending on the patronage of nobility, the gentry things the Protestant party around Conde and Chatillon or around the Catholic Guise and Montmorency, leaders of Catholic hardliners. January 17, 1562 , Catherine de Medicis promulgates the Edict of January 1562 which constitutes a revolution as it allows freedom of conscience and freedom of worship for the Protestants, on the condition that they return all places of worship they had seized and that the services are held outside the walled towns. Civil tolerance introduced by the queen will produce the opposite effect to that sought . Between January 28 and February 11, 1562, a new conference meet without result. In many places, destroying Protestant chapels and churches rather than making them. They practice together what they call educational vandalism. By destroying the images, crosses, they point out that God remains silent before such desecration .

Conflict

We can distinguish eight religious wars: 1562-1563, 1567-1568, 1572-1573, 1574-1576, 1576-1577, 1579-1580, 1585-1598, last turning into conventional war against the King of Spain supported the league . In fact, France has 36 years of problems with only two periods of relative calm .

First War of Religion (1562-1563)

Antoine de Bourbon
King of Navarre

The march to war was launched on ¹ March 1562 by the massacre Wassy. Franois de Guise , returning to Lorraine , realizes that the Protestants of Wassy, walled city, celebrate their worship in the city and not outside as wants the edict of January. He charges with his troops and killed 74 Protestants, injured a hundred among the 1,200 gathered in a barn . Upon his return to Paris , Guise is welcomed as a hero and people calling for a crusade against the Huguenots. The massacre triggered a first Wassy "Saint Barthelemy" Protestants are massacred at Sens , at Tours in Maine , in Anjou. The Protestants took up arms under the leadership of Prince Louis of Conde occupying Orleans. They seized by surprise of many large cities . The fight for control of organized urban space. In one month, Protestants managed to capture a large number of cities with very important as Lyon , Poitiers or Rouen, the second largest city. The killings are increasing on both sides. The country moved into civil war. Taken aback by the rush of events, Catherine de Medici tried one last approach to maintain peace, but the Duke of Guise is undertaking a coup by turning up with his troops at Fontainebleau , where the royal family resides. It compelled the young king and his mother to accompany him to Paris under the pretext of protecting them Protestants, thereby forcing them to take advantage of Catholics.

The Battle of Dreux

The conflict is divided into three main areas of combat. The most important of which is deployed in Normandy and the Loire , where the royal army is trying to regain Orleans that serves as a rallying point for Protestants. The second combat zone is located in the Southeast, especially in Languedoc abandoned almost entirely Protestant, and the third zone of combat takes place in the Southwest where Blaise Monluc conducting a relentless repression against Protestants that fighting elsewhere in the Battle of Vergt.

The Protestant army is surrounded by noble networks experienced but must make use of German mercenaries. With the Treaty of Hampton Court , signed in September 1562, it has the financial support of the Queen of England in which the Protestants engaged in Le Havre. Protestants, however, fail to meet their three armies (south-west, south-east, Loire Valley). They carry several assaults on the outskirts of Paris but had to withdraw because they could not win.

After the capture of Rouen , where the King of Navarre died, the royal army commanded by the triumvirate is on the Loire to prevent the junction of the army of Conde with the city of Le Havre who had been delivered by Protestants to the English. The meeting was held in Dreux , 19 December 1562. Protestants and fought the Prince of Conde was captured but the Catholic camp also suffers several losses, the Marshal de Saint-Andre was killed and the constable Anne de Montmorency was taken prisoner by the Protestants.

Franois de Lorraine
Duke of Guise

The death of Franois de Guise in the siege of Orleans in an ambush in Saint-Memin allows Catherine de Medici to propose peace. It launched negotiations with the Prince of Conde, who lead 19 March 1563 at the Edict of Amboise. The decree authorizes the Protestant worship in some places reserved (Chapel of castles, city by Bailiwick) and reopens a period of civil tolerance. IL provides that no person shall be molested for his religious opinions.

If the cities of Rouen, Orleans and Lyon were made to the king, the war has left serious wounds (the first religious war was very destructive). Churches and cathedrals taken by the Protestants were extremely damaged. The end of the war led many Catholics to Protestants and revenge in the year 1563, numerous lawsuits have been filed to condemn the Protestants who looted the churches .

Ultimately, the peace imposed by the queen-mother remains precarious. The parliament of Paris is reluctant to register the new edict of peace that he feels are too tolerant. Enjoying peace, Le Havre is taken by the English Catholics and Protestants reconciled. Catherine de Medici began in 1564 a royal tour of France , to show the young Charles IX to his people. Everywhere he was welcomed triumphantly, and demonstrations of loyalty, both Catholics and Protestants, are broad . During this journey, the young king met his sister Elizabeth of Valois who married Philip II of Spain. She is accompanied by the Duke of Alba. They advise both the firm (1565) .

Second War of Religion (1567-1568)

The massacre Michelade

Having known peace for four years, the kingdom of France is again engulfed in arms. The resumption of hostilities in 1567 due to three reasons: the failure of the Edict of Amboise, which leaves the freedom to worship as noble, the international context and stormy rivalry courtyard between the Prince of Conde and the younger brother of King Henry Duke of Anjou. The ambitious Conde takes umbrage at the political rise of the young prince who was barely sixteen and left the court to show his annoyance .

In 1567, the Spanish King Philip II sends an army to punish the iconoclasm of Flemish Protestants, called revolt of the beggars in the Netherlands. French and Flemish Protestants then continue to help each other . The Spanish army sent from Milan / A> goes to the Netherlands along the French border. The hostile approach revives fears of the king of France who decided to raise several Swiss battalions to prevent a possible Spanish attack on France. This lift raises the concern of French Protestants remained wary since the interview of Bayonne , whose outcome remained secret. New incidents broke out in the provinces (the massacre of Michelade ).

Louis de Bourbon, Prince de Conde

War broke out exactly 28 September 1567 when the Prince de Conde is trying to seize the royal family by force ( Surprise of Meaux ) for "the release of harmful foreign influences." The failure of the plot raises fears in Protestant reprisals. They seized power in cities where they are powerful . Protestant cities of the South will rise again and the two armies confront each other again. At the head of the Protestant army, Conde came to Saint-Denis , to starve Paris. But November 10 is postponed during the Battle of Saint-Denis quoiqu'indcise, particularly because of the death of the constable of Montmorency.

The remainder of the season takes place in the southeastern region of Paris, between Loire and Meuse in a face to face without fighting. From November 1567 to February 1568, the Duke of Anjou strives to continue the Protestant army. But Conde and Coligny refuse to give battle before their junction with the troopers German prince palatine Jean Casimir. They leave the banks of the Seine to the Lorraine must occur where the junction. For its part, the royal army is awaiting the German troops Duke of Saxony and the troops of the Italian Piedmont . Apart from a few skirmishes, nothing happens. Protestants down to Burgundy, crossing the Loire at La Charite , back to Paris and take Blois and Chartres. The lack of financial means, both sides, led to the signing of a truce, called the Peace Longjumeau 23 March 1568 which puts in place the provisions of the Edict of Amboise.

Third War of Religion (1568-1570)

Henri de France, duc d'Anjou

Longjumeau peace is fragile because the royal power no longer trust the Prince of Conde, and the idea of an international coordination of Catholics for the Suppression of Protestantism accreditation for example with the implementation of Cocqueville. Peace Longjumeau especially allows the belligerents to organize their armies. A few months after the signing of the peace, the war resumed. The Catholics are trying to capture by surprise the Prince de Conde, the castle of Walnut and Admiral de Coligny, Tanlay , 29 July 1568. The project fails and Protestant leaders gathered with their armies to La Rochelle where Coligny and Conde have found refuge and Jeanne d'Albret, his son Henry of Navarre and Andelot. Protestants fear of being exterminated. On September 12, 1568, a bull of Pius V ordered a crusade against heretics is registered in the Parliament of Toulouse. it only confirms the fears of Protestants

After a winter season without any major clashes, marked by desertions , the Duke of Anjou wins March 13, 1569 at Jarnac a victory when the Prince de Cond was killed. Coligny, who succeeded him as head of the Calvinists, named Henry of Navarre, who was then 17 years and Henry of Conde Huguenot chiefs of the army but in fact remains the only true leader. Catholic side, Anjou fails to exploit his victory because of artillery and never failed to make Cognac. He did not provide sufficient troops to garrison towns taken to Protestants.

Admiral Gaspard de Coligny

The king went to camp Orleans while Catherine de Medici down to the camp of the Duke of Anjou. On June 25, 1569, Coligny Catholics to beat La Roche-l'Abeille which Strozzi was taken prisoner. He then laid siege to Poitiers , where the Duke of Guise was trapped in a hurry. Coligny but was defeated on October 3 by the Duke of Anjou at the Battle of Moncontour.

Military operations turn to the advantage of the royal army which takes one to one Protestant cities of Poitou. After Chatellerault , Niort and Lusignan , Anjou installs siege to St. Jean d'Angely , where on Oct. 24, the king and the queen mother come join . La Rochelle is blocked by sea, but the winter sets in and lack of money in each camp. Negotiations resume and lead to a truce with the surrender of St. Jean d'Angely, December 3, 1569.

During negotiations, Coligny, which brought together the fragments of the army continued its retreat from the south. It goes into Languedoc and then rises along the Rhone Valley. Much to the surprise of Catholics, he wins on Coss Battle of Arnay-le-Duc June 27, 1570. He then moved to La Charite-sur-Loire, blocking the southern road to Catholics . This event precipitated the signing of a new truce, the Edict of St. Germain , 8 August 1570. To do this, it gives Protestants a limited freedom to worship in places where they practiced before and in the suburbs of 24 cities (2 per government). This treaty guarantees four places of safety to Protestant La Rochelle, Cognac, Montauban and La Charite.

Fourth War of Religion (1572-1573)

Charles IX of France

During the festivities after the marriage of Marguerite de Valois, the King of Navarre, Henri de Bourbon, Admiral de Coligny was the victim of an assassination attempt. Protestants came in large numbers in Paris for the wedding demanding revenge. Peace is threatened and to save the king and his government took the decision to perform the Huguenot leaders . Thus began the massacre of St. Bartholomew in Paris on the night of 23 to 24 August 1572. The killings escalate in the days following the massacre people and made some three thousand deaths in Paris. The Swiss Guards, the King's guards, militias bourgeois contribute to the slaughter . The killing spread to several provincial towns despite the royal order to stop the bloodshed . among others in Meaux (August 25), Orleans (August 27), Lyons (August 31 ) ... Protestant worship is not reformed and encouraged, even forced, to convert . The conflict was revived.

The bulk of the war unfolds around two Protestant towns, La Rochelle and Sancerre besieged by the royal troops. The failure of the siege of La Rochelle by the royal army and the lack of the Royal Treasury put a quick end to operations. The Edict of Boulogne calls into force the provisions of Amboise and removes the Protestants Cognac and La Rochelle. But the Protestants in the south of France reject it and remain in the weapon .

The massacre of St. Bartholomew, the gulf between the monarchy and the Protestants. The Protestant party that has lost faith in the king more highly organized than in the past . The absolute monarchy is starting to be questioned by the constitution of the Union of Protestants du Midi , a veritable shadow government, which imposes taxes (on Catholics and Protestants), has its states (elected by the faithful), establishes a program negotiated with the king and has its own military, so there is in France a kind of Protestant Republic with capitals Nimes and Montauban, and a large port, one in La Rochelle . In 1574, the Protestants choose a governor general and patron of the Reformed Churches in the person of the Prince de Conde .

Fifth War of Religion (1574-1576)

Franois d'Alenon

The war begins with the plot of Malcontents in spring 1574. Since the strengthening of royal power and the favor granted by the king to the radical Catholic party, a movement born of revolt within the court and the royal family. The opposition is led by Francis of Alencon , brother of the king against the government of Catherine de Medici and supporters of the king of Poland. He has the support of the clan of Montmorency , and the monarchomaques all disappointed with the monarchy.

The monarchomaques constestent are those of royal authority. They oppose him the authority of the people who gathered in assembly, is capable of doing the law and to choose the king by election . They even think that rebellion is legitimate if the king did not govern for the good of all and does not respect the liberties and franchises of the people. These theories were first circulated in Germany and England are propagated by Protestants in France Francois Hotman (Franco-Gallia), Theodore Beza (The Alarm Clock of the French), Tongue and La Boetie.

The conspiracy of Malcontents accompanied by province from a call to arms of the Protestants . They take seats masquerading carnival costumes. Is the surprise of Mardi Gras . Refugee in England since the St. Bartholomew, the Earl of Montgomery , Huguenot leader escaped the massacre, launched an attack on Normandy.

Gravely ill, Charles IX thinks he can control the situation by suppressing the rebellion severely. April 30, the conspirators The Mole and Conconat are executed. On 4 May, the Duke of Montmorency and Marshal de Cosse are imprisoning. Before the firmness of the king, the Malcontents Conde , and Turenne Thore prennnent the party to flee the province or abroad, and the governor of Languedoc, Damville alliance with the Protestants.

John Casimir of the Palatinate

May 30, 1574, Charles IX dies without an heir. His brother, King of Poland became King of France under the name of Henry III. While awaiting his return, his mother Catherine de Medici acted as regent. She continues to struggle and tried to regain control of the situation. June 26, 1574, Montgomery was taken prisoner by the governor of Normandy Matignon is executed . On returning to Poland, Henri III tried unsuccessfully to regain the southern provinces.

The conflict rebounds for the rebels when a year later, Francis of Alencon escaped from the court and took the head of an army of malcontents . He has the support of Damville in Languedoc and the Protestant party. Returned to his original faith, the Prince de Conde made to enter the kingdom of the troopers he had recruited in the Palatinate. Despite the victory of the Duke of Guise , head of the royal troops on 10 October 1575 , at Dormans , the situation remains largely favorable to the rebels. In December 1575, John Casimir , son of Count Palatine, enters with 25,000 men in the kingdom that he is devastated. In 1576, the flight of the King of Navarre assigned to the court for four years, the siege of Paris by the allied troops and their numerical superiority forced Henry III to tilt. Peace is signed at Etigny.

May 6, 1576, the king granted the edict of Beaulieu who responded favorably to the demands of Malcontents. It gives Protestants freedom of worship and places of security (military guarantees). Drops in the parliaments of rooms mid-section where Protestants and Catholics are equally represented. The king also compensate all victims of St. Bartholomew. The new provisions of this edict are the basis of the Edict of Nantes in 1598 . Moreover, the king agrees to convene the Estates-General . The king's brother received the duchy of Anjou and preserve the German Prince John Casimir leaves with a huge indemnity, holding hostage some time the superintendent of finances of the king of Pomponne Bellievre .

Sixth War of Religion (May 1577 - September 1577)

Catholics feel that the provisions of the Peace of Beaulieu are excessive. They are leagues local united by an oath and are preparing for war. The major leagues are in Brittany and the northern half of the country. Between Catholics and Protestants policies King appears increasingly isolated. The meeting of the Estates General at Blois does not improve the situation and the war starts again in May 1577. Policies, concerned with the unity of the kingdom, joined the royal army . Their leader, Franois Alenon, directing operations. After rapid seats, he took the towns of La Charite sur Loire in May, then of Issoire in June. The Duke of Mayenne (league) operates in Poitou. Damville obeys the orders of the king and besieged Montpellier. Again, no party is able to win. Peace of Bergerac, materialized with the Edict of Poitiers , puts a temporary end to the conflict. It restricts the conditions of Protestant, limited to one city only in the Bailiwick and suburbs .

Seventh War of Religion (1579-1580)

Catherine de Medici began a new journey across the kingdom. she meets the various parties, the governors of provinces, large. Its objective is to establish a permanent peace. February 28, 1579, she signed on behalf of the king Treaty of Nerac. which gives 15 seats to the Protestants of security for six months. Six months later, Protestants refuse to surrender their seats . Henry of Navarre took Cahors. The Peace Fleix (near Bergerac) gives 15 seats to maintain security for six years for Protestants. This war is also called the war lovers because of the intrigues of gallantry which gave rise to. Indeed, the Protestant Henri of Navarre and his wife Marguerite de Valois (Queen Margot) led a merry life at Nerac in the middle of a court composed of young nobles frivolous, and that their continual gallantry had been dubbed the Lovers.

During the war, royal authority has been shrinking face of provincial governors. Protestant side, Henry, king of Navarre, lord Rouerge and Quercy is also governor of Guyenne. Cond governor of Picardy. Catholic side, the party controls the governments of the Guise of Brittany, Burgundy, Champagne, Normandy. in some regions, the two parties share power as in Provence .

Eighth War of Religion (1585-1598)

Henry, Duke of Guise , 1588.

The end of the reign of Henry III

10 June 1584, the Duke of Anjou, Franois d'Alenon died. Henry III , has no children and it is doubtful he will ever have. The house of Valois is threatened to disappear. Since the extinction of the direct Capetian, the rule of succession in force in France is that of male primogeniture, which excludes the girls and their descendants any claim to the throne .

The legitimate successor becomes the leader of the Protestant party of Navarre . Catholics do not want in any case of a Protestant king who could impose his religion throughout the kingdom. The Guise, then signed with the Spanish Treaty of Joinville . By this treaty it was agreed that the successor of Henry III would be the Cardinal de Bourbon. Philip agrees to pay 50,000 crowns a month to pay the soldiers of the league . In spring 1585, reinvigorated the Holy League took control of many cities. Trying to control the League, Henry III declared himself the head July 7, 1585. To give guarantees to the league, he published the Edict of Nemours July 18, 1585 which prohibits the Protestant Henri de Navarre and fails and Conde's rights. It is supported by Sixtus V who reminds him that the King of Navarre is a heretic and relapsed .

The war resumes. Conde confronts Mercoeur near La Rochelle, the king of Navarre in Guienne Aumale cons ... De Guise is in the east to prevent the troops from Germany to intervene. King oversees all. The various battles are not decisive. Henry of Navarre, however, inflicts heavy losses on the royal-led Merry at the Battle of Coutras October 22, 1587 .
De Guise comes to slaughter the Protestant German Reiters during the Battle of Vimory (near Montargis) October 26, 1587, then Auneau November 24, 1587.

Intoxicated by his victory, Guise was acclaimed by the people of Paris and humiliates the king. The king must leave the capital to Leaguers day after barricades of May 12, 1588. The city then declare for the league and acquires new institutions . The king took advantage of the meeting of the Estates General at Blois to assassinate the leaders of the League, the Duke of Guise and his brother the Cardinal of Lorraine in December 1588 . After these two murders Henry III exclaims: "Now I'm king."

At the news of the assassination of leaders of the league, the league broke all contact with the king declared a tyrant and traitor to the Catholic cause. The Duke of Mayenne, brother of the two victims and new head of the league, took control of Paris . In February 1589, moved to Paris a General Council of Union which rallied several governors. The doctors of the theological faculty of Paris say the French subjects absolved from their oath of fidelity . Henry III had no other way to save his throne to ally with the Protestants. He is reconciled with the King of Navarre. They have joined forces to besiege Paris. Henry III is assassinated at St. Cloud on August ^1, 1589 by a fanatic monk, making Henry of Navarre, leader of the Protestants, the new king of France. Policies Catholics as Protestants recognize the legitimacy of the new king. Moreover, from August 4, Henry IV declared its intention to be educated in the Catholic religion by the influence of Michel de Montaigne. Protestant hardliners then leave the new king. They fear its possible conversion according to them could lead to further persecution of Protestants . Parliaments are divided between the Leaguers and royalists.

Henry IV, the conquest of power

The League holds all of northern France and can count on the support of Philip II. The league refuses to recognize a Protestant king. From August 1589, the Leaguers in Paris proclaimed the Cardinal of Bourbon as the new king of France. But he died in May 1590, leaving a political vacuum among the Leaguers. Spanish soldiers then settled in Brittany and Languedoc. He ordered twice to the troops of Alexander Farnese stationed in the Netherlands to visit France. The Duke of Savoy takes in Provence and Dauphin. The Protestant side, Elizabeth I sent money and troops of the German princes .

In 1589 and 1590, Henry IV, multiply operations near Paris and Normandy. After the victory of Arques, he just lay siege to Paris. After the brilliant victory of Ivry, it tries a third seat in Paris. After several weeks of siege, Henry IV was forced to break camp because of a Spanish army sent by Alexander Farnese to unlock Paris. It resounds in the night of 20 to 21 January 1591 to invest Paris by cunning, by sending its troops disguised as merchants of flour, this attempt ended in another failure and retain the name of Day meal.

He laid siege to Rouen , sends an army into the open road to the Netherlands Protestants and prevent another Duke Mercoeur lead of Britain . On the southern front, the Duke of Montmorency managed to beat the Happy Family with which Montmorency compete Languedoc and is now threatening the city of Toulouse Ligueux membership.

In 1593, the Estates General of the League meet in Paris. They want a Catholic sovereign. But they refuse to give the crown of France to the Infanta Isabel, daughter of Philip II of Spain and Elisabeth de Valois, Duke of Savoy, Duke of Lorraine, a Guise are also in the running as well as two Catholic Bourbons. Henry IV has on his side he will never be accepted if it is Protestant . He announces his conversion to Catholicism and to abjure the cathedral of Saint-Denis July 25, 1593. This conversion opened the gates of Paris in 1594. He was consecrated at Chartres February 27, 1594. On 7 December 1595, the pope recognizes the legitimacy of succession . The rallies are accelerating to the legitimate king.

Henry, portrait of the 1590s

Permanently installed in his capital, Henry IV can think of to finish the reconquest of his kingdom. He officially declared war on Spain and began a campaign in Burgundy that leads to the crushing of the last armed forces of the League at the Battle of Fontaine-French. Defeated Mayenne, the League of nobility gradually ceases to exist. In 1596, the young Duke of Guise, who rallied to the king besieged the city of Marseille. Henry IV can make its entry into the royal city of Lyon which unlike Paris, welcomed with great pomp. If Mayenne and the Cardinal de Joyeuse make their submission to the king, this is not even the governor of Britain, the Duke of Mercoeur keeps cutting Ligueux on Britain when Philip II made land a Spanish troupe.

East regained, Henri IV is considering protecting its northern border attacked by the Spaniards. Clashes in Laon restore the situation to his advantage but the surprise decision of the city of Amiens by the Spaniards questions everything. Abandoned by Protestants who feel aggrieved by King Henry IV tried somehow to resume Amiens where he displays considerable military resources. A Spanish relief army laid siege to the besieging army, but after many sacrifices, the city was resumed. (See: Siege of Amiens )

Pacification

In 1598, France and Spain are running out of strength and sign the peace Vervins. Henry moves to Los Angeles to prepare a new edict of pacification and submit to Nantes , the Duke of Mercoeur. It solves the problem by protesting the adoption of an edict of toleration , the Edict of Nantes. It draws on various edicts issued during the wars of religion. Reformed obtain the freedom of conscience, freedom of worship and limited civil equality with Catholics. Judicial guarantees provided to them by the constitution of "courts mid-parties" in four cities. Finally, to protect themselves they have a hundred strongholds for eight years, lien renewed in 1606 . But the number of Protestants has fallen sharply. At the end of the wars of religion, they are more than a million in France .

Question Protestant after 1598

Louis XIII, in front of La Rochelle, the capital of French Protestantism

The Edict of Nantes in France establishes, for eighty-seven years, a situation often regarded as highly original and often celebrated as the birthday of tolerance in Europe. In fact, the edict is not a religion of peace exceptionally well if one keeps in mind the rules of religious coexistence in Poland, Hungary, Transylvania and even in the Empire. It establishes a Catholic state in which Protestantism was tolerated, but is disadvantaged. Indeed, the edict proclaiming the restoration of Roman religion wherever it had ceased to practice and churches and church property to their original owners while Protestant worship could be exercised freely everywhere . The re-Catholicization the kingdom becomes possible. Thus, starting from the early seventeenth century Henry IV pursues a clear policy favoring Catholic reform, as evidenced by its support for the Jesuits.

Louis XIII is facing new Protestant rebellions. They are easily explained by the startle reflex of a minority fearing the creation of a major "design royal" at his expense. These revolts only affect the west and south. Dauphine, Normandy and Paris area remain calm. In 1615, the assembly of Nimes decides to support the nobles who opposed the marriage of Louis XIII with Anne of Austria. In 1620, King traveled in Beam, autonomous country partly reformed, with an army. He restores Catholicism everywhere. The result is the decision in May 1621, a new civil war by a meeting held at La Rochelle Huguenot. It is marked by two campaigns of Louis XIII in the South in 1621 and 1622. Protestants lose eighty strongholds Montpellier, Millau, Nimes, Uzes and Castres lose half their fortifications . In 1625, Benjamin de Rohan, duc de Soubise , brother of the Protestant leader, Rohan, took the initiative of a new uprising, following the Languedoc-heartedly. It ends with the Treaty of Paris signed in February 1626 which extended the previous peace. Charles I of England then pushes the Huguenots to their last major revolt (1627-1629). The royal troops besieged La Rochelle in August 1627 to October 1628). The king himself went to Languedoc, where it takes Privas in May 1629. The Edict of Als through June 1629 to forgive the revolt, leaving the Protestant religious freedoms under the Edict of Nantes, but ordered the destruction of all enemy fortifications. The Huguenot political gatherings have been banned .

Particularly hostile to Protestantism, Louis XIV establishes a policy of persecution. In 1681 , he sends dragonnades Protestant force families to convert. Finally, in October 1685 , he published the Edict of Fontainebleau, revoking the Edict of Nantes. Protestants were severely reduced in number over the past century, are forced to convert or exile. Violence erupts in the early eighteenth ^century in the Cevennes , where the population, known as the Camisards revolt against the government. It was not until the critical light to finally see the establishment of a genuine religious tolerance in 1787 , with the edict of Versailles and in 1789 with the declaration of human rights.

See also

Chronology of Heads of State of France, the Netherlands, Spain and England

Related articles

• a href = "% C3% 89dits_de_Pacification" alt = "Edicts of Pacification" class = "mw-redirect"> List of Edicts of Pacification
• List of commanders of the wars of religion
• War Eighty Years (war of independence from the Netherlands)
• Catholic League
• Swiss Association for the History of the Huguenot Refuge
• Protestant Reformation
• War in the sixteenth century

External Links

• Wars of Religion in the website of the Ministry of Culture Henri IV's reign interrupted
• The 8 Wars of Religion in the South-West France
• Swiss Association for the History of the Huguenot Refuge

Bibliography

• Pierre Miquel , The Wars of Religion, Paris: Librairie Fayard Arthme, 1980 (reprint). Chronology detailed, comprehensive index, bibliography (27 p). 596 p.
• James Wood, The king's army: warfare, soldiers, and society "during the Wars of Religion in France, 1562-1576, New York, Cambridge University Press, 1996.
• Jouanna Arlette (ed.), History and Dictionary of the Wars of Religion, 1559-1598, Robert Laffont, coll. "Mouthpieces", 1998 ( ISBN 2-221-07425-4 );
• Jean-Marie Constant, during the French Wars of Religion, Hachette Literature, 2002 ( ISBN 2-01-235311-8 );
• Denis Crouzet :
  • God's Realm: A History of the Wars of Religion, Champ Vallon, Paris, 2008 ( ISBN 2876734944 ).
  • Warriors of God. The violence in troubled times religion (v. 1525-v. 1610), Champ Vallon, collection "ages", 2005 ^(1st edition 1990) ( ISBN 2-87673-430-3 )
  • Genesis of the French Reformation 1520-1562, Sedes, coll. "Modern History" ^No. 109, Paris, 1999 ^(1st edition 1996) ( ISBN 2-7181-9281-X );
• Jean Paul Barbier-Mueller , The Word and weapons. Chronicle of the Wars of Religion in France 1562-1598, Hazan and International Museum of the Reformation (Geneva), 2006 ( ISBN 978-2754100946 )

References

• Portal History
• Christianity portal
• Portal for Military History
• Portal Renaissance

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