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Chapter 12: Wars of Religion
French Wars of Religion
Focus Question
• What were the deeper political motivations behind the French wars of religion?
Set the stage…• 1559 Henry II is unexpectedly killed when
a lance pierced his visor during a joust
• Francis II - His 15 yr old son takes the throne
• Under the regency of his mother Queen Catherine de Medici
Henry Catherine
“Boy Kings”
Francis II (1559–1560)
Charles IX (1560–1574)
Henry III (1574–1589)
ProtestantRepression in France
• French Protestants were known asHuguenots
• Emperor Charles V started the first wave of Protestant persecution in 1525
• 1534 – Protestants arrested and leader John Calvin sent into exile
ProtestantRepression in France (cont.)
• 1540 – Edict of Fontainebleau makes Protestants subject to the Inquisition
• 1551 – Edict of Chateaubriand establishes more measures against the Protestants
Guises vs Bourbons
• Lacking a strong King, French politics becomes a power struggle between 2 aristocratic factions:
Guise (CATHOLIC) and the Bourbon (PROTESTANT)
Appeal of Calvinism
• In the second half of 1500’s between almost ½ of nobility became Calvinist.
• For the upper class religion was an excuse to grab for power.
The Medici’s and the Guises
• Catherine de Medici unsuccessfully attempts to reconcile the differences between the Protestants and the Catholic Guises
The Medicis and the Guises (cont.)
• The Duke of Guise massacres Protestant worshippers in Vassy(1562), causing the French wars of religion
• Medicis and her young king son (Charles IX) go under the control of the Guises
The Peace of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1570)
• Three (of many) wars of religion end with the deaths of the duke of Guise, Protestant military leader Conde, and a Huguenot victory
Conde
The Peace of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1570)
• Peace treaty acknowledges the Protestant nobility and grants Huguenots religious freedom and the right to fortify their cities
Huguenot Influence Grows
• King Charles IX falls under the influence of Huguenot leader Admiral Coligny
Huguenot Influence Grows
• Coligny wants to support the Protestants in the Netherlands. But this support would put France on a crash course with Spain.
Huguenot Influence Grows
• Catherine convinces her son King Charles IX that a Huguenot coup was about to happen (she’s freaking out about losing power)
The Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre
• Response is on August 24, 1572 –Coligny and 3,000 Huguenots are massacred in Paris
• Within three days,
20,000 other
Protestants are
also killed in
France
The Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre (cont.)
• Protestant cause becomes one of sheer survival
• In response, Protestant writers call for an active defense of religious rights
John Calvin
War of the Three Henry’s
• Henry III, a politique, attempts to compromise with the warring religions to save the nation (which was more important to him than religion)
• Ultra Catholics want to replace him with Henry, duke of Guise
• Henry III assassinated the duke
Henry of Navarre
• Henry III allies himself against the Guises with Henry of Navarre, who had married his sister
• Henry III is assassinated and Henry of Navarre becomes Henry IV, a Protestant, as King of France
Henry of Navarre (cont)
• Henry IV, basically a politique, converts to Catholicism, horrifying the Huguenots
Henry of Navarre (cont)
• “Paris is worth a mass”
The Edict of Nantes, 1598
Gave the well over 1 million Huguenots…
•Freedom of public worship
•The right of assembly
•Admission to public offices and universities
•Permission to maintain fortified towns
The Edict of Nantes, 1598
• Significance – created a state within a state. This problem would not be solved until Louis XIV
• The violence stops, but hostilities remain
• A Catholic fanatic assassinates Henry IV in 1610
Focus Question
• What were the deeper political motivations behind the French wars of religion?