FRENCH WARS OF RELIGION (1562-1598)

Question 1

Why was there Rising tension between Protestants and Catholics?

Answer 1

Huguenots (French Protestants) were gaining power as a political bloc

Question 2

What is the french Succession crisis?

Answer 2

*Henry II dies in a jousting accident in 1559

    *His son, Francis II becomes king aged 15: inexperienced and sickly
   *Catherine de’ Medici asks relatives of Francis’s wife (Mary Queen of Scots), the Guise brothers, to help him run things
    *The Guises isolate him from court, which leads to a kidnapping attempt by Protestants in 1560

*Francis II dies in 1560, his brother, Charles IX, succeeds to the throne and Catherine takes control over the king

Question 3

How does Jeanne d’Albret, Queen of Navarre contribute to the protestant / catholic tensions.

Answer 3

publicly converts to Protestantism and outlaws Catholicism

Question 4

What is the Kingdom of Navarre?

Answer 4

*Independent kingdom north of the Pyrene (northern spain)

Jeanne d’Albret (1528-1572) inherited the kingdom from her father
- Had two children (husband from france) Catherine and Henry

Jeanne publicly converts to Calvinism and makes it the state religion, banning Catholicism from Navarre

Jeanne dies, her son Henry becomes Henry III of Navarre and in 1589: Henry becomes Henry IV of France, uniting the kingdoms of France and Navarre

Question 5

Who did Catherine de’Medici appoint as Lieutenant General of France? Why is this significant?

Answer 5

Antoine

Antoine goes on to support the Catholic faction in the wars of religion

Question 6

What was interesting about the children of Catherine de’ Medi? (and Henry 2)

Answer 6

Had 10 children in 12 years

• Outlived all but three of them
• Three of them were kings (Francis II King of France, Charles IX King of France, Henry III King of France)

Question 7

What are HUGUENOTS?

Answer 7

*French Calvinists = political movement opposed to the royal family and the Guises
*Popular in the middle class, but include nobles and peasants

Concentrated in southwestern France

Question 8

Who were noble supporters of the Huguenots?

Answer 8

Jeanne d’Albret, Princes of Condé, Henry IV (initially)

Question 9

When there were conflicts between Huguenots and Catholics, what is the important idea?

Answer 9

Full attacks on both sides, no one comes out unscathed.

Huguenot uprisings in Orléans, Bourges, and Montauban
*Iconoclasm: destroying graven images (smashing religious items)
*Attacking Catholic clergy

*Attacks on Huguenots
*Preachers attacked on the road
*St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre (August 1572

Question 10

What are the official attitudes towards to protestants?

Answer 10

• The royal family is catholic
  
  • Francis 1
  • He hated protestants
  • His sister, Marguerite de Navarre, was okay with them, so he didn’t do anything actively
  • She dies (he starts persecuting protestants)

He was under the sway of the Guise family

Question 11

Who is The Guise family?

Answer 11

Anti-Protestant zealot

Question 12

What is the Vassy Massacre?

Answer 12

murder of Huguenot worshippers and citizens in an armed action by troops of the Duke of Guise

Guise’s men tried to disperse the meeting but, when met with resistance, massacred the worshippers and left at least 50 dead
*This is considered an inciting incident of the war

Question 13

What are the patterns in the phases of the war?

Answer 13

• Escalates
• Important people killed
  
  • Treaty (things chill out after)
• The treaty doesn’t address the core issue between Catholics and protestants

This finally stops with Edict of Nantes (1598)

Question 14

What is the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre?

Answer 14

Marriage of Henry III of Navarre and Marguerite de Valois in Paris
*Henry is a Huguenot = prominent Huguenots gather in Catholic Paris for the festivities

-> Failed assignation on Admiral de Coligny
- V. wounded by alive
- Hugenoe (Catholics worried if he died there would be retribution)

• Swiss mercenaries (belonging to the king) have a kill list of Huguenot leaders
  
  • Swiss starts chasing and killing these people
  • Normal ppl join in and hunt and murder protestants as well

Question 15

What is the Catholic League?

Answer 15

*Founded by Henry I of Guise in 1576 for all Roman Catholics
*Power centred on the Guise family and their favourites
*Aimed at eradicating Protestantism in France = Opposed the Crown’s attempts at compromise and mediation
*Supported by King Phillip II of Spain and the Pope

Question 16

What are the three factions at play?

Answer 16

1. Hugnots 2. Royal Family (more moderate) 3. Catholic League

Question 17

Who are the three Henrys in the war of three henrys?

Answer 17

1. Henry 3 (king of france)
2. Henry 3 (King of Navarre - Son of Jeanne d’Albret)
3. Henry 1 de Guise (Led the Catholic League, turned Paris against the king for his failure to defeat Protest)

Question 18

What is the actual war like with the war of three Henrys?

Answer 18

Francis, Duke of Anjou dies & Henry III of France has no heir
- Only distant cousin (Henry 3rd of Navarre BUT HE”S is a Huguenot! Not acceptable)

• Henry de Guise and Catholic League try block this

Paris revolts against Henry III of France (instigated by Henry I de Guise) and the king flees the city
*Now both Henry III of France and Henry III of Navarre are trying to capture the city

Henry 3 of France = Had Du Guise Henry assassinated

Henry III of France assassinated by a Dominican friar on orders of the Catholic League, names Henry III of Navarre his heir on his deathbead

Question 19

What Happens to Henry 3rd of Nevarre?

Answer 19

*Becomes king on the death of Henry III

*1589-93: series of successful campaigns against the Catholic Leage

Becomes Henry the 4th

Question 20

Did the now Henry the 4th keep his Hugenot tendencies?

Answer 20

Paris is heavily fortified and will never accept a Protestant king

*Conversion to Catholicism in 1593: “Paris is worth a Mass.”

*Creates Edict of Nantes: legal freedom of religion

*Tensions remain = 1610 assassination by a Catholic zealot

*Despite Henry IV’s success in bringing the wars to an end, the monarchy’s authority is weakened by the conflict
*Succeeded by his son Louis XIII and eventually his grandson Louis XIV who both work to reassert royal authority

Question 21

What is the EDICT OF NANTES?

Answer 21

Granted Protestants substantial rights, including:
*Freedom of conscience and right to practice their religion
*The right to hold public office
*The right to maintain Huguenot militias
*The right to travel freely in France
*The right to Protestant schools, universities, and cemeteries

Question 22

Did the Edict of Nantes last?

Answer 22

Revoked in the Edict of Fontainbleu, 1685, by Henry IV’s grandson, Louis XIV

*France remains quite religiously divided after th

Question 23

What were the impacts of the Wars of Religion on normal people?

Answer 23

• Many deaths (2-4 million)
• Faith is personal = suspected friends and family of being secret protestant / catholic
• Civil wars with towns looted
• Army’s travelling brought a lof of ppl with them & mercenaries typically took their families and servants with them + all the camp followers (tavern-keepers, cobblers, smiths, sex workers, etc)

Marching soldiers / displaced ppl = spread of disease

• Emigration: skilled tradespeople (Huguenots) leave for Protestant areas in Germany, the Netherlands, England, Southern Africa, and North America

Question 24

What are sources historians use in this period?

Answer 24

Legal records, personal records, essays etc

NO NEWSPAPERS in this period

Question 25

Who was Micheal de Montainge?

Answer 25

Aristocrat, philosopher, inventor of the essay

Catholic, but was known for being one of the very few people who could work with both Catholics and Protestants
*2/3 Henrys endorsed him
*Elected Mayor of Bordeaux in 1581 as a moderating force