Chapter 12: The Age of Religious Wars
Section 2: The French Wars of Religion
(1562-1598)
By Dallin F. Hardy

Huguenots

French Protestants

Battle of Pavia


1525
Resulted in

Capture of Francis I


King of France
Sparked

Protestant persecution in
France

Affair of the Placards


1534
Protestants

Spread anti-Catholic
literature

Edict of Fontainebleau


1540
Subjected

French Protestants to

Inquisition

Henry II


Reigned 1547-1559
Married

Catherine de Medici

Edict of Chateaubriand


1551
Established new measures
against

Protestants

Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis


1559
Ended

Habsburg-Valois Wars

Death of Henry II

1559

Francis II

Reigned 1559-1560

French Families

Vied for power



Guises
Bourbons
Montmorency-Chatillons

Guises


Catholic
Three brothers

Francis


Charles


Duke of Guise
Cardinal
Louis

Cardinal

Bourbons


Huguenot
Louis I

Prince of Conde

Montmorency-Chatillons


Huguenot
Admiral Gaspard de
Coligny

Conspiracy of Amboise


1560
French Protestants

Sought to kidnap

Francis II
Appeal of Calvinism

French Calvinists

1/15th of the population
Catherine de Medicis and the
Guises

Death of Francis II

1560

Charles IX

Reigned 1560-1574

Catherine de Medicis

Wife of


Henry II
Mother of



Francis II
Charles IX
Henry III

January Edict


1562
Issued by


Catherine de Medicis
Granted Protestants

Freedom to

Worship

Massacre at Vassy


March 1562
Duke of Guise

Killed


80 defenseless Huguenots
Began

French Wars of Religion

French Wars of Religion


1562-1598
8 Wars

First French War of Religion


1562-1563
Resulted in

Assassination of

Duke of Guise

Second French War of Religion

1567-1568

Third French War of Religion


1568-1570
Conde


Killed
Coligny

Became leader of

Huguenot

Peace of Saint-Germainen-Laye


1570
Ended

French Wars of Religion

Results of the Peace of
Saint-Germain-en-Laye

Crown

Acknowledged power of


Granted Huguenots



Protestant nobility
Religious freedom in their
territories
Right to fortify their cities
Bourbon faction

Gained power

Protestant Resistance in
the Netherlands

Netherlands

Controlled by Spain


Philip II
Louis of Nassau

Leader of Protestant
resistance

Assassination Attempt


1572
Coligny

Shot-Not killed

Saint Bartholomew’s Day
Massacre


August 24, 1572
Huguenots were massacred

Including

Coligny

Effects of the Massacre


Catholic leaders celebrated
Became a rallying point for

Protestants

Protestant Resistance
Theory

Martin Luther


Approved resistance
John Calvin

Magistrates had

Right and duty
 To oppose tyrannical
authority

John Knox

1558

First Blast of the Trumpet
against the Terrible
Regiment of Women

Huguenot Resistance Theory

1570’s

Franco-Gallia


On the Right of Magistrates over
Their Subjects


Francois Hotman
Theodore Beza
Defense of Liberty against Tyrants

Philippe du Plessis
The Rise to Power of Henry of
Navarre

Death of Charles IX

1574

Henry III


Reigned 1574-1589
Sought a middle course

Between


Catholics
Huguenots

Catholic League



1576
Henry of Guise
Intended to

Eradicate

Huguenots

Peace of Beaulieu


1576
Granted Huguenots

Complete religious and civil
freedom

Henry of Navarre


Legal heir to the French
throne
Leader of the

Protestants

War of the Three Henrys




1587-1589
Henry III
Henry of Navarre
Henry, Duke of Guise

Day of the Barricades


1588
King Henry III

Fled Paris

Assassinations



1588
Duke of Guise
Cardinal of Guise

Alliance of the Two Henrys



1589
Henry III
Henry Navarre

Assassination of Henry III


1589
End of


Valois dynasty
1328-1589

Henry IV


Reigned 1589-1610
Established

Bourbon dynasty

“Paris is worth a Mass”


1593
Henry IV

Converted to


Stunned




Catholicism
France
Spain
Pope
Politique
The Edict of Nantes

Edict of Nantes



April 13, 1598
Henry IV
Proclaimed


Formal religious settlement
Ended

French Wars of Religion

Results of the Edict of Nantes

Granted Huguenots


Religious freedom
Critics claim that

Created a state within a state

Treaty of Vervins


1598
Ended hostilities between


France
Spain

Assassination of Henry IV


1610
By Catholic fanatic