FRENCH WARS OF RELIGION

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FRENCH WARS OF RELIGION

• No wars are more terrible than civil wars. They
  are fought in the absence of government.
• Kishlansky and Palmer

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Struggles in France

• France divided by
• law
• Customs
• languages
• Economy struggling
• so peasants taxed more (remember nobles and
  clergy dont pay taxes in France)

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The Calvinists Arrive

• Arrived in 1540s through Geneva
• Butthe nobles and monarchy began to fight over
  power in France
• Sonobles converted to Calvinism (spiteful!)

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Henry II and his Heirs

• King Henry II
• accidentally killed
• jousting tournament 1559
• His son Francis II took power at 15 years old
• (he died 18 months later)Sooo
• His 10 year old brother Charles IX took power

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Henry II and his Heirs

• Catherine de Medici (wife of Henry II)
• regent for her young sons
• French disliked her
• shopkeepers daughter

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Calvinism

• BY 1560s spread to all social classes (wow!)
• 50 nobility Calvinist (zealous, well organized)
• BUTthe Guise family (related to Mary Queen of
  Scots) was devoutly Catholic and wanted
  Calvinism crushed
• SOOOin 1562 Calvinists began destroying
  Catholic Churches
• AND THENCatholics began slaughtering Calvinists
  in retaliation

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1562 CONTINUES

• The 10 year old Charles IX (under his regent)
  was ruling
• Full scale civil war breaks out!
• First..Duke of Guise caught Huguenots preaching
  on his land (so he kills them) then
• Huguenots assassinated the Duke
• Then a royal edict issued in 1563 allows
  Calvinist congregations to preach (but no more
  could be spread)

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More war

• War broke out again between 2 groups
• In 1572 Charles IX (now a big boy but his mom was
  still in charge) giving military support to Dutch
  Protestants rebelling against Spain
• WHAT? WHY WOULD THEY DO THAT??

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1572

• Catherine wanted to weaken her rival (Spain)
  sooo.. she helped Protestants in the
  Netherlands
• The Catholic Guises (highly influential noble
  family) find out and were furious

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1572

• Catherine arranged a marriage with her daughter
  Margaret (Catholic) and Henry of Navarre (a sort
  of Huguenot) to make peace
• Bad idea for the Huguenots

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Saint Bartholomews Day Massacre

• Huguenots attending the wedding (on St. Barts
  Day) were asked to come unarmed
• On the wedding day (August 24, 1572), Catholic
  assassins brutally murdered the Huguenot guests
  in Paris
• 6 day Catholic mobs stormed the streets (2,000
  Protestants killed)

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Saint Bartholomews Day Massacre

• Outside of Paris another 10,000 Protestants
  killed
• Pope held a special mass to celebrate the event
  (supposedly danced for joy when he heard the
  news)

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Henry III

• Charles IX died in 1574
• Succeeded by his younger brother Henry III
  (already sick when he took power)
• Ruled from 1574-1589
• Crown slipped twice from his head at his
  coronation (omen of bad luck)

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Henry III royal image

• Pious
• Went on pilgrimages
• Wanted a revival of Catholicism in France

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The real Henry III

• Enjoyed dressing up as a woman
• Spent incredible amounts of

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Henry IIIs Royal Problems

• Fiscal crisis worsening
• Poor harvests throughout France
• Nobles sick of Italian financiers at court
• Catholic forces around the king began to separate
• Politiques
• Devots (fanatics) led by Duke Henry of Guise

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The Catholic forces

• Politiques
• Moderates
• Tired of bloodshed
• Wanted politics ahead of religion
• Wanted to win the support of Protestant Moderates
  to make peace
• Wanted religious toleration

• Devots
• Organized a Catholic League
• Subsidized by Philip II
• Wanted Protestantism driven from France

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War of the 3 Henrys

• Henry of Guise pitted against Henry III
• Henry III had Henry of Guise brutally murdered
  and then joined forces with Henry of Navarre
  (Protestant) and defeated the Catholics
• Henry III was then assassinated (by a monk)

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Henry of Navarre

• The French were weary of civil war
• Moderate Catholics were tired of the Pope and
  Spains intervention
• H of N played on the peoples frustrations (he
  had already been excommunicated twice anyway)

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Henry of Navarre

• 1593 Henry shocks France
• He changes his religion to Catholicism! (remember
  he had gone back and forth several times)
• This was a political move rather than a religious
  move

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Henry of Navarre

• Remember, H of N is a Politique
• Paris is worth a mass
• Henry then declared war on Spain in 1595 and
  peace was made in 1598

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Henry of Navarre

• Survived 9 assassination attempts by nobles and
  Jesuits allied with Spain
• 1598 Edict of Nantes
• Catholicism official religion in France
• Granted 2 million French Protestants freedom to
  worship at home and hold religious services (but
  not in Paris)

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Henry of Navarre

• Catholic Reformation flourished in France
• Jesuits allowed back in 1604

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The Real Henry of Navarre

• Intelligent, well organized (but smelled bad)
• 2nd wife Marie de Medici gave him 3 children (his
  mistresses gave him six more)
• Referred to his children as the herd

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The Real Henry of Navarre

• Henry IV (H of N) made France a strong power
• Re-imposed royal authority
• controlled the nobles but they still remained
  strong

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The French noble monarchy

• 1609 Treatise on Orders and Simple Dignities
• Three estates were established in France
  clergy, nobility, and everybody else (in that
  order)

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The French noble monarchy

• Nobility
• Nobles of the sword oldest, powerful, called on
  for military support
• Nobles of the robe claimed noble status based
  on high administrative office

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Finance minister, Duke of Sully

• Increased royal revenues and reduced the debt
• Raised the gabelle
• Sold royal offices for cash to nobles of the robe
• Negotiated trade treaties
• Built roads, canals
• Encouraged French exploration (Quebec 1608)

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The end of the Henrys

• May 14, 1610 Henry IV left the Louvre to go to
  Sullys residence
• Guards left his carriage unattended to clear a
  traffic jam
• Ravaillac (a monk) stabbed king three times and
  killed him

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Louis XIII (ruled 1610-1643)

• Marie de Medici (mom) acted as regent
• Son was 8 years old
• Stubborn, ill tempered, high-strung
• Psychological burdens of his fathers murder
• Exiled his mother from France
• Married an Austrian princess (disastrous)
• Finally had a child in 1638

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Cardinal Richelieu

• Minister of France (Cardinal of the CC)
• Key adviser to Louis XIII
• Was a cardinal but was a true politique

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Cardinal Richelieu

• Centralized royal power
• Divided France into 32 districts
• Intendants of the king governed each district
• But royal finances were never under control
• A rise in taxes caused uprisings (he crushed them
  with royal troops)

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Cardinal Mazarin

• Louis XIII died in 1643 (tuberculosis)
• Louis XIV became king at 5 years old
• Queen Anne of Austria (mom) became regent
• Mazarin was the true regent of the crown

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Mazarins policies

• Continued to centralize monarchical power
• Increasing taxation
• Nobles and Parlement opposed Mazarin
• Organized a conspiracy known as The Fronde
  (violent political opposition)

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Next time.we will go back to England