Striking a Delicate Balance: Historians of Henri IV's Reign, 1589 .. 1610

Camille Caruso Weiss

The politique historians who wrote about contemporary events of Henri IV's time witnessed both immense triumphs and tragedies for . l The Wars of Religion (1562-1598) not only destroyed the polit• ical and social fabric of life but also revealed a panoply of human motives, ranging from hate, raw ambition, and greed to courage, integri• ty, and honor--fertile ground for the historian's craft. But how did these particular historians reflect upon the immediate past and contemporary history? As , they believed the king wielded the power to maintain peace and order in the realm over any religious interests. This view of royal power entailed the tolerance and recognition of a powerful Huguenot faction within a predominantly Catholic realm. Thus, the politiques steered a moderate course in the affairs of state and religion. Fiercely loyal to Henri IV, they viewed the intrusion of foreign powers such as Spain, the Papacy, or England in the affairs of the state as threats to the political integrity of the realm, intrusions they would not tolerate. Yet the politique historians still maintained individual biases on a num• ber of issues concerning church and state in France, such as the role of the Jesuits. Who were these historians, what were their backgrounds, who influenced them, and what issues concerned them? This survey of the politique historians during Henri's reign comments upon these ques• tions and addresses some of the more prominent ones in fuller detail. The host of events leading to Henri's ascension to the French throne in 1589 proved a daunting challenge for any historian focused on con• temporary events. Many of them had not supported Henti or the poli• tique cause prior to 1589 or shortly thereafter. Some had even taken part in the , which supported the Cardinal de Bourbon, or a member of the Guise family or even the Spanish royal family over Henri, who was considered an abject heretic, and therefore not eligible for the throne.2 Others favored the French and had even served Henri when he had been one of their co-religionists but were reluctant to serve him after his conversion to Catholicism in 1593.3 When Henri's political and military victories mounted, however, most seemed recon• ciled to the new politique regime and were eager to place interests of the crown and state before their religious loyalties. The majority of Henri's

EIRe 33.2 (Winter 2007): 300-327 301 historians who wrote about contemporary events, including Bernard du Haillan, Jean de Serres, , Victor Palma Cayet, Julien Pelius, Jean-Baptiste Legrain, and to a lesser extent, Pierre de Cornu and Gabriel Chappuys, met with the king's favor. His sanguine temperament fostered a relatively tolerant environment at court, which was remark• able, given the attempted assassinations, insurrections, and other adver• sities that Henri faced before and during his reign from 1589-1610. Yet one historian, the most renown of the group, Jacques-Auguste de Thou, was denied royal support after the criticized aspects of his major work, Histoire Universelle, and eventually placed it on the Index. Henri, who could ill-afford to offend the papacy at the time that de Thou was composing his history, demanded that the sale of the book be prohibited. The king's annoyance with an historian was a rare occur• rence, but one which characterized the uncertainties of the time as well as the problems that historians of contemporary history faced. If they walked a tightrope, it only reflected Henri's tenuous position with vari• ous factions and parties in France and abroad. In this rare case, political and religious consensus took precedence over relative tolerance involv• ing freedom of expression at court. Of course, all of the politique histori• ans eagerly exalted Henri's role in history, which became part of his gal• lant legend for posterity. But they did not neglect pleading the case for truth, clarity and objectivity in their writing. saw the dangers of an historian writing about contempo• rary events all too clearly in his work, Methodus ad Facilem Historiarum Cognitionem. Writing in 1565 in the midst of religious conflict and chaos, Bodin grappled with the philosophy of sovereignty, government and law. Though he thought that it would be better not to write contemporary history, since one who was removed from immediate events and persons was better able to assume more objectivity, he asserted that those most active in public affairs with a more erudite mind should take up the bur• den of writing it. He best summed it up with the remark, "wisdom is attained through literature and the recognition of extremes by which moderation begets wisdom" (50-51).4 Furthermore, the historian should not be an orator, but rather, through practical knowledge of affairs in pol• icy-making and its application, gain accurate historical insights using straightforward, eloquent writing, free of excessive verbiage (Method 50- 51). John L. Brown, in his analysis of Bodin's Method remarks, "For Bodin, constancy is a thing of moderation, not of unyielding rigidity. It is not the heroic attitude of a man who takes an uncompromising posi• tion which he will defend with his life. It is rather the attitude of Montaigne, the attitude which insists that no conviction is worth shed-