DOCSLIB.ORG

A Temperate Factionalism: Political Life in Amiens at the End of the Wars of Religion*

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
A Temperate Factionalism: Political Life in Amiens at the End of the Wars of Religion* A Temperate Factionalism: Political Life in Amiens at the End of the Wars of Religion* Olivia Carpi At the end of 1584, after a respite of nine years, France became embroiled in a new civil war. After the death of his brother the duke of Anjou (10 June 1584), King Henri iii was without a male descendant and the Catholics were facing what for the vast majority of them was a frightening prospect: Henri of Bour- bon, king of Navarre and Henri iii’s cousin, but also a Protestant and leader of the rebel Huguenot party, had become the presumptive heir. As a consequence, a portion of the French nobility and some bourgeois in Paris and other cities in the kingdom formed a Catholic League, also called the “Holy Union” (the name preferred by its adherents), promoted by Henri de Lorraine, the duke of Guise, and supported by Philip ii, king of Spain. The League’s aims were made public in a manifesto issued on 31 March 1585: to force the king to resume war against the ‘heretics’, deprive Navarre from his claims to the throne, and also to thor- oughly reform the state, which the Leaguers condemned for its fiscal rapacity and authoritarian tendencies. Confronted by political and military pressure, Henri iii reluctantly promul- gated the Treaty of Nemours (18 July 1585), prohibiting the reformed religion and annulling any rights to the throne claimed by Navarre and his cousin, the prince of Condé. These concessions were, however, not enough to sat- isfy the most uncompromising Catholics. Their suspicion, even hostility, to the king, explains the insurrection in Paris of 12 May 1588 known as the Day of the Barricades. Henri iii was forced to flee Paris, which was left under the control of the Leaguers, and to sign the Edict of Union in Rouen (17 July), in which he confirmed the decisions taken three years earlier for the defence of the Catholic religion and also convoked the Estates-General. Henri iii hoped to regain control during the meeting of representatives from the three orders of the kingdom; however, he had to confront the numerous Leaguers attending the Estates who were determined to force him take decisions he considered an attack on his sovereignty. In an attempt to squelch the League—which he wrongly believed to be led solely by Guise—Henri iii ordered the assassination of the duke and his * Abbreviations: aca: Archives communales d’Amiens antérieures à 1790; BnF: Bibliothèque Nationale de France. © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���7 | doi �0.��63/9789004345348_009 <UN> 138 Carpi brother, the cardinal of Guise (both of which occurred on 23 and 24 December 1588), and the arrest of the League’s principal leaders. Yet, this “coup de majesté” failed to strengthen Henri iii’s control and provoked a radicalisation of many cities controlled by the League, cities against which he and his successor Henri iv fought for the next decade.1 In his Déclaration contre les villes rebelles of May 1589, Henri iii discussed the “faction of the League”, identifying the inhabitants “who diverted and separated the people from the obedience they owe” to their king, adding that the people “have been seduced by the scheming of those who would disrupt the public peace”. The king described the faction as members of a “heinous conspiracy” who, under cover of “our holy religion”, “daily try to lure to them and their party the other inhabitants”, exerting on them “every sort of cruelty”.2 Two years earlier, during spring 1587, in a letter by the duke of Nevers (governor of Picardy) to the king, the membership of this party was identified as “the gentlemen of the Guise”. The duke’s letter recounted how the members of this party had attracted to them many “satellites”, through “false rumours” and “money deposited with many persons whom they desire to make, by this means, obliged and well-disposed to them”.3 It was at the time of the Holy Union (1585–1598) that the terms “faction” and “party” acquired a pejorative meaning. In contemporary French diction- aries, a “faction” is defined as “a group which engages in a subversive activity in order that its interests prevail” and is a synonym for “plot”, “conspiracy”, “intrigue” and “sedition”. The first negative connotations of the term date back to the fourteenth century, but it was only during the 1580s in which it definitively acquired the sense of an association of plotters, or a group of po- litical troublemakers.4 1 Olivia Carpi, Les guerres de religion. Un conflit franco-français (Paris, 2012). 2 Declaration du roy contre les villes rebelles…, à Tours, chez Jamet Mettayer, 1589, fol. 3: “(…) Nous avons recherché par tous les moyens à nous possible de reduire et remettre par la dou- ceur tous nos subjectz en l’obeissance qu’ilz nous doivent, de laquelle plusieurs ayant esté seduitcz par les artifices et fausses impressions d’aucuns rebelles et perturbateurs du repos public et le nostre se sont distraicts et separez (…). Et s’efforcent journellement par toutes sortes d’artificieuses inventions d’attirer à eux et à leur party nos autres subjects et serviteurs qu’ils cognoissent avoir encores engravé en l’ame l’honneur l’affection et fidélité qu’ils doi- vent à leur Roy et Prince naturel, exerçant envers ceux qui ne veulent aderer toutes sortes de cruautez et inhumanitez (…) faire une telle punition et si exemplaire de ceux qui ont esmeu et soustiennent cette execrable conjuration”. 3 BnF, Mss. Fr. 3634, fol. 117. 4 Nicolas Offenstadt, ‘Guerre civile et espace public à la fin du Moyen Âge. La lutte des Arma- gnacs et des Bourguignons’, in Laurent Bourquin and Philippe Hamon, eds., La politisation. Conflits et construction du politique depuis le Moyen Âge (Rennes, 2010), 111–29; Loïc Cazaux, <UN>.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Violence in Reformation France Christopher M
    Marquette University e-Publications@Marquette Maria Dittman Library Research Competition: Library (Raynor Memorial Libraries) Student Award Winners 4-1-2010 Quel Horreur!: Violence in Reformation France Christopher M. McFadin Marquette University, [email protected] Undergraduate recipient (Junior/Senior category) of the Library's Maria Dittman Award, Spring 2010. Paper written for History 4995 (Independent Study) with Dr. Julius Ruff. © Christopher M. McFadin 1 Quel horreur! : Violence in Reformation France By Chris McFadin History 4995: Independent Study on Violence in the French Wars of Religion, 1562-1629 Dr. Julius Ruff November 9, 2009 2 Oh happy victory! It is to you alone Lord, not to us, the distinguished trophy of honor. In one stroke you tore up the trunk, and the root, and the strewn earth of the heretical vermin. Vermin, who were caught in snares that they had dared to set for your faithful subjects. Oh favorable night! Hour most desirable in which we placed our hope. 1 Michel de Roigny, On the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, 1572 The level of sectarian violence that erupted in Reformation France was extraordinary. Otherwise ordinary Catholics tortured their Huguenot neighbors to death and then afterwards mutilated their corpses, sometimes feeding the disfigured remains to farm animals. Catholic children elicited applause from their coreligionists as they killed adult Huguenots by tearing them to pieces. Huguenots assaulted Catholic priests during the Mass, pillaged Catholic churches, and desecrated the Host. Indeed, as the sectarian duel increased in frequency and intensity, a man could be killed for calling someone a Huguenot; both sides used religion to rationalize the assassinations of dukes and kings.
    [Show full text]
  • Sacred Covenant and Huguenot Ideology of Resistance: the Biblical Image of the Contractual Monarchy in Vindiciae, Contra Tyrannos
    religions Article Sacred Covenant and Huguenot Ideology of Resistance: The Biblical Image of the Contractual Monarchy in Vindiciae, Contra Tyrannos Andrei Constantin Sălăvăstru Social Sciences and Humanities Research Department, Institute for Interdisciplinary Research, “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iasi, 700506 Iasi, Romania; [email protected] Received: 8 October 2020; Accepted: 3 November 2020; Published: 6 November 2020 Abstract: The Bible had been a fundamental source of legitimacy for the French monarchy, with biblical imagery wielded as a powerful propaganda weapon in the ideological warfare which the kings of France often had to wage. All Christian monarchies tried to build around themselves a sacral aura, but the French kings had soon set themselves apart: they were the “most Christian”, anointed with holy oil brought from heaven, endowed with the power of healing, and the eldest sons of the Church. Biblical text was called upon to support this image of the monarchy, as the kings of France were depicted as following in the footsteps of the virtuous kings of the Old Testament and possessing the necessary biblical virtues. However, the Bible could prove a double-edged sword which could be turned against the monarchy, as the ideological battles unleashed by the Reformation were to prove. In search for a justification for their resistance against the French Crown, in particular after 1572, the Huguenots polemicists looked to the Bible in order to find examples of limited monarchies and overthrown tyrants. In putting forward the template of a proto-constitutional monarchy, one of the notions advanced by the Huguenots was the Biblical covenant between God, kings and the people, which imposed limits and obligations on the kings.
    [Show full text]
  • Middmunc 2020
    MiddMUNC 2020 MiddMUNC 2020 JCC: The War of the Three Henry’s Background Guide MiddMUNC 2020 Table of Contents Letter from the Secretary General .............................................................................................................................................1 Letter from the Crisis Director .....................................................................................................................................................2 Letter from the Chairs ..........................................................................................................................................................................3 Background ....................................................................................................................................................................................................5 The Reformation ..............................................................................................................................................................................................5 French Wars of Religion Begin .................................................................................................................................................................5 The Massacre of Wassy and Its Aftermath ..........................................................................................................................................6 Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre .......................................................................................................................................................7
    [Show full text]
  • Catholiques Anglois”: a Common Catholic History Between Violence, Martyrdom and Human and Cultural Networks
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Culture & History Digital Journal Culture & History Digital Journal 6(1) June 2017, e004 eISSN 2253-797X doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.3989/chdj.2017.004 Loys Dorléans and the “Catholiques Anglois”: A Common Catholic History between Violence, Martyrdom and Human and Cultural Networks Marco Penzi IHMC Université Paris1. 51rue Basfroi 75011 Paris e-mail: [email protected] ORCID iD: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5414-0186 Submitted: 16 October 2016. Accepted: 28 February 2017 ABSTRACT: In 1586 the book Advertissement des Catholiques Anglois aux François catholiques, du danger où ils sont de perdre leur religion was edited in Paris: the author, the Ligueur Loys Dorléans wanted to show what would be the future of France under the dominion of an heretical king, using as example the sufferings of the contemporar- ies English Catholics. The book knew many editions and Dorléans published other works on the same subject. In 1592 the Catholique Anglois, was printed twice in Spanish, in Madrid and Zaragoza. The history of the edition of Dorléans’ texts in Spanish must be understood as an effort of the English Catholic refugees and their network of alli- ances in Spain to demonstrate their tragic situation to the public. The Spanish editions of Dorléans’ work were made at the same time when new English Colleges were opened in the Spanish Kingdom. KEYWORDS: 16th Century; Wars of Religion; Printing; Spain; France; English Catholics; Propaganda. Citation / Cómo citar este artículo: Penzi, Marco (2017) “Loys Dorléans and the “Catholiques Anglois”: A Common Catholic History Between Violence, Martyrdom and Human and Cultural Networks”.
    [Show full text]
  • Catherine De' Medici: a Woman Before Her Time by Sara Grace
    Catherine de' Medici: A Woman Before her Time by Sara Grace Ericsson Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts with Honours in History Acadia University April, 2014 © Copyright by Sara G. Ericsson, 2014 This thesis by Sara Grace Ericsson is accepted in its present form by the Department of History as satisfying the thesis requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts with Honours Approved by the Thesis Supervisor __________________________ ____________________ Dr. Leigh Whaley Date Approved by the Head of the Department __________________________ ____________________ Dr. Paul Doerr Date Approved by the Honours Committee __________________________ ____________________ Dr. Matthew Lukeman Date ii I, Sara Ericsson, grant permission to the University Librarian at Acadia University to reproduce, loan or distribute copies of my thesis in microform, paper or electronic formats on a non-profit basis. I, however, retain the copyright in my thesis. _________________________ Signature of Author __________________________ Date iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Throughout this long, difficult, frustrating, but ultimately rewarding process, there are several people who have served to inspire me. To my mum, whose reassurance I depend on daily; To my aunt, whose gift was inspiring; To my sister, whose interest in a topic she knew nothing about was insatiable; To my brother, whose patience knows no bounds; To my dad, whose faith is appreciated; To my nana, whose wry sense of humour is always refreshing; To my grampie, whose quiet yet constant love I could never do without; And finally, to my supervisor Dr. Whaley, whose ongoing advice and encouragement were the main reasons I was able to complete this project.
    [Show full text]
  • French Protestant Artists and the Refuge 16Th-17Th Centuries
    Migration and artistic identities French Protestant Artists and the Refuge 16th-17th centuries Anne LEPOITTEVIN ABSTRACT Faced with the wars of religion of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, many French Protestant artists chose exile to save their lives, preserve their freedom of religion and, more rarely, to put their art at the service of their faith. Their departure roughly followed the chronology of the Refuge of French Protestants, with two peaks nearly a century apart (1562-1598 and 1660-1695), as well as its geography, since these artists generally favoured the courts and large cities of Protestant lands such as England, Holland, Prussia, and Geneva. Protestant artists fled France during the Wars of Religion for the same destinations, and at the same dates, as their coreligionists. Two waves of exile can be identified, the first during the sixteenth century, and the second during the seventeenth. Despite early departures for Strasbourg and Geneva, the Huguenots left France in massive numbers only during the Wars of Religion proper (1562-1598). Some went to the provinces, such as Jacques I Androuet du Cerceau, who withdrew to Montargis in 1562. More often, they went abroad. This was the case for Jean Goujon, who took refuge in Bologna in 1562 or 1563, Bernard Palissy, who left for Sedan after the Bartholomew's Day Massacre (1572), and Barthélemy Prieur, who went to the same city after the enactment of the Edict of Nemours (1585). It is not simple to determine the geography of this first Refuge. Although Goujon's departure for staunchly Catholic Bologna—where he would have a brush with the Inquisition—seems to have been motivated by artistic reasons, the choice of destination was soon dictated by religious criteria (channels were organized towards Protestant lands such as England, the Netherlands, and Geneva), proximity (the Principality of Sedan during the 1560s and 1570s, Geneva for the Lyonnais), and by the opportunities offered by lands of emigration (in 1550, Edward IV of England announced an edict favourable to Protestant immigration).
    [Show full text]
  • Page 360 H-France Review Vol. 5 (August 2005), No. 88 Megan C
    H-France Review Volume 5 (2005) Page 360 H-France Review Vol. 5 (August 2005), No. 88 Megan C. Armstrong, The Politics of Piety: Franciscan Preachers during the Wars of Religion, 1560-1600. Rochester, N.Y. and Woodbridge, Suffolk: University of Rochester Press, 2004. 278 pp. Appendix, notes, bibliography, and index. $75.00 (cl). ISBN 1-58046-175-1. Review by Penny Roberts, University of Warwick. Historians of the French religious wars of the sixteenth century have long sought to identify the factors which led to the ultimate triumph of Catholicism in the face of a dynamic and militant Protestant threat. The Catholic response to Protestantism has been reassessed with particular regard to the psychology behind the vehement opposition to royal religious policy and the appeal of the Catholic League, to the role of Gallicanism and noble support, as well as to that of radical preachers and pamphleteers. Above all, religion has been firmly placed at the centre of recent accounts.[1] Megan Armstrong’s approach complements such studies by focusing on the contribution to the ferment of a particular religious group, the Observant Franciscans. As stated at the outset, “The primary intention of this book is to show how a medieval spiritual tradition … became an agent of political change” (p. 2). By establishing the influence of medieval ideals upon the sixteenth-century mindset, Armstrong presents a plausible case for the importance of Franciscan support for the radical position of the Catholic League--a contention reflected in the familiar and evocative image of their participation in an armed procession in 1590 reproduced here on the dust-jacket.
    [Show full text]
  • A Princelike Soldier and Soldierlike Prince": Contemporary Views of the Military Leadership of Henry IV
    "A Princelike Soldier and Soldierlike Prince": Contemporary Views of the Military Leadership of Henry IV Ronald S. Love University of West Georgia In the preface to his biography of Henry IV, historian David Buisseret defended the prominence he gave in the book to the king's military affairs and military events on the premise that the first Bourbon monarch of France "was above all a military man," and "had any one of half a dozen events gone the other way, . [Henry] would not have reached the throne or retained it and, I venture to say, the history of France in the early seventeenth century would have been quite different."1 Yet Buisseret's argument could be stronger still. For Henry IV's ultimate success in the French wars of religion pivoted to an enormous degree on his military ability and inspired leadership. Indeed, his final victory over the Holy Catholic League and its Spanish allies cannot be attributed solely to his political acumen or final conversion to Catholicism of July 1593; it owed at least as much to his talented generalship. Too often, however, historians have dismissed the Bourbon monarch's great skill as a soldier and commander, alleging that although he was an able battlefield tactician, he was essentially an opportunist with little or no aptitude for strategy or for conducting extended campaigns. They 1 David Buisseret, Henry IV (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1984), xiii (italics his). 60 "A Princelike Soldier and Soldierlike Prince" 61 also have accused the king of acting impetuously in war and of exposing himself needlessly to danger because of an alleged love of combat, irrespective of the potential for disaster if he were killed or gravely wounded.
    [Show full text]
  • The Role of Foreign Intervention in the Doctrinal Wars in France
    Opción, Año 35, Especial No.20 (2019): 549-565 ISSN 1012-1587/ISSNe: 2477-9385 The Role of Foreign Intervention in the Doctrinal Wars in France Meriam Hadi Alyasseri1 1Department of History/ Faculty of Education/ University of Al-Qadisiyah [email protected] Ammar Mohammed Ali Al-Ta’ey2 2Department of History/ Faculty of Education/ University of Al-Qadisiyah [email protected] Abstract The aim of the study is to investigate the role of foreign intervention in the doctrinal wars in France from 1579 to 1588 via comparative qualitative research methods. As a result, the king did not want the Guise’s to return to the royal court, so he tried to push away Henri de Guise especially when the interest between them has ended. In conclusion, Guise was looking forward to being in this place as a reward for defeating the Germans and the Swiss so he decided to request for privileges as compensation for the wages of war. Keywords: Foreign, intervention, doctrinal, wars, France. Aceptado: 15-04-2019 Recibido: 10-03-2019 550 Meriam Hadi Alyasseri et al. Opción, Año 35, Especial No.20 (2019): 549-565 El papel de la intervención extranjera en las guerras doctrinales en Francia Resumen El objetivo del estudio es investigar el papel de la intervención extranjera en las guerras doctrinales en Francia desde 1579 hasta 1588 a través de métodos comparativos de investigación cualitativa. Como resultado, el rey no quería que los Guisa regresaran a la corte real, así que intentó alejar a Henri de Guise, especialmente cuando el interés entre ellos había terminado.
    [Show full text]
  • And They in Their Humanity Answer Me: Part 1 Faculty Research Working Paper Series
    And They in Their Humanity Answer Me: Part 1 Faculty Research Working Paper Series Arthur Isak Applbaum Harvard Kennedy School June 2014 RWP14-027 Visit the HKS Faculty Research Working Paper Series at: http://web.hks.harvard.edu/publications The views expressed in the HKS Faculty Research Working Paper Series are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the John F. Kennedy School of Government or of Harvard University. Faculty Research Working Papers have not undergone formal review and approval. Such papers are included in this series to elicit feedback and to encourage debate on important public policy challenges. Copyright belongs to the author(s). Papers may be downloaded for personal use only. www.hks.harvard.edu And They in Their Humanity Answer Me: Part 1 Arthur Isak Applbaum 10 December 2013 Abstract Can political philosophy be made interesting and accessible to teenage readers? The author tries to respect the intelligence of young adults in this first installment of a novel of ideas. Ella Seifenblasen, a spirited fifteen-year old cellist, is given a summer assignment by her bookish father: write letters to the great 16th century essayist, Michel de Montaigne. Then Ella’s Palestinian friend disappears en route to a music festival on the Maine coast, and her Iranian roommate is hunted, escaping only through Ella’s ingenuity. Suspecting government intrigue, Ella steals an explosive intelligence report from her father (who is more than he appears to be) and hides it in her cello. Montaigne writes back, and Ella thinks she is going mad.
    [Show full text]
  • Protestant Toleration Or Catholic Unification?: a Study of Printed French Royal Acts
    TTJ 15.1 (2012): 46-63 ISSN 1598-7140 Protestant Toleration or Catholic Unification?: A Study of Printed French Royal Acts Lauren J. Kim Torch Trinity Graduate University, Korea Peace and religious tolerances were difficult to earn in the sixteenth century. In most places, local authorities believed that they were antithetical; true peace rested on single universal religion shared by citizens. France was no exception. The difference was that the French Protestants were in the minority and that they were influential and powerful enough to question traditional belief. France thus experienced civil wars over the question of religious tolerance. The question posed was, “Should Huguenots have the freedom to worship in the kingdom?” John Calvin believed so. According to his preface in his seminal work, Institutes of the Christian Religion, he addressed the French king, Francis I, with a near “full defense”1 to reconsider the crown’s policy against the Protestants. His feelings changed to frustration and condemnation. Raymond Mentzer takes note of the shift in 1561 as it culminates in Calvin’s dedication in his book on Daniel; France is where “God’s eternal truth . was chased away and banished.”2 The book was published before the failed proceedings of the Colloquy of Poissy, and Calvin died before he was able to see his native countrymen live with limited freedom under a compromise instituted under the Bourbon king, Henry IV. The question of religious tolerance was answered inconsistently by the French monarchy for much of the sixteenth century as can be seen from their official royal decrees. This paper will discuss the crown’s pendulum-swinging answers by studying editions of religious royal decrees printed in the French vernacular.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction Catherine De Médicis and the Other Voice
    Introduction Catherine de Médicis and the Other Voice In the course of an extraordinary career that spanned over fifty years, Catherine de Médicis was, by turns, queen consort of Henri II, advisor to her sons François II, Charles IX, and Henri III, and, during several extended periods, regent of France.1 In her wake there followed a rich archive of texts by vari- ous writers who commented on her queenship, some enthusiastically adulatory, others condemnatory and pejorative. Catherine also left behind a complex, even paradoxical, legacy. On the one hand, she was and is still known as a gener- ous patron, particularly of architecture and the visual arts. On the other, her notorious, Machiavellian reputation as the instigator of civil and religious strife is still firmly entrenched in the popular imagination; until relatively recently, this view of Catherine was also quite prevalent in the scholarly imagination. Catherine’s own letters—of which she wrote thousands, both diplomatic and personal—provide a much more nuanced and sympathetic view of her queen- ship. These letters are the closest we have to an authentic “other voice” that can compete with the portrait of the ambitious and vindictive queen that has filtered down to us. It would be wrong, however, to claim that Catherine’s letters are unprob- lematically transparent or that they portray her in stark contradistinction to the darker legacy that surrounds her name. Highly mediated by secretaries or by diplomatic intermediaries, and heavily tailored to meet the anticipated desire of their recipients or to advance her own objectives, these letters reveal Catherine de Médicis to be a political creature, one whose deft diplomatic maneuverings and extraordinary power are compelling and remarkable in a kingdom that did not officially permit women to rule from the French throne.
    [Show full text]