8. Further Struggles, 1574-1589

Charles IX. (d. May 30, 1574) was succeeded by his brother, then king of Poland, as Henry III. His younger brother, the duke of Anjou, escaped from the court Sept. 15, 1575, and joined Henry of Condé, who was gathering an army of Huguenots and

Politiques (fifth war); Henry of Navarre escaped Feb. 3, 1576. In the following May the king issued the Edict of Beaulieu, which granted freedom of worship in all towns except Paris and places of royal residence, gave to the Huguenots eight fortified cities, disowned all share in the massacre of St. Bartholomew's Day and gave the Huguenots representation in the parliaments. Henry III. soon repudiated the peace on the ground that it had been extorted from him, and, with the duke of Guise and Catherine, promoted the formation throughout the country of Catholic leagues. The Staten General (Dec., 1576) adopted a policy of drastic repression and brought on the sixth war. The Huguenots failed to receive the aid they had hoped for from England and Germany, and suffered heavy losses. The Edict of Poitiers (Sept. 15, 1577) ended the war and materially reduced the privileges of the Huguenots. The conference at Nerac between Catherine and Henry of Navarre, in which the former tried in vain to persuade the latter to give up the cities held by the

. Huguenots and to take back her daughter, from whom he had been separated for three years, resulted favorably to the Huguenots. Henry III.

~I took Geneva under his protection to prevent its falling into the hands of the duke of Savoy. The conditions of the peace were repeatedly violated by the Huguenots as well as by the government. Henry of Navarre and Henry of Condb arranged for a general uprising of the Huguenots (Apr. 15, 1580). Only a minority of the Huguenots participated in the seventh war. The Peace of Fleix (Dec., 1580) did little more than confirm that which had just been broken. For nearly five years France enjoyed a profound peace. The duke of Anjou, Catherine's youngest son, who had been cooperating with the Huguenots, died June 10, 1584. As Henry III. had no son, Henry of Navarre now became the heirapparent. Urged to renounce Protestantism and to come to court, he resolutely refused. The League, made up of Catholic nobles supported by the pope and Philip of Spain, and led by Henry of Guise, weary of the dilatory measures of Henry III., and fearful of the succession of Henry of Navarre, published a manifesto (Mar. 30, 1585) in which the government was reprimanded for the toleration of heresy. The king sought to make peace with the League by promising to revoke all edicts of toleration and to banish all who would not embrace the Catholic faith (July, 1585). The pope declared Henry of Navarre incapable of succession.

~An eighth war, the "war of the three Henrys" (king, Guise, Navarre), broke out before the close of the year. The Leaguers gave the king only a conditional and partial support, and aimed to put Cardinal de Bourbon on the throne. After some early reverses Henry of Navarre steadily gained ground, and at Coutras (Oct. 20, 1587) he almost annihilated the main army of his opponents. An army of 8,000 German cavalry and 20,000 Swiss infantry, to whose equipment England had contributed, was marching to join Henry of Navarre, but was intercepted and driven out of the country. The Guinea, as leaders of the League, now insisted that the king should publish the decrees of the Council of Trent (q.v.), admit the Inquisition, execute Huguenot prisoners, and remove all army officers whose loyalty to Catholicism was doubtful. A secret government for Paris wan formed, and a plot to seize the king came near succeeding. The

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king now brought into Paris 4,000 Swiss as an addi tional body-guard. Paris, under the influence of

the League, rose in revolt (" the day of Barricades," May 18, 1588), and the king was obliged to yield to the demands of Henry of Guise in order to be per mitted to flee from the city. The meeting of the States General at Blois (Oct., 1588) further demon strated that Guise was in control. The Estates gave to Guise full control of the army. The Spanish Armada had just been destroyed, and the king hoped, by tolerating the Huguenots, to secure the aid of England against the League. He had the duke and the cardinal of Guise put to death and the leading members of the League imprisoned. Revolution followed. Catherine de' Medici died Jan. 5,

1589. The king felt compelled to call to his aid

Henry of Navarre and the Huguenots. After a number of victories Henry of Navarre and the king had invested Paris and were preparing for an

assault, when the king was assassinated Aug. 1, 1589.

Henry of Navarre was now the legitimate heir to the throne; but he was deserted by the royalist troops, and the Leaguers declared g. Henry Cardinal de Bourbon king as Charles X. IV., Edict Catholic opponents of the League urged of Nantes, Henry to become a Catholic, promising I58g-I6zq. him their support on that condition. He refused, but promised that Cathol icism should remain the religion of the state. During the ensuing year, with greatly inferior numbers and

resources, he more than held his own. When Charles X. died (May 10,1590), some of the leading Leaguers were in favor of offering the sovereignty of France to the king of Spain. Finding his party in a small minority, and his opponents resolved never to sub mit to a Huguenot king, Henry made up his mind

that "Paris is worth a mass," and resolved, as the only way to give peace to the country and security to his kingship, to conform to the Roman Catholic

Church. It must be borne in mind that Henry was a soldier and politician rather than a moral or religious hero, and that the throne of France had

for years been the object of his aspirations. The

League at once withdrew its opposition; Paris received him with acclamations of joy; the Spanish troops were dismissed; and universal amnesty was

proclaimed. War with Spain delayed the formula

tion of Henry's promised provision for the security

of the Huguenots. In their General Assembly

(1593-94) they pledged themselves to continue in

the faith, discussed fully the politieo-ecclesiastiml situation, and appointed four delegates to confer with the king. By the Edict of Nantes of May 2,

1598 (see Nantes, Edict of), all public institutions

and offices were thrown open to the Huguenots, and

200 towns, several of them strongly fortified, to be

garrisoned by state-paid Huguenot troops, were

left in their hands. The assassination of Henry IV.

(May 14, 1610) put the Huguenots in a distinctly less favorable position. Though the Edict of Nantes was again and again confirmed by Logy III. and

Louis XIV., its provieons were frequently violated.

The Huguenots were naturally jealous of such liberties as they enjoyed and resented even the slightest infringement. They constituted a state

With a state' After ten years of irritation, for

Huguenots

which both sides were to some extent responsible, war broke out early in 1621 and raged till Oct. 19, 1622. The Edict of Nantes was confirmed, but all recent Huguenot fortifications were to be demolished and political assemblies were strictly prohibited. Nearly one-half of. their cities of refuge were left them, but their tenure was made dependent on the king's pleasure.

After a brief period a second war (Jan., 1625Feb., 1626) followed, resulting in severe loss of military power and further narrowing 10. Riche- of privileges. The third war, in which lieu and the Huguenots were incited, aided and Mazarin, abetted by the English, and of which 1624-61. the siege, the heroic defense, and the fall of La Rochelle are the most striking features (1626-29), resulted disastrously to the Huguenots. The terms of pacification were more favorable than might have been expected. The Edict of Nantes was reaffirmed; but all fortifications had to be given up, and freedom to raise and maintain armies was at an end (see Nimes, Edict of). Richelieu (q.v.), now the director of the government, assumed a conciliatory attitude, promised to make loyalty the only ground of discrimination among the king's subjects, and gained the confidence of the Huguenots to a remarkable degree. From 1629 to 1659, under the government of Richelieu and Mazarin (Louis XIII. and minority of Louis XIV.), the conditions of the Edict of Nantes were well observed on both sides. The government was too much occupied with international affairs to be willing to enter again upon civil strife, and the Huguenots were measurably contented with the privileges they enjoyed. This was for the latter a period of remarkable prosperity. "Rich as a Huguenot" became a proverbial expression. ManufaoLuring, commercial, and banking enterprises, with control of the merchant marine, were largely in their hands. The learned professions were filled with their members. Their educational institutions, liberally supported, became famous throughout the learned world. In their great churches the most eloquent preachers of the age preached to thousands of eager hearers. Among the most eminent preachers were Du Moulin, Le Faucheur, Mestrezat, Dailld, Amyraut, Gaches, Claude, Du Bose, De Superville, and Saurin. The school at Nimes came to represent an irenic tendency which led many to accept the Roman Catholic faith. Among its great teachers and alumni may be mentioned Viret, Ferrier? Petit, Turretin, Claude, De Serres, Baduel, Brousson, and Martin. Saumur became noted for its development of a liberal type of doctrine. Its great represent

Lives were Michel, B6raud, Boyd, Cameron, Amy raut, Placeus, and Pajon. Sedan and. Montauban stood for the defense of rigorous Calvinism. Among

Du Moulin, of the former may be mentioned Des aresta, Jurleu, and Of the latter

Charmer, Pierre Bgraud, Garissolles, Abbadie, Bayle, Benoist, Rapin Thoyras, and Pglisson. Toward the close of Mazarin'sministry severe restrictive meas-

uresagainst the Huguenots, fn response to urgent petitions of the prelates Were put in force, In 1656 Louis XIV. promulgated a law t~ effect that Huguenots were to be restricted to the privileges

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of the Edict of Nantes, which in many cases they had transcended, and that all restrictive measures which had been added from time to time because of their rebellion should be enforced. Commissioners were appointed to see to the rigorous enforcement of repressive measures. Huguenot ministers were not to call themselves pastors, and were to use no other epithet but Catholic in speaking of the national church; were not to call together for consultation the principal members, to take collections, or to sing psalms at the execution of a criminal. In 1659 the last national synod was held. The use of the term "antichrist" in the liturgy, and of the terms "idolatry" and " deceit of Satan " in the confession, in condemnation of the Catholic faith, was prohibited. Huguenots were gradually excluded from public offices. Efforts to enforce the restrictions led to local disturbances, and insubordination was severely punished.