Peace and Authority during the French Religious Wars c.1560–1600 (original) (raw)

The Wars of Religion in France, 1559-1598: A History in Documents

2021

This book is designed as an addition to my earlier book, published in 1997, The French wars of Religion: Selected Documents. It provides contextual and explanatory material and seeks to allow students to study the Wars of Religion in greater depth. There is an introduction in the nature of the sources for the period. It was written in 2004.

Reason of state, religious passions, and the French Wars of Religion

2009

Review article of: Governing passions: peace and reform in the French kingdom, 1576–1585. By Mark Greengrass. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007. Pp. xiv+423. ISBN 978-0-19-921490. £65.00. Le haut cœur de Catherine de Médicis: une raison politique aux temps de la Saint-Barthémy. By Denis Crouzet. Paris: Albin Michel, 2005. Pp. 637. ISBN 2-226-15882-0. €29.00. Le Parlement de Paris ou la voix de la raison (1559–1589). By Sylvie Daubresse. Geneva: Droz, 2005. Travaux d'Humanisme et Renaissance, 398. Pp. xv+558. ISBN 2-600-00988-4. €115.37. Les ducs de Nevers et l'état royal: genèse d'un compromise (ca 1550–ca 1600). By Ariane Boltanski. Geneva: Droz, 2006. Travaux d'Humanisme et Renaissance, 419. Pp. 580. ISBN 2-600-01022-X. €94.88. Thuanus: the making of Jacques-Auguste de Thou (1553–1617). By Ingrid de Smet. Geneva: Droz, 2006. Travaux d'Humanisme et Renaissance, 418. Pp. 344. ISBN 2-600-01071-8. €88.04. Authority and society in Nantes during the French Wars of Religion, 1559–1598. By Elizabeth Tingle. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2006. Pp. x+230. ISBN 0-7190-6726-X. £55.00. Local politics in the French Wars of Religion: the towns of Champagne, the Duc de Guise and the Catholic League, 1560–1595. By Mark Konnert. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2006. Pp. ix+300. ISBN 0-7546-5593-8. £60.00. Histoire de Sébastien Le Pelletier (1579–1592). By Xavier Le Person. Geneva: Droz, 2006. Travaux d'Humanisme et Renaissance, 407. Pp. 336. ISBN 2-600-01064-5. €110.19.

Making Peace in the Wars of Religion

2015

The article considers why in the French Wars of Religion (1562-1598), the crown found it found it extremely difficult to make peace between Protestants and Catholics. The article uses modern political-science models of peace-making to improve our understanding of why Henri IV (reigned 1589-1610) succeeded in pacifying France while his predecessors did not. Previous accounts have seen Henri IV’s success as a product of his great personal qualities, but his achievement has been overstated. In fact, over the first fifteen years of the wars, Catholics learned that Protestants could not be eradicated from the country, and became more willing to negotiate. Henri’s success was due more to structural changes brought about by his position, rather than his personal qualities. Specifically, Henri’s questionable legitimacy forced him to adopt policies of persuasion rather than coercion, while his predecessors were hindered by their position as mediators within a conflict between the Protestant forces and the Catholic League.