Edict of 19 April - Knowledge

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stated that the only acceptable time for entry into a private citizens house where heretical preaching is suspected is with a warrant, and conducted by officials. The edict then offered a re-affirmation of the agreed upon decision of the estates in January, outlining again that all those imprisoned for heresy were to be released without a requirement for a formal recantation. Those who had been exiled from France for their heresy would be permitted to return, and reclaim their property if they agreed to live as 'good Catholics.' Further those abroad who decided they did not wish to abjure Protestantism, the requirement for returning, would be granted permission to sell their assets.

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would be allowed to sell their possessions before leaving the kingdom, with no return to the era of burnings that had occurred in the 1550s. The edict closed the loophole in Romorantin that allowed for the death penalty, fully removing it as a penalty, alongside corporal punishment. This edict in turn would be superseded by the far more ambitious and radical Edict of Saint-Germain in January 1562, which for the first time provided textual tolerance to Protestant worship in outlined areas of France, as opposed to what had been seen as implicit non textual tolerance through the prohibition of investigating houses. The controversy over this edict would lead to first the

340: 610:, angrily demanded an audience with Catherine which he received, lambasting her for bringing the Catholics of the country to the brink of despair. She retorted that, the king, the council and herself remained resolutely committed to living and dying as Catholics, and that the edict was a necessary measure to quiet the troubles which were consuming France. It did not escape the attention of many conservative Catholics that the edict which prohibited the invasion of homes to search for (still) illegal Protestant services coincided with the attack on the residence of Longueville. 662:. The remonstrance noted that while it agreed it was certainly laudable to try and combat sedition, that this edict would do quite the opposite, by communicating to Protestants that their heresy was acceptable, it would cause them to multiply, thus compounding the sedition in the country. They counter proposed that to solve sedition the king should make it clear he would die in the faith of his forebears, and compel all his subjects to swear to uphold the Catholic faith. The 545:, to hear sermons, to the knowledge and apathy of the court. This infuriated many Catholic students, who marched on the residence. Longjumeau, aware of this, stocked arms in his house, and when the angry crowd approached, he and the others inside, fought their way out of the building, leaving several dead and dozens wounded. Longueville, angry at this popular intrusion on his residence, appealed to the 465:

issues. Before they could meet however, the young François acquired an ear infection while out hunting, his condition worsened, and he died on 5 December. This created a new crisis as while he had been young, he had been technically old enough to rule, whereas now, his brother Charles would require a regency council.

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as the courts Lenten preacher, a bishop known to be highly sympathetic to Protestantism. This, combined with libellous rumours about the young king singing psalms (an activity Catholics would not engage in at this time) convinced many conservative Catholics in the court that the monarchy was becoming

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remarked in a letter that he was astonished at the amount of preachers that France was now requesting be sent from Geneva to manage communities in the country. The aristocratic Protestants too were emboldened, and on 11 June presented a petition to the crown asking for temples to worship in, so that

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The prohibition on entry into residences without a warrant to investigate religion was critiqued as 'contradicting prior edicts' which called for suspected heretical services to be banned. The notion of allowing ex-heretics to return to live in France was derided as likely to cause great scandal and

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Their remonstrance began with a lengthy denunciation of the way the edict had been published, decrying it as unconstitutional and of dubious legality if any case created by it was appealed to their court. After six paragraphs of this the remonstrance moved on to the substance of the edict. The first

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While the estates were unable to come to any broad solution to France's religious crisis, it was agreed, that an amnesty, upon the lines of that of Amboise be issued for all religious prisoners, of which there had been a considerable increase during the tumult that followed the conspiracy of Amboise

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argued this contravened the law on prohibiting the taking of money out of France to aid the kings enemies. On the matter of amnesty for religious prisoners, the court asked the king to enforce prior edicts, which called for ex-religious prisoners to be expelled from the kingdom on release. Finally

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The first clause of the edict concerned itself with the prohibition of religious epithets, singling out 'Huguenot' and 'Papist' respectively as two terms that would be prohibited from being thrown at people. The edict then moved on to the topic of private houses. Here it broke with past edicts and

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in the hopes such a discussion could provide a more definitive and satisfactory edict on the religious question. Hosted by Hòpital they would host 3 sessions of grandees to discuss the matter. After some heated discussion it was agreed that Protestantism would remain banned, but that Protestants

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The Italian wars had pushed France into serious debt, which combined with the religious crisis and young king, left the government of France on very shaky footing. As a result in August the Guise oversaw the convocation of the Estates General, to meet in December, to help solve France's various

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because the heretics think of themselves as Catholic already, thus they felt it should be made clear that they are to live in obedience to the Roman church as had the kings forebears. The provision on allowing practicing heretics to sell their assets and keep the money was also attacked. The

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should be allowed to remedy this muddled situation so that Protestants in the legal profession could not use the confusion to their advantage. Catherine responded that it was necessary to deal with the legislative ambiguities in a moderate fashion until such time a council could be called.

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continued in this more liberal framework, transferring the trial of heresy cases to the purview of the ecclesiastical courts, which lacked the ability to sentence defendants to death. While this did not abolish the death penalty for heresy as they could still refer cases to the

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then turned its attentions to the specific terms, decrying how 'Papist' was being treated as a slur, despite obedience to the Pope on religious matters being a commendable thing, not deserving of placement alongside this newly invented word 'Huguenot.'

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Protestant growth in France, continued apace in early 1561, and with it a violent Catholic backlash. The Catholic fear was only furthered by what they saw at court, with the return of Condé to council in early 1561, and the more open Protestantism of

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that Lorraine had approved of the terms agreed at the estates general in January, and further noted that this edict was only a provisional measure, to calm France, until such time a church council could solve the religious question. While the

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published a week before the attempt on the castle separated the concept of heresy from that of sedition as two separate crimes, with those convicted of the former prior to the edicts publication, to be freed on amnesty. The

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prohibited the students from further attempts on his property, but also declared to Longueville, that his property would be forfeit if he did not leave Paris, and exile himself to his chateau, which he promptly did.

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and the duke of Guise, outraged at Monluc's sermon, travelled together into the servants quarters on Easter Sunday, to hear a more reliably Catholic sermon. They would follow this up with an exchanging of the

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The situation in Paris in particular was fast deteriorating in April 1561. Protestants, growing in confidence from their influence at court, began more openly meeting to worship in the city, gathering in the

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of Paris, which took it as its prerogative that all prospective legislation was to be properly examined by their court, prior to it being published, let alone distributed to lower courts. The

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ended with an attack on the present state of the church, calling for the king to oversee a reform in the morals of the clergy and a return to ecclesiastical elections for church office.

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set about drawing up a remonstrance to the crown in May, under the direction of Baillet, Chambon and Faye of the moderate conservative faction that comprised the majority of the court.

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issue it took was with the prohibition of insults from either Protestants or Catholics on the matter of religion. While this didn't directly approve of the diversity of religion the

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the governor of Languedoc complained to Catherine that his magistrates were confused by the diversity of the edicts they had received over the last few years, suggesting

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to find a solution to this wave of unrest, and restore order to the kingdom. On 18 April l'Hôpital presented the edict they had drawn up in response to quiet the unrest.

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noted that no prior king of France had ever been found to be a heretic, and that France had a 'proud' tradition of dealing with heresy going back to the

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King Henry hoped to change his attentions to matters at home, but an accident during a joust took his life. With the kings sudden death, the young

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in 1559. He was not however able to devote his full attentions to the stamping out of the new sect in France, distracted as he was by the

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read this to mean that it was acceptable Protestants openly exist in the country, and thus that two religions were now tolerated. The

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as regarded the amnesty for religious prisoners. The edict would however go further in an effort to calm the unrest that was sweeping

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The publication of the edict only furthered the anger of the more militant parts of the Catholic population. The ambassador to

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courts, alongside the governors of the realm, so that they could quickly enforce its terms. This infuriated the

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t considered trying to remove l'Hôpital from office, they moved on their focus to attacking the ordinance of

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was of great concern to the king. He passed several edicts, hoping to stamp the religion out, with first the

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The enforcement of the edict depended much upon the will of the governor and magistrates in the province.

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they might dispel the libellous rumours as to what Protestants get up to in their nightly services.

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One King, One Faith: The Parlement of Paris and the Religious Reformations of the Sixteenth Century

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