The French Civil Wars, 1562-1598

by Knecht,R. J.

• ISBN13: 9780582095496
• ISBN10: 0582095492
• eBook ISBN(s): 9780582095496, 9780582095496
• Additional ISBN(s): 9780582095496, 9780582095496
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-08-10
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

The French Wars of Religion tore the country apart for almost fifty years. They were also part of the wider religious conflict between Catholics and Protestants which raged across Europe during the 16th century. This new study, by a major authority on French history, explores the impact of these wars and sets them in their full European context.

Table of Contents

List of maps	x
Preface	xi
List of abbreviations	xiv
Introduction	1	(2)
France around 1559	3	(26)
The frontiers	3	(3)
Population	6	(1)
The economy	7	(1)
Society	8	(2)
The mid-century crisis	10	(5)
Government	15	(5)
Taxation	20	(1)
The army	21	(5)
The nature of monarchy	26	(3)
Crown and nobility	29	(15)
Defining the nobility	29	(3)
The concept of honour	32	(2)
The great nobles	34	(6)
The provincial nobility	40	(1)
The nobility in crisis?	41	(3)
The rise of Protestantism	44	(20)
John Calvin	47	(2)
The threat from Geneva	49	(1)
Calvinism in France	50	(1)
The Social distribution of Calvinism in France	51	(4)
The Genevan missionaries	55	(2)
French Calvinism: geographical distribution and population	57	(2)
Henry II and Calvinism	59	(5)
Opening shots (1559--1562)	64	(21)
The Tumult of Amboise (March 1560)	66	(6)
The growth of Calvinism	72	(3)
The Catholic backlash	75	(2)
The search for concord	77	(3)
The massacre of Vassy (1 March 1562)	80	(5)
The first civil war (April 1562--March 1563)	85	(28)
Mobilizing for war	87	(2)
The Huguenot take-over of towns	89	(4)
Foreign intervention	93	(2)
Mobilizing the king's army	95	(1)
The siege of Rouen (28 May--26 October 1562)	96	(1)
The search for concord	97	(2)
The battle of Dreux (19 December 1562)	99	(6)
Funding the war	105	(1)
The Peace Edict of Amboise (19 March 1563)	106	(7)
The armed peace (March 1563--September 1567)	113	(20)
Opposition of the parlements	116	(1)
Le Havre recaptured (30 July 1563)	117	(1)
Charles IX's majority declared (17 August 1563)	118	(3)
Enforcing the peace	121	(6)
Charles IX's `grand tour' of France	127	(6)
The second and third wars (1567--1570)	133	(24)
The phoney peace	133	(8)
Funding the war	141	(1)
The Peace of Longjumeau (23 March 1568)	142	(5)
The third war (September 1568--August 1570)	147	(1)
The royal artillery in 1568	148	(2)
The battle of Jarnac (13 March 1569)	150	(2)
The war in the south	152	(3)
The Peace of Saint-Germain (8 August 1570)	155	(2)
St Bartholomew's Day and after (1572--1575)	157	(14)
Catholic anger	160	(3)
The massacre of St Bartholomew's Day (24 August 1572)	163	(3)
Effects of the massacres	166	(5)
From La Rochelle to Beaulieu (1572--1576)	171	(24)
The war in the south	178	(2)
Fraternal discord	180	(1)
The fifth civil war (November 1574--May 1576)	181	(1)
The defection of Montmorency-Damville (13 November 1574)	182	(3)
The provinces of the union	185	(2)
Funding the Huguenot war effort	187	(3)
Alencon's flight from court (15 September 1575)	190	(2)
The Peace of Monsieur (6 May 1576)	192	(3)
The sixth war (December 1576--September 1577)	195	(14)
The League of Peronne (1576)	195	(4)
The Estates-General of Blois (1576)	199	(7)
The sixth war (December 1576--September 1577)	206	(3)
The Catholic League (1578--1589)	209	(29)
Henry III: a controversial monarch	212	(2)
Anjou and the Netherlands	214	(2)
Provincial anarchy	216	(2)
The Catholic League	218	(9)
The War of the Three Henrys (1587--1589)	227	(4)
The Day of the Barricades (May 1588)	231	(2)
The Estates-General of Blois (1588)	233	(3)
The assassination of Henry III (1 August 1589)	236	(2)
The conquest of the kingdom (1589--1592)	238	(28)
The battle of Arques (21 September 1589)	239	(3)
Mayenne and the League	242	(3)
The battle of Ivry (14 March 1590)	245	(2)
The siege of Paris (7 April--30 August 1590)	247	(6)
The problem of the succession	253	(2)
The siege of Rouen (November 1591--March 1592)	255	(9)
The provincial stalemate (1592)	264	(2)
Conversion and peace (1592--1598)	266	(25)
Henry IV's conversion (25 July 1593)	268	(4)
The war against Spain	272	(3)
The siege of Amiens (April-September 1597)	275	(3)
The Edict of Nantes (13 April 1598)	278	(4)
The Peace of Vervins (2 May 1598)	282	(1)
The assassination of Henry IV (14 May 1610)	283	(1)
The last religious war (1610--1629)	284	(7)
Conclusion	291	(7)
Bibliographical essay	298	(11)
Genealogies	309	(4)
The later Valois	309	(1)
The house of Guise-Lorraine	310	(1)
The house of Montmorency	311	(1)
The house of Bourbon-Vendome	312	(1)
List of provincial governors, 1559--1598	313	(2)
Glossary	315	(6)
Index	321