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In the long struggle to achieve religious toleration in a Europe torn by sectarian strife, one of the most important milestones on the road was the Edict of Nantes.

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Transcript

Lead: In the long struggle to achieve religious toleration in a Europe torn by sectarian strife, one of the most important milestones on the road was the Edict of Nantes.

Intro.: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts.

Content: In the centuries prior to the Protestant Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church in France increasingly came under the control of the royal government. With its structure and officialdom filled with the relatives, supporters, political allies and clients of the King and his family, perhaps even more than other nations, the Church in France was an integral part of the way the government maintained its power.

After controversy in 1517 spread Martin Luther’s teachings, but even more importantly, after 1540 when the teachings of Frenchman John Calvin began to circulate in France, many former Catholics became Protestants or Huguenots. As the Protestant movement grew, the church’s power declined and it could no longer provide that essential support for the government that was required to maintain peace and stability in France. For decades after the mid-1500s, France was wracked with wars, eight of them actually, between France’s various factions. These wars were not simply religious but were complex events that had roots that were clannish, personal, regional and political, but most importantly most agreed that it was the religious factor that had released the bloody furies that dragged France to its knees.

The man who brought a halt to that seemingly endless spiral of violence was one of the most fascinating figures in French history, King Henry of Navarre or as he became, King Henry IV of France, founder of the Bourbon dynasty which survived until the sputtering end of the monarchy in the 1800s. Henry was a politique. Like his contemporary, Elizabeth I of England just across the Channel, though he was a Protestant, he understood that if France was to survive, it was necessary to tamp down the vicious religious divisions that had ripped the nation apart since the Reformation. He converted to Catholicism, became the King of France and then turned to help his Protestant subjects with the Edict of Nantes. Next time: Toleration, just barely.

Research assistance by Beverly Davidson and Amanda Blake.

At the University of Richmond, this is Dan Roberts.

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