In the 16th century, after the emergence of Protestantism, religious civil wars broke out in France. In 1562 at Haute-Marne, Francois de Guise, a devout Catholic, ordered his troops to attack Protestants who, contrary to the Edict of January which gave them freedom to worship outside the towns, practiced their religion in the city. These attacks, however, would have repercussions throughout the kingdom. For their part, the Protestants would try to gain control of the major French cities, with the result that the situation remained tense between the two sides for about a year. A typical example is Lyon: the Protestants occupied the town hall during the night of 29-30 April 1562 – an action that became known as the Sack of Lyon. During that period, Catholic churches were destroyed as well as the Abbey of Ainnes, while the castle of Pierre-Cize, which belonged to the archbishop, was seized on May 7, 1562. It was not until March 1563 that the Edict of Amboise would succeed in restoring the fragile peace. in the kingdom of France – but not for long.
In 1567, the Protestant side would go on new offensive moves. On September 28, 1567, Prince Louis de Comté attempted to kidnap the King of France Charles IX and the royal family but without success. At the same time there were attempts to occupy cities where the Protestants exercised great influence. France’s second religious war was a fact. The situation would remain unsettled until March 23, 1568, when the Treaty of Lonzimo was signed. With this specific Treaty, the clauses defined in the Decree of Amboise were confirmed.
However, even Lonzimo’s peace would not be a substantial success since it remained in force for only five months. Catholics would once again decide in court. Cardinal Charles de Lorraine headed the royal council, as Michel de l’Opital had retired following the queen’s accusations of underestimating the danger of the Huguenots – members of the Protestant church in France at the time. In the provinces, Catholics formed self-defense associations. At Toulouse, the king’s representative, who had brought the decree of peace to the parliament, was killed. At the same time, in the cities from which the Protestants had fled, the royal troops could not enter.
Faced with this situation, the royal power would decide to put an end to religious tolerance. The decrees of Saint-Maure, in September 1568, formally revoked Longimo’s decree and called the Huguenots, “criminals and disturbers of the public peace and tranquility.” In Paris, a spectacular procession was even organized with the aim of proving that Charles I was in favor of Catholicism.
The cessation of Longsimo’s peace and the outbreak of religious civil war in France once again would also affect international developments – especially the revolt of Philip II’s subjects in the Netherlands, whose particularly intense repression caused great excitement in the French kingdom. Each side would receive foreign aid: the Catholics from Philip II of Spain, Pope Pius V and the Duke of Tuscany, and the Protestants from William of Nassau, Prince of Orange, with whom Louis de Comté and Gaspar de Coligny had signed an alliance, and Elizabeth I of England.
Louis de Comté and Gaspard de Coligny retreated to Burgundy, feeling threatened by the emerging conditions. They escaped an attempted capture and reached the Huguenot stronghold of La Rochelle in September 1568, where they met Joan of Albrey and her son Henry of Navarre, later King of France (Henry IV). And officially the attempt at peace with the signing of the Treaty of Lonzimo had failed. The third religious war was beginning in France.
Column editor: Myrto Katsigera, Vassilis Minakakis, Antigoni-Despina Poimenidou, Athanasios Syroplakis