3 religious wars took place in France. Huguenot Wars. War of the Three Henrys

The Religious (or Huguenot) Wars that rocked France from 1562 to 1598 were merely a regional instance of the global ideological conflict that played out in Europe in the 16th century. It is necessary to understand that this conflict, which initially arose on religious grounds, also depended on many political and socio-economic reasons.

Background

In France in the 16th century, two faiths were widespread: Catholicism and Protestantism. The French kings strove for the unity of the nation, not wanting a split along religious lines. Therefore, both Henry II of Valois (1547-1559) and his son Francis II (1559-1560) decided to rely on Catholicism and not give Protestants (or Huguenots, as they were called in France) the same rights as supporters of the Roman Church. During the reign of Francis, Protestants tried to hold an Ecumenical Council, at which representatives of the two faiths could reach a compromise. However, the powerful family of staunch Catholics, the Guises, who ruled the royal court, prevented this plan. And soon Francis II died. The throne was taken by his young brother, Charles IX.

Since Charles was too young to rule independently, his mother, Catherine de Medici, became regent under the young king. Catherine's first events were quite democratic. By her decree, a congress of Protestant and Catholic theologians was held in Poissy in 1562. As a result of the congress, the Queen Mother and the Estates General made two decisions: to give Protestants the right to hold their services and meetings, and to begin the sale of church property, which caused discontent among the Catholic clergy and many senior dignitaries, who felt that they were losing their previous influence on the royal family. The response to the actions of Catherine de Medici was an anti-Protestant triumvirate, which included Francois de Guise, Marshal de Saint-André and Constable de Montmorency.

Soon, the offended Catholics turned to armed action against heretics, who they considered the Huguenots to be.

Causes of religious wars

The French Wars of Religion were caused by a whole range of reasons:

• The main cause of the conflict, of course, was religious contradictions and the oppression of Protestants in France;
• Economic relations also played an equally important role: Protestants, brought up on Calvinist morality, were actively engaged in business and accumulated considerable wealth. The “old” Catholic aristocracy could not compete with Protestant businessmen and was losing its financial power. The wealth collected by the Catholic churches was also a cornerstone issue. Protestants did not agree with the church owning too much money and advocated secularization.
• A separate group of reasons are internal political reasons. In France, there was a struggle for power: the Guises, kings from the Valois dynasty and representatives of the Bourbon family sought to become the sole masters of the state and for this they used one or another opposing religious groups.
• In addition, the situation in France was influenced by the foreign policy situation. Europe experiencing the Reformation was seething: on the one hand, the powerful Spanish kings - defenders of the Catholic faith, on the other - England and a number of German princes who recognized Protestantism. France was faced with an important historical choice, and not only the religious, but also the military-political situation on the mainland directly depended on the step it took.

In total, between 1562 and 1598, France experienced 8 civil wars.

First wars

The first three clashes between Catholics and Protestants were quite similar. Already during the very first religious war, two centers of warring parties emerged:

• Catholic Paris;
• Protestant Orleans.

The First Huguenot War occurred in 1562-1563, when the men of Guise attacked a group of Calvinists praying. These events went down in history as the “Wassy Massacre” and marked the beginning of a whole series of civil wars.

After the incident at Vassy, ​​members of the Catholic triumvirate captured Catherine de' Medici and the child king, forcing them to abolish previous liberties for Protestants. At this time, Protestants, led by Prince de Condé and Admiral de Coligny, also began to take active action. The war was successful for the Catholics, however, after the death of Guise and Saint-André, as well as the capture of Montmorency and Condé, military operations came to naught.

Catherine de' Medici felt free and immediately issued the Edict of Amboise, which proclaimed freedom of conscience throughout France, except for Paris (where only the Catholic faith could be professed). For all its apparent democracy, the edict had an important drawback for the Huguenots: Protestant churches could only be opened in large cities, so the bulk of the masses could not practice their religion. His terms, of course, did not suit the Catholics either, so a new clash was inevitable.

In 1567, Conde attempted to capture Charles IX and his mother in order to establish Protestant influence throughout France. The prince's plan failed, but gave rise to the second Huguenot War of 1567-1568. With the help of the German Count Palatine Wolfgang of Zweibrücken, the Protestant army managed to break into the capital. In one of the battles for Paris, the last member of the Catholic triumvirate, Montmorency, fell. Catherine de Medici, who continued to rule in place of her now adult son, was forced to accept the conditions of the victors and sign a document confirming the terms of the Peace of Amboise.

The Second War did not bring any political changes to the way of life of the French, but it seriously changed the mood of Catherine de Medici. The Queen Mother was offended by the antics of the Protestants and admitted the failure of her liberal policies. Soon, Catherine switched to reactionary measures: Protestant preachers began to be expelled from the country, the practice of any cults other than Catholic and Gallican was prohibited. An attempt was also made to arrest Conde and Coligny, which was the reason for the start of the third Huguenot War of 1568-1570.

During the third war, Prince Condé was killed. The new leaders of the Huguenots were Prince Condé the Younger and Prince Henry of Bourbon of Navarre, raised in the traditions of Protestantism. The Huguenots were again victorious. The war was ended by the Treaty of Saint-Germain, which, in general, reproduced the text of the Treaty of Amboise, but also contained a new provision: the Protestants received 4 fortresses for their use for two years.

The Treaty of Saint-Germain made France's foreign policy position precarious. Just recently, a rapprochement between France and its long-time enemy, Spain, began. Now, because of the victory of the Protestants, Catholic Madrid began to be wary of Catherine and her son. Many high-ranking French Huguenots openly declared that Paris should support the Dutch Protestants, who are now suffering the atrocities of the Catholic fanatic Spanish Duke of Alba. The fragile peace was once again under threat of war.

St. Bartholomew's Night (August 22-23, 1572)

After the signing of the Treaty of Saint-Germain, Coligny, who exercised great influence on Charles IX, acquired special weight at court. This fact did not suit the Guises, who, moreover, dreamed of taking revenge on Coligny for the death of Francois Guise, who fell during the first Huguenot war.

Catherine de Medici, thinking about ways to reconcile her subjects, decides that a symbol of consent could be the marriage of the young leader of the Huguenots, Henry of Navarre, and her daughter, the Catholic Margarita de Valois, who would later go down in history as “Queen Margot” with the help of Alexander Dumas the Father. . Catherine’s decision met with a storm of indignation among Catholics, and not only among her compatriots: such a marriage was condemned by the Catholic kings of Europe and the Pope. With great difficulty, Catherine managed to find a Catholic prelate ready to marry the newlyweds. Many French were outraged by the preparations for the magnificent celebrations, which were carried out despite rising taxes, crop failures and empty treasuries. The most astute Parisians understood that soon popular indignation, fueled by the leaders of one party or another, would result in pogroms and outbreaks of senseless violence, so they left the city in advance.

On August 18, 1572, the wedding took place. Many noble Huguenots along with their families came to Paris to congratulate the young couple. But while the Protestants celebrated peace, the Catholic party was preparing for decisive action. On August 22, Admiral Coligny was wounded during a failed assassination attempt organized by Guizami.

On the night of August 23-24 (St. Bartholomew's Day), a meeting of the royal council was held, at which it was decided to begin the massacre of the Huguenots. Historians are still debating who initiated these bloody events. Previously, all the blame was placed on Catherine de Medici, but a number of modern works by French historians prove that the Queen Mother did not have such a serious influence on her nobles and people. Historical facts indicate that the main perpetrators of the massacre on St. Bartholomew's Night were the Guise family, as well as the Catholic clergy and Spanish agents who incited the people to violence. However, they would not have been able to achieve such consequences if not for the indignation of ordinary French people, tired of endless civil wars between masters and exorbitant taxes. Catherine and her son had neither money in the treasury nor sufficient influence in army circles; they themselves were practically prisoners of their court, so there is no need to talk about any real political weight of theirs.

The ringing of bells coming from the royal chapel was the signal for the massacre to begin. Almost all Huguenots traditionally wore black clothes, so the murderers could easily spot them. Protestants were killed by entire families, sparing no one. Since anarchy reigned in Paris, many took advantage of the situation to settle their own scores, which had nothing to do with religious differences. A wave of violence swept across the country, with similar riots breaking out in some regions until the end of October. According to various estimates, the number of victims throughout France could range from 5,000 to 30,000 people.

St. Bartholomew's Night made a huge impression on his contemporaries. While Catherine de Medici received congratulations from Rome and Madrid, the German princes and the Queen of England strongly condemned these events. Even some Catholics considered the incident unnecessarily cruel. In addition, the Night of St. Bartholomew forced even the most loyal Huguenots to the royal power to change their minds. Protestants began to flee en masse either abroad or to the region where there were 4 well-armed fortresses that had been given to the Huguenot leaders under the Treaty of Saint-Germain. Henry of Navarre managed to survive and escape, thanks to his wife Margaret, who, despite remaining faithful to the Catholic faith, saved several high-ranking Huguenots from massacre. The nation was finally split into two parts; Protestants demanded harsh justice against those who committed the August pogroms.

The fourth Huguenot War, which began with the Night of St. Bartholomew, ended with the Edict of Boulogne in 1573. According to him, Protestants received freedom of religion, but not freedom to practice worship.

Religious wars of 1573-1584

Between 1573 and 1584, France experienced three more religious wars.

The Fifth Huguenot War (1574-1576) began immediately after the death of the childless Charles IX. Power passed to the next eldest son of Catherine de Medici, who was crowned Henry III. The new conflict differed from the previous ones in that during it, members of the royal family directly stood on opposite sides of the barricades. Henry III was opposed by his younger brother François, the Duke of Alençon, who wanted to seize the French throne and for this purpose went over to the side of Henry of Navarre. François Alençon, in fact, introduced a new force into the political arena of France - a party of moderate Catholics who were ready to make peace with the Huguenots in order to preserve order in the country. With the help of the German army, the Huguenots and supporters of François Alençon won a victory. Henry III was forced to sign the peace of Beaulieu, according to which the victims of St. Bartholomew's Night were rehabilitated; it was allowed to carry out the Protestant cult throughout France, except Paris; and the Huguenots were given 8 fortresses.

Catholics, outraged by the peace conditions in Beaulieu, created the Catholic League. Henry III, frightened by the excessive initiative of his subjects, led the league and declared that from now on he would fight to ensure that a single faith was established in France. Inspired Catholics started the sixth war (1576-1577), in which the Huguenots were defeated and suffered heavy losses. The war ended with the Edict of Poitiers, in which the king canceled almost all the peace conditions in Beaulieu.

The Seventh War or “War of the Lovers” (1579-1580) was started by Henry of Navarre. The reason for it was the reluctance of the Huguenots to give back to France fortresses, the useful life of which was coming to an end. In parallel, military operations were carried out on the territory of the Netherlands: Francois of Alençon decided to support the Dutch Protestants in their fight against the Spanish crown. The war ended with the peace of Fleux, which restored a number of freedoms for the Huguenots.

The year 1584 was marked by the death of François Alençon, the heir of the childless Henry III. The Valois dynasty was to become a thing of the past with the death of its last representative. Ironically, the next French king was to be the heretic Henry of Navarre, the closest surviving relative of Henry III and the head of the House of Bourbon, descended from Louis IX the Saint. This did not suit Henry III, the Spaniards, or the Pope, who declared that Henry of Navarre had no right not only to the French crown, but also to the Navarre one.

"The War of the Three Henrys" (1584-1589)

The Eighth Religious War was fundamentally different from the conflicts that occurred earlier. Now the conversation was about the very fate of the French monarchy and the way out of the dynastic crisis. Three Henrys were to clash in the war:

• Valois,
• Bourbon,
• Giza.

The Catholic League, dissolved by Henry III after the sixth war, was revived. This time it was led by Henry de Guise - a powerful and ambitious man, ready to fight for the French throne. Guise accused the king and his entourage of powerlessness and inability to govern the country. Henry III, in a fit of anger, transferred control of the Catholic League to Guise, which, in fact, completely freed his hands. Guise became master of Paris and began brutal persecution of Protestants. Meanwhile, the king, who had long regretted his rash decision, began to prepare for reprisals against Guise. In December 1584, on the orders of Henry III, Guise and his younger brother were killed. And two weeks later Catherine de Medici died.

The whole country was outraged by the king's behavior. A specially assembled council of theologians freed the French from the oath they had once taken to Henry III. Parisians began to create their own governing bodies, independent of royal power. Left alone, Henry III was forced to make peace with his longtime enemy, Henry of Navarre, and recognize him as his legal heir. Two allied armies besieged Paris, but in the midst of these events, Henry III was killed by a religious fanatic sent by the Catholic League.

The death of the king led not only to a national but also an international crisis. Formally, under the name of Henry IV, Henry of Navarre became the king of France, however, most of his subjects were not going to obey him. At this moment, the Spaniards decided to intervene in the war, who did not want a Protestant to rule in France.

In these difficult conditions, Henry IV decided to convert to Catholicism. Although few of the French took this decision seriously (the new king had already changed his religion three times), this step had a certain significance. The Pope renounced his previous accusations, and peace negotiations began with representatives of the Catholic League.

Pacification of the Kingdom and Edict of Nantes (1598)

When some unity emerged among the French, Henry IV set about eliminating the last pockets of anarchy and disorder. First of all, it was necessary to get rid of the Spaniards who ruled French lands. In 1595, the king declared war on Spain, which ended in his favor in 1598. In parallel with this, there came pacification in the minds of the French, who still preferred to deal with their compatriots, albeit of a different religion, rather than with the Spaniards.

Having achieved order in his kingdom, Henry IV issued the Edict of Nantes, according to which:

• freedom of conscience was proclaimed;
• the practice of Protestant worship was allowed with some restrictions;
• representatives of both religions received equal access to important government positions;
• Protestants received several fortresses for use.

With the publication of the Edict of Nantes, the era of religious wars in France ended.

The French Wars of Religion continued with short interruptions from 1562 to 1589. The main parties to the conflict were Catholics and Huguenots (Protestants). The result of numerous wars was a change in the ruling dynasty, as well as the consolidation of the right to free religion.

Prerequisites

The bloody religious war in France between Catholics and Protestants began in 1562. She had several superficial reasons and deep reasons. In the 16th century, French society split into two irreconcilable camps - Catholic and Protestant. The new teaching entered the country from Germany. Its supporters advocated the abandonment of some norms of the Catholic Church (sale of indulgences, offices, etc.).

Calvinism became the most popular Protestant movement in France. His followers were called Huguenots. The centers of this teaching were scattered throughout the country, which is why the religious war in France was on such a significant scale.

The plot was discovered on the eve of execution. Francis and his entourage fled to Amboise. Nevertheless, the conspirators did not abandon their plans and tried to capture the king by force right in this city. The plan failed. Many nobles died in battle, others were executed afterwards. Those events of March 1560 became the reason why the religious war broke out in France.

Start of the war

Just a couple of months after the failed plot, Francis II died due to his poor health. The throne passed to his brother Charles IX, during whose reign the religious wars in France began. The year 1562 was marked by the massacre of the Huguenots in Champagne. The Duke of Guise and his army attacked unarmed Protestants who were peacefully performing worship. This event became the signal for the outbreak of a large-scale war.

The Huguenots, like the Catholics, had their own leaders. The first of them was Prince Louis de Condé from the Bourbon family. After the incident in Champagne, he captured several cities, making Orleans a stronghold of Protestant resistance to power. The Huguenots entered into an alliance with the German principalities and England - countries where they also fought against Catholic influence. The involvement of external forces in the civil confrontation further aggravated the religious wars in France. It took years for the country to exhaust all its resources and, drained of blood, finally came to a peace agreement between the parties.

An important feature of the conflict was that there were several wars at once. The bloodshed began, then stopped, then resumed again. So, with short interruptions, the war went on from 1562 to 1598. The first stage ended in 1563, when the Huguenots and Catholics concluded the Peace of Amboise. According to this treaty, Protestants received the right to practice their religion in certain provinces of the country. The parties came to an agreement thanks to the active mediation of Catherine de Medici, the mother of three French kings (Francis II, Charles IX and Henry III). Over time, she became the main protagonist of the conflict. The Queen Mother is best known to modern people thanks to Dumas's classic historical novels.

Second and third war

The Guises were unhappy with the concessions to the Huguenots. They began to look for Catholic allies abroad. At the same time, in 1567, Protestants, as a few years before, tried to capture the king. The incident, known as the Mo Surprise, ended in nothing. The authorities summoned the leaders of the Huguenots - the Prince of Condé and Count Gaspard of Coligny - to court. They refused to come to Paris, which served as a signal for renewed bloodshed.

The reasons for the religious wars in France were that interim peace treaties, which included small concessions to the Protestants, did not satisfy either side. Because of this insoluble contradiction, the conflict was renewed again and again. The second war ended in November 1567 due to the death of one of the Catholic leaders, the Duke of Montmorency.

But just a few months later, in March 1568, gunfire and the death cries of soldiers again sounded on the fields of France. The third war mainly took place in the province of Languedoc. The Protestants almost took Poitiers. They managed to cross the Ron and force the authorities to make concessions again. The privileges of the Huguenots were expanded by the Treaty of Saint-Germain, signed on August 15, 1570. Freedom of religion was established throughout France except Paris.

Marriage of Henry and Margot

In 1572, the religious wars in France reached their climax. The 16th century knew many bloody and tragic events. But, perhaps, none of them could compare with St. Bartholomew's Night. This is how the massacre of Huguenots carried out by Catholics was called in historiography. The tragedy occurred on August 24, 1572, on the eve of the day of the Apostle Bartholomew. Today, scientists give different estimates of how many Protestants were killed then. Calculations give a figure of approximately 30 thousand people - a value unprecedented for its time.

The massacre was preceded by several important events. Since 1570, religious wars in France ceased briefly. The date of the signing of the Saint-Germain Peace Treaty became a holiday for the exhausted country. But the most radical Catholics, including the powerful Giza, did not want to recognize this document. Among other things, they were against the appearance of Gaspard Coligny, one of the leaders of the Huguenots, at the royal court. The talented admiral enlisted the support of Charles IX. The monarch wanted, with the help of the commander, to annex the Netherlands to his country. Thus, political motives triumphed over religious ones.

Catherine de Medici also cooled her ardor for a while. There was little money in the treasury to wage open confrontation with the Protestants. Therefore, the Queen Mother decided to use diplomatic and dynastic methods. The Parisian court agreed on the terms of a marriage between Margaret of Valois (Catherine's daughter) and Henry of Navarre, another Huguenot leader.

St. Bartholomew's Night

The wedding was to be celebrated in Paris. Because of this, a huge number of Huguenots - supporters of Henry of Navarre - arrived in the predominantly Catholic city. The mood in the capital was most explosive. The common people hated the Protestants, blaming them for all their troubles. There was no unity at the top of the government regarding the upcoming wedding.

The wedding took place on August 18, 1572. Four days later, Admiral Coligny, who was traveling from the Louvre, was fired upon from a house belonging to the Guises. This was a planned assassination attempt. The Huguenot leader was wounded but survived. However, what happened was the last straw. Two days later, on the night of August 24, Catherine de Medici ordered the beginning of reprisals against the Huguenots who had not yet left Paris. The beginning of the religious wars in France amazed contemporaries with their cruelty. But what happened in 1572 could not be compared with the previous horrors of battles and battles.

Thousands of people died. Gaspard Coligny, who miraculously escaped death the day before, was one of the first to say goodbye to life. Henry of Navarre (the future King Henry IV) managed to survive only thanks to the intercession of his new relatives at the court. St. Bartholomew's Night was the event that turned the tide of the conflict, known in history as the religious wars in France. The date of the massacre of the Huguenots was marked by the loss of many of their leaders. After the horrors and chaos in the capital, according to various estimates, about 200 thousand Huguenots fled from the country. They moved to the German principalities, England and Poland in order to be as far as possible from the bloody Catholic power. Valois' actions were condemned by many rulers of the time, including Ivan the Terrible.

Continuation of the conflict

The painful Reformation and religious wars in France led to the fact that the country did not know peace for many years. After St. Bartholomew's Night, the point of no return was passed. The parties stopped looking for a compromise, and the state again became a victim of mutual bloodshed. The Fourth War ended in 1573, but King Charles IX died in 1574. He did not have an heir, so his younger brother Henry III, who had previously been the autocrat of Poland for a short time, came to rule in Paris.

The new monarch again brought the restless Guises closer to him. Now the religious wars in France, in short, resumed again, due to the fact that Henry did not control some regions of his country. For example, Champagne was invaded by the German Count of the Palatinate, who came to the rescue of local Protestants. At the same time, a moderate Catholic party appeared, known in historiography as the “dissatisfied”. Representatives of this movement advocated for the establishment of religious tolerance throughout the country. They were joined by numerous patriotic nobles, tired of the endless war. In the Fifth War, the "malcontents" and the Huguenots acted as a united front against the Valois. The Gizas again defeated both of them. After this, many “dissatisfied” were executed as state traitors.

Catholic League

In 1576, Henry of Guise established the Catholic League, which, in addition to France, included the Jesuits and Spain, and the goal of the union was the final defeat of the Huguenots. In addition, the aristocrats were on the side of the league, wanting to limit the power of the king. Religious wars and the absolute monarchy in France during the second half of the 16th century were the main factors influencing the course of the history of this country. Time has shown that after the victory of the Bourbons, the power of the kings only increased, despite the attempts of the nobles to limit it under the pretext of fighting the Protestants.

The Catholic League unleashed the Sixth War (1576-1577), as a result of which the rights of the Huguenots were noticeably limited. The center of their influence moved to the south. Henry of Navarre became the generally recognized leader of the Protestants, after whose wedding the massacre on St. Bartholomew's Night once took place.

The king of a small kingdom in the Pyrenees, who belonged to the Bourbon dynasty, became heir to the entire French throne due to the childlessness of Catherine de' Medici's son. Henry III really had no offspring, which put the monarch in a delicate position. According to dynastic laws, he was to be succeeded by his closest relative in the male line. Ironically, he became Henry of Navarre. Firstly, he also came from and secondly, the applicant was married to the monarch’s sister Margaret (Margot).

War of the Three Henrys

The dynastic crisis led to the War of the Three Henrys. The namesakes fought among themselves - the king of France, the king of Navarre and the Duke of Guise. This conflict, which lasted from 1584 to 1589, was the last in a series of religious wars. Henry III lost the campaign. In May 1588, the inhabitants of Paris rebelled against him, after which he had to flee to Blois. The Duke of Guise arrived in the capital of France. For several months he was actually the ruler of the country.

In order to somehow resolve the conflict, Guise and Valois agreed to hold a meeting in Blois. The Duke arrived there and fell into a trap. The king's guards killed Guise himself, his guards, and later his brother. The treacherous act of Henry III did not add to his popularity. Catholics turned away from him, and the Pope completely cursed him.

In the summer of 1589, Henry III was stabbed to death by the Dominican monk Jacques Clément. The killer was able to obtain an audience with the king using forged documents. When the guards made way for Henry, the monk suddenly thrust a stiletto into him. The killer was torn to pieces on the spot. But Henry III also died from his wound. Now nothing prevented the King of Navarre from becoming the ruler of France.

Edict of Nantes

Henry of Navarre became king of France on August 2. He was a Protestant, but in order to gain a foothold on the throne, he converted to Catholicism. This act allowed Henry IV to receive absolution from the Pope for his previous “heretical” views. The monarch spent the first years of his reign fighting his political rivals, who also lay claim to power throughout the country.

And only after his victory, Henry issued the Edict of Nantes in 1598, which secured free religion throughout the country. Thus ended the religious wars and the strengthening of the monarchy in France. After more than thirty years of bloodshed, long-awaited peace has arrived in the country. The Huguenots received new rights and impressive subsidies from the authorities. The results of the religious war in France were not only the end of a long conflict, but also the centralization of the state under the rule of the Bourbon dynasty.

Religious (Huguenot) wars in France, wars in 1562 - 1598. between Catholics and Protestants (Huguenots). They were civilian in nature and content. The persecution of Protestants was not associated with the struggle against a specific social stratum: in their ranks were the noble aristocracy, representatives of the large and middle nobility, broad layers of townspeople, the population of the southern and southwestern regions of France, where separatist tendencies intensified. During the wars, the feudal nobility was divided into two large parties that laid claim to power in the state. The Catholics were led by large landowners, the Dukes of Guise, the Huguenots - the princes of the royal Bourbon dynasty (King Antoine of Navarre, his son, later the French King Henry IV, the Princes of Condé) and Admiral G. de Coligny.

The struggle began in 1559, when uprisings led by the Huguenots broke out in many cities in the south of France. In 1560, the Huguenot nobility, led by Prince L. Condé, raised a military. rebellion ("Amboise Conspiracy") to seize power at the court of King Francis II of Valois. However, he was suppressed and the rebels were executed. On March 1, 1562, François Guise attacked the Huguenots performing divine services in the town of Vassy (Champagne) (23 people were killed, more than 100 were wounded). The "Massacre of Wassin" served as an impetus for the Wars of Religion of the first period (1562 - 63; 1567 - 68; 1568 - 70), in which there was a struggle for influence over King Charles IX. Reprisals against Huguenots took place in Angers, Sens, Auxerres, Tours, Troyes, Cahors, etc. The Huguenots, in turn, beat Catholics, destroyed their churches and captured municipalities in the cities. Lyon, Toulouse, Bourges, Orleans. Opponents, not having it means. forces, relied on foreign help: Catholics - on Spain, Huguenots - on England, German princes and the Netherlands. Aug 8 In 1570, the Saint-Germain Edict of Reconciliation was signed. However, the increased influence of the Huguenots at the royal court caused active opposition from Catholics, who on the night of August 24. 1572 (Feast of St. Bartholomew) organized a massacre of the Huguenots. The events of St. Bartholomew's Night led to huge casualties in Paris, Orleans, Lyon, etc. - up to 30 thousand killed; de Coligny also died. This was the reason for the beginning of the second period of wars (1572 - 75, 1575), as a result, Charles IX agreed to all the demands of the Huguenots, and their federal republic was formed within France, which elected its own government led by the Prince of Condé. On May 2, 1576, a peace treaty was concluded in Beaulieu.

The third period of wars (1577, 1585 - 98) began during the reign of King Henry III of Valois, and was characterized by the creation of coalitions of states waging religious wars. Sweden, Denmark, England and the German principalities took the side of the Huguenots, and Pope Sixtus V supported the Catholics. The wars were fought with varying degrees of success and entailed great casualties. Aug 1 1589 Henry III was killed by the Protestant monk J. Clément. The Huguenot leader Henry IV Bourbon, who converted to Catholicism (“Paris is worth a mass”), ascended the French throne. 13 Apr In 1598 he issued the Edict of Nantes, which summed up the Wars of Religion. The Huguenots received the right to hold public office, freely practice their worship everywhere except Paris, have their representatives at court and an army of twenty-five thousand people; they were given possession of two hundred cities; the state pledged to allocate funds for their liturgical needs.

As a result of the Wars of Religion in France, a kind of Huguenot state within a state arose and relative religious tolerance was established. However, Henry IV himself, who stopped interfaith hostilities in France, was killed by the Catholic fanatic Ravaillac on May 14, 1610.

The royal power managed to survive and soon restored its previous positions. After the La Rochelle War with the Huguenots of 1627-1628, Louis XIII abolished their political independence, and in 1685 Louis XIV, having repealed the Edict of Nantes, destroyed their religious autonomy.

Objective of the lesson:

- understand the causes, goals, and results of the religious wars in France

Understand the reasons for the strengthening of the absolute monarchy

Tasks:

Educational

To bring students to an understanding of the causes, goals and results of the religious wars in France;

Find out how absolutism strengthened in France;

Developmental

Continue developing the ability to work with documents;

Continue developing the ability to work with maps;

Continue to develop the ability to summarize and analyze the material studied;

Continue developing communication skills;

Educational

Foster a sense of tolerance;

To form a feeling of rejection of war as a means of resolving religious conflicts;

Foster a humane attitude towards people.

Lesson equipment :

Textbook “History of Modern Times 1500-1800.7 class”, authors: A.Ya. Yudovskaya, P.A. Baranov, L.M. Vanyushkina;

Map "Reformation in Europe inXVI V.";

Memo for assessing the activities of the ruler;

I. Klula “Catherine of Medici” (Rostov-on-Don, 1997).

Lesson type: combined lesson

Lesson form : frontal, lesson-study

Teaching methods: verbal, visual.

Lesson plan:

The beginning of religious wars.

"Bartholomew's Night"

The War of the Three Henrys.

Good King HenryIV Navarrese

Richelieu's reign.

PROGRESS OF THE LESSON

Organizational moment

Who is on duty? Who's missing?

Motivation for educational activities

The bell has already rung -
Let's start our lesson.

We open all the notebooks,

The books have the necessary bookmarks.

We answer questions,

When necessary, we shut up.

We will understand the topic,

The main thing is not to be distracted!

Updating knowledge

A) Thermology: Reformation, Protestants, Lutheran Church, Calvinist Church, Anglican Church, Puritans.

B) Dates: 1517 – M. Luther publishes 95 theses against indulgences (Germany)

1524-1526 –Peasant War in Germany

1555 - Religious Peace of Augsburg on the equality of Catholics and Protestants. (Germany, KarlV)

1534 - the law that declared the king the head of the church in England

1588 - the struggle between England and Spain. Defeat of the Invincible Armada

B) Names in history:

-Martin Luther (Protestant, Germany)

- Thomas Munzer (Protestant, leader of the peasant war in Germany)

PhilipII, (Catholic, Spanish king, led the fight against the Reformation)

John Calvin, (Protestant, Switzerland)

Ignatius of Loyola (Spain, Catholic, founder of the Jesuit Order)

HenryVIII. (supporter of the Reformation in England)

G) Name the fundamental difference between the Reformation in England and the Reformation in Germany (in A. “from above”, in G. “from below”)

D) Working with the map

show on the map the territories dominated by the Catholic Church; territories in which Protestant churches established themselves.

Goal setting, problem statement

There is one more leading country left unaffected by our study. Today in class I invite you on a journey through this country. I associate it with Versailles, the Louvre, and the Eiffel Tower. What kind of country is this? Of course, this is France. Write down the topic of the lesson

What do you think are our lesson goals today? (Understand the reasons, goals, and results of the religious wars in France. Understand the mechanism for strengthening the absolute monarchy)

And in order to achieve the goal, you and I must understand the followingproblem – What are the features of the Reformation in France?

Finding ways to solve the problem. Learning new material

Spread of the Reformation in France

At the end XVcentury, when the unification of France was completed, it became the largest state in Europe in terms of population. The country had a population of 15 million. At the beginning XVIcentury, Calvinism began to spread in France. And who in France sympathized with Protestantism?

Spread of Calvinist doctrine in France

Reasons for support

Representatives of the ancient nobility

Dissatisfaction with the strengthening of royal power and loss of political influence

Part of the nobility

The nobility, especially the impoverished ones, wanted to take over the wealth of the church

Some of the townspeople, especially in Southern France, and the first bourgeois entrepreneurs

They wanted to return the ancient city liberties. Entrepreneurs were attracted by the Calvinist ethic, the desire to accumulate money, to live a modest life, and to have a cheap church

As a result, by the end of the first quarterXVIcentury, France found itself split into two hostile camps - Catholics and Protestants. The Catholics were supported by the French kings from the Valois dynasty. The north of France remained on the side of the Catholic Church, and the south of France became Protestant.

Protestants in France were called Huguenots (“comrades” who took a common oath). This is how the Reformation entered France.

The concept is written down in the notebook.

Huguenots - These are French Calvinists.

Catholics

Territories

South

North

Compound

Ancient nobility, nobles, townspeople

King, peasantry

Supporting States

England, Germany

Spain

Position

Brutally persecuted

Supported by the king and the bulk of the population

Leaders

Henry of Navarre, Admiral of Coligny

Francois de Guise, Heinrich de Guise

1. Beginning of religious wars

At this time there was no strong royal power in France. Representatives of the Valois dynasty succeeded each other on the throne, but there was not among them a person with a statesmanlike mind. Among the relatives of the kings, the all-powerful Duke of Guise stood out, who was called the “uncrowned king of Paris.” It is with the name of this man that the beginning of the religious wars in France is associated. In March 1562, Guise, traveling with his retinue through the town of Vassy, ​​carried out a bloody massacre of peaceful Huguenots. The incident in Vassi became the reason for the start of religious wars, which lasted more than thirty years (1562-1598).

The date of religious wars is recorded in the notebook.

1562-1598 - religious wars in France.

Now let us turn our attention to the legal status of Catholics and Huguenots. The Huguenots had no rights. Since the 20sXVIcenturies they were subjected to severe persecution. The king himself was on the side of the Catholics.

From 1560 to 1574, France was ruled by a king from the Valois dynasty, CharlesIX., the problems facing the country did not interest him. During his childhood, the country was ruled by Queen Mother Catherine de Medici.

To develop students’ ability to evaluate political decisions

figures from the position of their contemporaries, the characterization of a statesman given by the French thinker and humanist of the 16th century was included in the content of the story. Michel Montaigne. The student is reading...

Catherine de Medici had the qualities that Montaigne wrote about. She also sought to preserve the unity of a nation split into hostile factions. The Queen was the embodiment of the strengths and weaknesses of her contemporaries. She, like all people of the 16th century, did not attach much importance to human life. Therefore, the Queen Mother’s methods did not really confuse her contemporaries. State interests forced Catherine de Medici to sometimes resort to murder, but in cases where she had no other choice.

Religious wars pushed the country down the path of disaster. Catholics created their own brotherhoods, organized numerous processions and killed the Huguenots. The Huguenots were not so cruel; in captured cities they plundered churches, but did not kill anyone

Physical education lesson “Bogatyrs”

So we threw up our hands

As if they were surprised

And to each other to the ground

They bowed at the waist.

Below, children, don’t be lazy,

Bow, smile.

We'll put our palms to our eyes,

Let's spread our strong legs.

Turning to the right

Let's look around majestically.

And you need to go left too

Look from under your palms.

And to the right. And also, over the left shoulder.

"Bartholomew's Night"

Have you ever come across the expression “St. Bartholomew’s Night” in everyday life? What does it mean? (any sudden mass destruction (murder) of opponents, unless, of course, it happens in an open, fair battle).Now we will find out what events this “catchphrase” is associated with. What was the situation in Paris on the eve of St. Bartholomew's Night? Was it only religious hostility that spilled out in this bloody event, or was it added to by the general bitterness of the townspeople? The leaders of the Huguenots were Admiral Coligny and King Henry of Bourbon of Navarre. Charles IX, in order to reconcile Catholics and Huguenots, decided to marry his sister Margaret to Henry. The wedding was scheduled for August1572 g . On this occasion, all the Huguenot leaders with their retinues gathered in Paris. Catholic leaders did not want to allow the Huguenots to gain influence. They decided to take advantage of the fact that all the Protestant leaders had gathered in Paris and destroy them. First, an attempt was made on the life of one of the Huguenot leaders, Admiral Coligny. He was wounded by a shot from around the corner, but survived.

On the night before the feast of St. Bartholomew (August 24), gangs of murderers formed by the Parisian merchant foreman organized a massacre of the Huguenots. The houses where the Huguenots were located were secretly marked with crosses. In the Abbey of Saint-Germain, the bell rang - it was a call for violence. The night of St. Bartholomew has begun. Crowds of “good Catholics,” directed by Duke Henry of Guise, broke into the houses of the Huguenots. Many were caught in their beds, the poor people did not suspect anything. Houses were robbed and Huguenots were killed. Neither women nor babies were spared. Admiral Coligny was killed and his corpse was dragged through the streets and then hanged on the gallows. And King Charles IX himself, standing at the palace window, shot at the unfortunate people from an arquebus. The massacre continued for three days. There was no salvation anywhere. The carnage then spread to the provinces. Contemporaries believed that up to 30 thousand people were killed in total/Students write down the date of “Bartholomew’s Night” in a notebook/

1572 - "Bartholomew's Night" in France.

War of the Three Henrys

After the death of Charles IX, the French crown passed to Henry III, who was unable to rule the country. The Catholics were led by Henry of Guise, and the Protestants by Henry of Navarre. A struggle for the throne developed between them. Henry of Guise developed a plan to kidnap Henry III and tonsure him as a monk. Upon learning of this, Henry III ordered the death of Henry of Guise. But the Catholics could not forgive him for this, and in the summer of 1589 an attempt was made on Henry III’s life, and before his death he bequeathed the throne to Henry of Navarre, but at the same time said that Paris would not accept the Huguenot. Henry Navarre also understood that the country would not accept a Protestant king.

“Paris is worth a mass,” said Henry of Navarre, who became the French king Henry IV; he converted to the Catholic faith for the second time.

Mass - Catholic worship.

? Do you think Henry of Navarre did the right thing by converting to the Catholic faith? Why?

Henry IV 1598 year published Edict of Nantes - a document regulating the political and religious rights of the Huguenots; religious tolerance was proclaimed in the camp.

Work is being organized with the document “Edict of Nantes” Textbook, p. 132-133

"Good King" Henry IV Navarrese

Henry IV was the first king of the Modern Age who placed the task of creating a strong united state above issues of religion. Its main task is to unite the people into a single state organism. And the strengthening of royal power as the guarantor of this unity.

?Why do you think he was nicknamed "The Good King"?

Henry of Navarre went down in history as a “good” king because:

1) under him, France ended the war with Spain;

2) direct tax on peasants was reduced;

3) a ban was introduced to arrest peasants for debts and take away their livestock;

4) patronized the development of trade and manufacturing;

5) contributed to the creation of merchant companies;

6) the life of the people has improved;

7) overcoming the devastation caused by the religious war.

He could still do a lot, but in 1610 he died from the treacherous dagger of a Catholic fanatic.

1. Richelieu's board

After Henry's deathIVHis young son Louis became kingXIII, in whose name his mother Maria de' Medici ruled. Her policies led to the emptying of the treasury. In such a situation, Cardinal Richelieu (or Richelieu) became the king's first minister. He continued Henry's policiesIV. He created a regime of absolute monarchy, which lasted for about a century and a half

VI . Primary consolidation.

Who are the Huguenots?

- When did the religious wars begin in France?

-When did the religious wars end in France?

-What document was signed in 1598?

1. Summing up the lesson, grading.

The Reformation and religious wars in France had their own characteristics: the nobility and townspeople took the greatest part in them. The country managed to get out of this period of disasters, having achieved the introduction of religious tolerance and the creation of an absolute monarchy. The result of these processes is that France has become the strongest state in Europe.

1. Homework

1) paragraph 14, questions at the end of the paragraph.

2) In the notebook “Assessment of the activities of the ruler” HeinrichIV, Cardinal Richelieu

1. Reflection.

Appendix 1

French thinker and humanist of the 16th century. Michel Montaigne about Catherine de Medici

“Virtue in politics is a virtue with numerous bends, angles and turns... It is motley and artificial, not straight and clear, not constant, not entirely innocent. He who walks in a crowd must be able to lean aside, press his elbows , retreat or go forward, even be able to turn away from the path of the righteous, depending on what he encounters: he must be guided not by his own desires, but by the desires of his neighbor, not by his own proposals, but by what is offered to him, depending on the era, from people, from deeds."

Appendix 2

Material from Uncyclopedia

The Reformation that began in Germany immediately received a response in France. But here it was so far supported only in large cities by university students, artisans, and apprentices. A new stage began in the 40s. 16th century, when the ideas of John Calvin, a French reformer who fled to Geneva, which eventually became the capital of a new faith - Calvinism, began to spread in the kingdom. It united merchants and entrepreneurs, nobles and educated officials. Calvinists were intolerant of dissenters, whether they were Catholic “papists” or atheists.

In 1547 Henry II became king. He, like his predecessor, believed that those who betray the old religion would also betray the king. Under him, the Guise family, Dukes of Lorraine, enjoyed great influence. France found itself drawn into a new round of endless wars for Italian lands. The Pope was the king's ally. This largely explains the intensification of the persecution of heretics. A special “Chamber of Fire” was created under the Parisian Parliament (Supreme Court).

Nevertheless, the number of Huguenots (from Eidgenossen - comrade, as the Swiss reformers called themselves) grew every day. Aristocrats flocked to their banners, driven away from the throne by the “rootless” Guises (the Lorraineers were not directly related to the king); lords deprived of their former feudal power by the royal administration; townspeople dissatisfied with rising taxes and the loss of former liberties.

There was not enough money for the war with Spain, and after lengthy negotiations, peace was concluded in 1559. France lost all its Italian conquests, thousands of embittered nobles returned to the country, who had received neither land nor salary and were ready to take up arms again: the opposition was gaining strength. Having ended the war, the king intended to deal with internal enemies. But the unexpected happened: during a tournament on the occasion of the marriage of his daughter to the Spanish king, Henry II was mortally wounded by a piece of a spear. His 15-year-old son Francis II came to power, married to the niece of the Guises (Mary Stuart), whose influence on the king was absolute.

The Huguenot nobles, led by the Bourbons, the closest relatives of the royal house, plotted against the usurpers. The coup attempt failed; its rank and file participants were executed in the city of Amboise. However, the triumph of the Guises was short-lived - Francis II died in 1560.

He was succeeded by his minor brother Charles IX. Queen Mother Catherine de Medici preferred to maneuver between the powerful clans of the Guises and Bourbons. In January 1562, the “Edict of Tolerance” was issued - the Huguenots were allowed to worship outside the city walls. But the government could not eradicate mutual hatred: Catholics persecuted Calvinists, and the Huguenots, where they were in the majority, persecuted Catholics. On March 1, 1562, François Guise dispersed a Huguenot prayer meeting in the city of Vassy. Catholic Paris greeted the defender of the faith with delight. For the Huguenots, the massacre of unarmed noble families served as a signal for a long-prepared uprising - they captured Lyon, Rouen, Orleans, Bordeaux and other cities. The country was drawn into protracted religious wars (1562-1594).

At the first stage (1562-1570), the British and German princes helped the Huguenots, the Pope and King of Spain Philip II helped the Catholics. The base of the Huguenots were provinces that were relatively recently annexed to France, poorer, but retaining greater rights and freedoms. The Calvinists never exceeded a tenth of the population, but they were distinguished by their organization and determination. They happened to suffer defeats, but quickly managed to recover - and a new army, recruited from the southern nobles, again threatened Paris.

However, aristocrats - “political Huguenots” had different goals than pastors - “religious Huguenots”; nobles and townspeople suspected each other of conspiring with Catholics, zealous Calvinists from among the artisans and merchants tried to wrest power from the “city fathers,” accusing them of betraying the cause of faith. There were even more contradictions in the Catholic camp - the leaders were openly at odds with each other, and the king’s main task was to nullify the results of the military victories of his rivals. The government continued to adhere to the old tactics, fearing excessive strengthening of one of the parties.

After several wars under a treaty concluded in 1570, the Huguenots, who had recently suffered a series of defeats, nevertheless strengthened their position. They were allowed to hold services on the outskirts of large cities, and their authority over several fortresses in the south and over the port of La Rochelle was recognized. The Huguenots pinned great hopes on Admiral Coligny, who was called to court. He proposed a plan to resolve the conflict - to rally the warlike nobility into a royal national army that would move to the aid of the Netherlands, which had rebelled against Philip II. Catherine de' Medici decided to strengthen the peace treaty by marrying her daughter Margaret to the Huguenot leader Henry of Bourbon, King of Navarre. The queen wanted to weaken the influence of the Guises, keep the Bourbons under control and attract the rebellious nobility to the court.

The entire flower of the Huguenot nobility came to the wedding. Having arrived in the capital as victors, they were faced with the dull hatred of the Parisians. After the wedding, an attempt was made on Admiral Coligny's life; traces pointed to the Guises' involvement in the conspiracy.

On the night of August 24, the feast of St. Bartholomew, the alarm bell sounded - nobles, supporters of the Guises and other Catholic princes, together with armed Parisians, began beating the Huguenots, whose houses had been marked with crosses the day before. The number of victims exceeded a thousand people - nobles who arrived for the wedding, bourgeois suspected of Calvinism, their wives and children. Henry of Bourbon saved himself by renouncing his faith. The killings continued for several more days, spreading to the provinces. On August 26, the government sent out letters explaining that the king had suppressed an attempted Huguenot conspiracy.

These events made a huge impression on contemporaries. The point was not only in treachery or cruelty (such pogroms had happened before, for example, in 1566 on the night of St. Michael, the Huguenots of the city of Nîmes massacred all Catholics), but in the fact that the established order had been violated for centuries. Religious zeal turned out to be stronger than class boundaries - some nobles killed others, uniting with the plebeians, and all this was done with the consent of the king. It is believed that the queen started the massacre, wanting to eliminate the dangerous Coligny and end the Huguenots with one blow. But St. Bartholomew's Night was not a court intrigue. Hundreds of thousands of Parisians were blinded by fear. They were afraid of the Huguenots, because they remembered what atrocities they committed in the area of ​​​​Paris during the wars; they thought that these arrogant southerners, having penetrated Paris, would open the gates to mercenaries in order to avenge their coreligionists. They feared God: the Huguenots destroyed churches, smashed statues of the Virgin Mary; the preachers shouted that heavenly wrath would fall on the city where the unholy marriage of a Catholic woman with a heretic had taken place. The Huguenots were seen as rebels responsible for the innumerable disasters of wars. Henry of Guise, covered with the glory of the defender of the faith and patron of Paris, skillfully took advantage of the sentiments of the townspeople to stay in power. The government found itself powerless against the massive outbreak of hatred and fanaticism, but felt it was better to be seen as treacherous than helpless.

Be that as it may, it was not possible to stop the religious wars. At their second stage (1572-1576), the Huguenots acted even more decisively. They declared the king a tyrant who wanted to destroy the best people of the country. And the fight against the tyrant is the sacred right and duty of the people, that is, the nobles. This is what numerous Huguenot pamphleteers wrote, calling for a return to the times of the first kings, when neither the rulers nor their officials encroached on freedom - on the feudal rights of lords and the liberties of cities. The Huguenots managed to create an independent confederation in the south of the country.

At the coronation in Reims (1575), the crown fell from the head of Henry III, who replaced his deceased brother. Contemporaries saw this as a bad sign. Indeed, the king's position was difficult. The Huguenots, led by Henry Bourbon, who had returned to Calvinism, became masters of almost a third of the country. The royal governors refused to reckon with the government. In 1576, the nobles and cities of the North united into the Catholic League, led by Heinrich of Guise. The purpose of the league is to fight for the preservation of the faith, since the government was unable to cope with the Huguenots; the struggle for the restoration of old liberties, for the abolition of unfair taxes. At the third stage of the war (1577-1594), the royal power had to fight on two fronts - against the Huguenot Confederation and against the Catholic League, which were similar to each other both in terms of demands and composition of participants.

Henry III, in order to neutralize the Catholic League, declared himself its head. He issued formidable edicts against the Huguenots, collected money to fight them, waged wars, but at the same time, the last thing he wanted was their complete defeat, seeing in them a counterweight to the Catholic feudal lords. At the same time, the king acted like a zealous Catholic - he patronized new orders and brotherhoods, established the Order of the Holy Spirit and awarded it to the nobles whom he wanted to bring closer to himself. The king was generous to his favorites from among the provincial nobles, distributed pensions, organized magnificent balls and holidays. Like Catherine de Medici, he sought to turn obstinate lords into obedient courtiers. Henry III undertook major monetary and financial reforms, created new positions for officials, and tried to bring his proteges into municipalities. These measures were intended to strengthen the base of royal power, to weaken the forces hostile to absolutism - feudal groups, the power of lords, the freemen of the cities, but this required huge amounts of money, which he borrowed from Italian financiers, giving them all the new taxes (they were all the heavier the less territory remained under the king's control).

The number of dissatisfied people grew every day - the king was openly called a tyrant, a hypocrite who condoned heresy, a weak-willed toy in the hands of depraved favorites and Italian scammers. In 1584, when Henry III's younger brother died, Henry of Bourbon became the heir of the childless king. It is characteristic that the Huguenot pamphleteers immediately stopped calling for a fight against the tyrants, but the Catholic League again raised its head. The Parisian bourgeoisie, priests, university doctors, and some officials created their own league, trying to keep up with the nobles. The council, which included representatives of sixteen neighborhoods, was preparing an uprising. It began on May 12, 1588, when the king sent troops into the city, thereby violating the old privilege of Paris. The streets were blocked off with barricades, and neighborhoods were patrolled by city militia. Those whom the king was counting on also took to the streets - city solidarity turned out to be stronger than devotion to the king. Henry III fled the capital, nobles and officials went over to the side of the league, the convened Estates General refused money to the king, but forced him to declare war on the heir

Finally, the king made up his mind - Heinrich of Guise was killed. The treacherous murder caused a storm of indignation. Most cities refused to obey, and the University of Paris called for a holy war against "ungodly tyranny." The "Council of Sixteen" arrested the king's supporters in Paris. Henry III had no choice but to unite with Henry of Bourbon. In the early summer of 1589, the army of the king and the Huguenots besieged Paris and burned its outskirts. On August 1, 1589, the king was mortally wounded by the young fanatical monk Jean Clément, who was hastened to be declared a holy martyr for the faith in Paris.

The new king was not just a Huguenot, but a man who had already changed his faith twice. The French were faced with a choice between the principle of protecting the faith and the principle of a legal monarchy. Never before has royal power been so seriously tested. The Parisians were decisive: “If the heretic Bourbon enters the city, he will brutally avenge St. Bartholomew’s Night.” Even the monks took up arms. The “Council of Sixteen” managed to withstand the terrible famine blockade of Paris in 1590. Only the help of a Spanish detachment saved the city then. Zealous Catholics said that a Spanish king was better than a heretic king. Radical Ligers attacked moderates and even executed the President of the Paris Parliament. More and more often voices were heard that not only heretics were to blame, but in general the entire nobility who started the war, rich merchants and officials who shifted the burdens of war onto the shoulders of the people, who cared more about their position than about the salvation of the faith. Isn't it time to determine a person's place in society not by his wealth or origin, but by his zeal in serving the common cause?

The situation was worst for the peasants: the country was overrun by gangs of mercenaries. Trade froze and hunger reigned. It seemed that the worst days of the Hundred Years' War had returned. As then, the peasants began to defend themselves - an armed movement of “krokans” - partisans - developed in the country.

The nobles, bourgeois and officials began to understand that only the king could guarantee their power and security and only he could save the country from foreign enslavement. The scales began to tip in favor of Henry IV. This brave military leader turned out to be a wise politician, realizing that cruelty and fanaticism cannot stop the war. A general amnesty was declared, and yesterday's opponents were recruited into the royal service. After the king once again converted to Catholicism, Paris opened the gates (1594). Other cities followed the example of the capital. The resistance of the Huguenot and Catholic aristocrats was broken by promising them pensions and ranks. In 1598, the Edict of Nantes was signed. He declared Catholicism the official religion, but Protestants retained their rights and were given fortresses in the south. It was a compromise, it did not suit everyone, but this was the only way to get out of protracted wars.