Politics and Religion in Early Bourbon France

This volume of essays reflects recent research on the interplay of religion and politics in the period from roughly the abjuration and coronation of Henri IV (1593–1594) to the defeat of the rebel Huguenot armies in 1629. Though the essays are narrowly focused on disparate subjects, two general themes emerge. First, the authors argue that the growth of absolute monarchy and the growth of Catholic renewal went hand in hand in this period, as the monarchy and the Catholic church forged an alliance after 1598 to cement the loyalties of their Catholic subjects. Second, the essays also stress a greater continuity between the policies of Henri IV and Louis XIII, especially how they forged a Bourbon style of kingship in linking religion and politics. Alain Tallon writes about Clement VIII's papal absolution of Henri IV in 1595 after his abjuration. He argues that this was not the result of Clement adopting a more “politique” policy compared with his predecessors, but the result of Clement's efforts to impose his own authority over the Holy Office of Cardinals, who were attempting to take control of the post-Tridentine church. Megan Armstrong demonstrates how Henri courted and appealed to the Observant Franciscans in Paris, one of the orders who were militantly opposed to Henri during the period of the League, considering him as a heretic. Their reconciliation with Henri illustrates how the king not only managed to collaborate with a variety of religious orders to prove the efficacy of his abjuration, but also to influence Catholic reform and renewal in France. Michael Wolfe echoes the very same theme in his essay about the Conference of Fontainebleau in 1600, where Henri staged a theological debate over the Eucharist to demonstrate to his former Huguenot supporters that his conversion was complete and final. Robert Descimon's article on the aftermath and memory of the assassination attempt on Henri by Jean Chastel shows that the court's expulsion of the Jesuits from its jurisdiction and later from the entire kingdom was a complete fraud, as the king never authorized it; ultimately, Henri recalled the Jesuits a few years later and forced Parlement to recognize his authority in this matter. Eric Nelson echoes the same theme in his analysis of Henri's relationship with the Parlement in registering the Edict of Nantes; he argues that in this episode of royal authority the king was forging a particular vision of kingship balanced between clemency and royal power. Michel De Waele's essay on conflict resolution among the early Bourbon's argues that there was a considerable degree of continuity in the ways that Henri IV and Louis XII dealt with political conflict and revolt. From the mutiny of Condé in 1615 to the Cinq-Mars conspiracy in 1642, De Waele shows that both kings used clemency as the primary means of resolution of these conflicts. The traditional contrast between a merciful Henri IV and more punitive Louis XIII is therefore unjustified.

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• Printing the Body of the Prince

  Jamie Kwan•Sixteenth Century Journal•2022

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