Politics And Religion In Early Bourbon France

This book explores the political and religious world of early Bourbon France, focusing on the search for stable accord that characterised its political and religious life. Chapters examine developments that shaped the Bourbon realm through the century: assertions of royal authority, rules of political negotiation, and the evolution of Dévot piety.

"Paris is worth a Mass". So said Henri IV on his conversion to Catholicism, according to cynics, and the motives behind the act have been the stuff of history ever since. The Conversion of Henri IV reclaims the religious significance of this momentous event in the development of the French monarchy and early modern political culture. Michael Wolfe offers an in-depth account of the political, diplomatic, and theological dimensions of the 1593 conversion of the Protestant Henri de Navarre. Where others have emphasized the ideological aspects of the conflict sparked by the conversion, Wolfe situates the controversy within contemporary ideas about confessional change and practice, as well as the historical traditions that defined what it meant to be French. Using pamphlets, sermons, letters, and memoranda, he traces the conversion crisis as it unfolded in the minds of the king's subjects and as it affected their loyalties and actions during the last religious wars. In this analysis, the public response to Henri IV's conversion reveals a great deal about contemporary notions of personal piety and the Church, political ideals and the state, as well as social identity and obligations. Joining the history of mentalite with that of political and religious behavior, Wolfe also pays close attention to the impact of military and political developments. This approach helps explain the fundamental role of Henri IV's conversion in the establishment and acceptance of Bourbon absolutism in the last two centuries of the ancien regime. While not denying the political importance of Henri IV's conversion, this book underscores the profound religious implications of the event. It puts religion back into theWars of Religion and thereby enhances our understanding of the rise of the early modern French state.

Historians of the ancien régime have long been interested in the relationship between religion and politics, and yet many issues remain contentious, including the question of sacral monarchy. Scholars are divided over how - and, indeed, if - it actually operated. With its nuanced analysis of the cult of Saint Louis, covering a vast swathe of French history from the Wars of Religion through the zenith of absolute monarchy under Louis XIV to the French Revolution and Restoration, Sacral Kingship in Bourbon France makes a major contribution to this debate and to our overall understanding of France in this fascinating period. Saint Louis IX was the ancestor of the Bourbons and widely regarded as the epitome of good Christian kingship. As such, his cult and memory held a significant place in the political, religious, and artistic culture of Bourbon France. However, as this book reveals, likenesses to Saint Louis were not only employed by royal flatterers but also used by opponents of the monarchy to criticize reigning kings. What, then, does Saint Louis' cult reveal about how monarchies fostered a culture of loyalty, and how did sacral monarchy interact with the dramatic religious, political and intellectual developments of this era? From manuscripts to paintings to music, Sean Heath skilfully engages with a vast array of primary source material and modern debates on sacral kingship to provide an enlightening and comprehensive analysis of the role of Saint Louis in early modern France.

Although the French Revolution is associated with efforts to dechristianize the French state and citizens, it actually had long-term religious--even Christian--origins, claims Dale Van Kley in this controversial new book. Looking back at the two and a half centuries that preceded the revolution, Van Kley explores the diverse, often warring religious strands that influenced political events up to the revolution. Van Kley draws on a wealth of primary sources to show that French royal absolutism was first a product and then a casualty of religious conflict. On the one hand, the religious civil wars of the sixteenth century between the Calvinist and Catholic internationals gave rise to Bourbon divine-right absolutism in the seventeenth century. On the other hand, Jansenist-related religious conflicts in the eighteenth century helped to "desacralize" the monarchy and along with it the French Catholic clergy, which was closely identified with Bourbon absolutism. The religious conflicts of the eighteenth century also made a more direct contribution to the revolution, for they left a legacy of protopolitical and ideological parties (such as the Patriot party, a successor to the Jansenist party), whose rhetoric affected the content of revolutionary as well as counterrevolutionary political culture. Even in its dechristianizing phase, says Van Kley, revolutionary political culture was considerably more indebted to varieties of French Catholicism than it realized.

Rich in detail and broad in scope, this majestic book is the first to reveal the interaction of politics and religion in France during the crucial years of the long seventeenth century. Joseph Bergin begins with the Wars of Religion, which proved to be longer and more violent in France than elsewhere in Europe and left a legacy of unresolved tensions between church and state with serious repercussions for each. He then draws together a series of unresolved problems--both practical and ideological--that challenged French leaders thereafter, arriving at an original and comprehensive view of the close interrelations between the political and spiritual spheres of the time. The author considers the powerful religious dimension of French royal power even in the seventeenth century, the shift from reluctant toleration of a Protestant minority to increasing aversion, conflicts over the independence of the Catholic church and the power of the pope over secular rulers, and a wealth of other interconnected topics.

In August 1589 Henri III, the last of the Valois Kings of France, was assassinated by a Dominican monk, Jacques Clement. This ill-fated and much maligned son of Henri II and Catherine de Medici was succeeded by the first of the Bourbons, Henri IV and King of Navarre. This collection of studies by international experts in the field examines fresh evidence and casts new light upon the interpretation of the character and politics of the last of the Valois and Henri IV and the Bourbon dynasty. This book is valuable for all those who take an interest in French history whether they be students, academics or general readers.

Drawing on the municipal archives of eleven French provincial towns as well as other related sources, this book explores the links between local and national politics during the Wars of Religion of the later sixteenth century. It argues that the response of the French towns to the challenge of heresy, and later the Catholic League, was conditioned by local circumstances. Whilst previous work has been published on the urban dimensions to the Wars of Religion, few studies provide a study of an entire province, allowing as this book does, the opportunity to explicitly compare several towns. After a detailed topographical introduction, placing in context the towns of the region and describing their differing urban constitutions, the following chapters deal with the crisis points of the Wars of Religion. This book sits squarely in the forefront of one of the dominant themes in the historiography of early modern France: the importance of the local community and local elites in political structures and political life. As such, it will prove fruitful reading for all scholars with an interest in early modern French urban and political culture.

This book has been carefully planned to give a coherent account of the impact of religion in France over the last two hundred years. Most books in English dealing with the subject are now dated, and in any case concentrate on institutional questions of church-state relations rather than on the wider influence of religion throughout France. These essays summarise recent French research and provide a concise up-to-date introduction to the history of modern French Catholicism.