Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 10.djvu/341

* HUGUENOTS. 297 HUGUENOTS. sacre of Saint Bartholomew's Day, August 24, 1572, when two thousand Huguenots, among them Coligny, perished. So far from effect- ing its intended purpose, this detest^ible deed only roused the Huguenots to take up arms again. Tlie Duke of Anjou lost his army before La Kochelle, and on .June 24, 1573, concluded a peace at that place by which the Protestants obtained complete freedom in the exercise of their religion in the three towns of Montauban, Ximes, and La Rochelle, which were exempted also from the obligation of receiving a royal garrison. Everywhere else the Huguenots were promised freedom from molestation on condition that they should not hold assemblies of more than three persons at a time. A section of the Roman Catholic nobility, at whose head was the Duke of Alenc'on, the youngest son of Catharine, from purely political motives, united with the Huguenots, and their cause was strengthened by the support of the Politiques (q.v.), the party of compromise and peace. The accession of Henry III., in 1574. was followed by the out- break of the Fifth Civil War. Henry of Na- varre, who, since Saint Bartholomew's Day, had remained a virtual prisoner at the French Court, succeeded in making his escape in Feb- ruary, 1576, and, placing himself at the head of the Huguenot forces in the south, achieved a number of successes in Guienne. This led to the conclusion of the Treaty of Beaulieu, Jlay 6, 1576, by which the Huguenots were granted an increased number of places of security and par- tial representation in the Provincial Parle- ments. This was regarded by the Catholics as a surrender to heretics and traitors who had not hesitated to call in foreign aid against their sovereign. The Duke of Alencon was won back to the support of the Court, and under the auspices of Henry, Duke of Guise, the Catholic League was organized for the defense of the Church, the extirpation of heresy, and the main- tenance of the honor and authority of the King. Although there were certain ulterior motives Avhich made the League dangerous to the House of Valois, Henry 111. for the time put himself at the head of the movement, and at the close of 1576 assembled the States-General at Blois. The severe measures enacted by this body against the Huguenots kindled the Sixth Civil War (1577), which was marked by no important engagement. Peace was concluded at Bergerac on September 17, 1577, and confirmed by the Edict of Poitiers, which guaranteed the preservation of the status quo. The Seventh Civil War (the Guerre des Amoureux) broke out in November, 1579, with little cause, and was terminated by the Peace of Flei.x in November, 1580. with little result. There was now a comparatively long interval of repose till 1584. when, by the death of thi- Duke of Anjou (formerly Alencon), Henry of Navarre became heir to the throne of France. Hereupon, Henry. Duke of Guise, exerted him- self for the revival of the League, entered into an alliance with Spain and the Pope for the extirpa- tion of heresy, declared the Car.linal of Bourbon heir to the throne, and began hostilities against the Huguenots. The results of twenty-five years of warfare were destroyed by the Edict of Nemours (.Tuly 7. 1585), which annulled all previous edicts of toleration. This was followed by the outbreak of the Eighth Civil War, known as the War of the Three Henrvs (Henrv III. of France, Henry of Navarre, Henry of Guise). The Catholic League and the King put no less than seven armies into the field, while the Huguenots received large reenfor-ements from Germany. At Coutras, October 20, 1587. Henry of Navarre defeated the Catholic .rmy, but this was offset by the victory of Guise over the Ger- man auxiliaries at Vimory and .Auneau. So con- temptible had Henry 111. become in the eyes of the people of Paris, that the entrance of the vic- torious Duke of Guise into the city on May 9, 1588, was followed by an insurrection in his favor. While the Duke was negotiating with the Queen-mother. Henry III. fled from Paris, but at Rouen in July, 1588, acceded to all the demands made by Guise, the extermination of heresy in the kingdom, the convocation of the States-General, and the appointment of Guise to the post of lieutenant-general of France. At Blois, on Decemljer 23, 1588, Henry III. caused the Duke of Guise to be murdered, and summoned to his aid Henry of Navarre. In less than a year the King himself was assassinated by .Jacques Cl&ment, and Henry of Navarre succeeded to the throne. The League, however, now under the leadership of the Duke of Mayenne, the brother of Henry of Guise, set up the Cardinal of Bour- bon as a rival King, and, with the aid of Span- ish troops, held its own in Paris. On July 25, 1593. Henry of Navarre formally embraced Ca- tholicism, and in the following year gained pos- session of the capital. The civil wars in France were brought to an end by the Peace of Vervins between Henry and the Spanish King, May 2, 1598. On April 13th of the same year, the Iving. in the Edict of Nantes, guaranteed the Hugue- nots full liberty of conscience and the preserva- tion of their religious and civil condition. See Henry IV. Thovigh Henry IV.. convinced that the French were a Catholic people and woiild never accept a Protestant sovereign, abjured his fa-th on politi- cal grounds, his reign was one of broad tolera- tion, and his great Minister, Sully, was a Huguenot. But when, during the minority of Louis XIII., Maria de' Medici, the Queen of Henri' IV.. assumed the reins of cnvernment. the many privileges enjoyed by the Huguenots were found to have created a strong party that stood in the way of absolutism. The King took an oath in 1614 to maintain the Edict of Nantes, but the marriage treaties with the Spanish Court e.cited the apprehensions of the Huguenots to such a degree that, in November. 1615, they made common cause with the Prince of Condi', who had set up the standard of rebellion. Thi? was contrary to the advice of the most sagacious of their own party. -Although by the Treaty of Loudun. May 4. 1616. they obtained a new con- firmation of their freedom of worship, the Court now only waited for an opportunity of breaking at least their political power. In June, 1617, a royal edict commanded the entire suppression at once of the Protestant Church and of political privileges, in the Province of B<^am: but the Provincial Court at Pan refused to register the edict, and the matter lay over tintil 1620. when, urged by his adviser that the time was oppor- tune to strike decisively, the King carried the edict into full effect by force of arms. The Prot- estants throughout all France took alarm, and hostilities again broke out in May. 1621. .At the head of the Protestants were the two brothers.