Rouen During the Wars of Religion

This book examines the history of a single French community over the full course of the civil wars.

Philip Benedict (Author)

9780521547970, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 22 January 2004

320 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.8 cm, 0.47 kg

This book is the first modern study to examine the history of a single French community over the full course of the civil wars (1560–1600), and its account of local developments is enriched by frequent comparisons with events and conditions elsewhere in the country. An introductory chapter describes Rouen's economy, social structure and political institutions on the eve of the Wars of Religion. Successive chapters explore the rise and decline of Protestantism; the sociology of the faith; the causes and chronology of the popular violence which began to disturb the city after 1560; the roots of the militant Catholic movement of the Holy League; and the first signs of a renewal of Catholic religious life visible amid the agitation of the League. A concluding chapter seeks to show that many of the patterns visible in Rouen's history were also characteristic of communities throughout France, pointing the way to a reinterpretation of the Wars in which the actions and experience of the great mass of the population are given attention equal to that traditionally accorded to court elites and noble factions. The book will interest specialists in early modern history and particularly in the social, ecclesiastical, economic, demographic and political history of France in this period.

List of illustrations
List of tables
Preface
List of abbreviations
1. Prologue: a provincial metropolis in the sixteenth century
Part I. A City Divided, 1560–1571: 2. The rise of Protestantism and the outbreak of religious violence
3. The sociology of the rival confessions
4. 'The most difficult inhabitants of the kingdom'
Part II. In The Wake of St Bartholomew's Day, 1572–1584: 5. A massacre and its impact
6. Interlude
Part III. The Crisis of the League, 1585–1594: 7. The Sainte-Union comes to power
8. Penitents as well as militants
9. Sacrifice and disaffection
10. Conclusion: the Wars of Religion and the people of France
Appendices
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700 [HBLH], European history [HBJD]