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The Reformation in France

Henry IV and the Edict of Nantes

Again the situation in France had turned upside-down. Now France was ruled by a Huguenot king and the Catholic princes of Europe dreaded the prospect of a France turned Protestant. Spain instantly invaded, but the invasion failed and instead had the effect of strengthening Henry's position in France.

Henry was no fanatic. Instead, like many of his countrymen, he was sick of religious wars and their terrible cost, and had come to believe that any sort of compromise was preferrable to endless bloodshed. On 25 July 1593, Henry publicly converted to Catholicism. His comment that "Paris is worth a mass" reflects the weary pragmatism felt by so many.

The finishing touches were applied by the Edict of Nantes (13 April 1598), a proclamation that averred that France was Catholic but granted freedom of public worship to the Huguenots. They were allowed to hold public office, to attend universities, and to maintain their fortified towns.

The Edict brought France's religious wars to a close. As in England and Germany, though, it did not bring a permanent peace but only a truce. The Huguenots numbered about a million in 1600, perhaps one-fifteenth of the total population. They remained a state within the state for decades. The Edict of Nantes was essentially a declaration of exhaustion by both sides.