Flor Sanchez
C Block
Chapter 4: The Age of Religious Wars
Reading Guide
- This chapter is a “continuation” of the Reformation… different religions developing all
across Europe, there will be a war to claim the state.
Counter Reformation Art:
What is Baroque? What does it look like?
A successor to mannerism, baroque art presented life in a grandiose, three-dimensional
display of raw energy. By contrast, the works of prominent Protestant artists were restrained.
Reformation Politiques:
- Who are these people?
o Rulers or people in positions of power who put the success and well-being of
their states above all else.
- What makes them different?
o Religious strife and civil war were best held in check where rulers acted to
subordinate theological doctrine to political unity, urging tolerance, moderation,
and compromise-even indifference-in religious matters.
The French Wars of Religion (1562-1598):
The French Catholics vs. French Calvinists
- Guise family led Catholics in North
- Bourbon family led Huguenots in South
- Fighting for the royal inheritance
- Catherine supported the Guises in the first phase
Who are the Huguenots? How did they get their name? What did they want?
French Calvinists are known as Huguenots, a term derived from Besancon Hugues, the
leader of Geneva’s political revolt against the House of Savoy in the 1520s, which had been a
prelude to the city’s Calvinist Reformation.
Why were Calvinists a threat to the French Monarchy?
Meanwhile, although Calvinists made up only a small part of the population, France’s
Calvinists included much of the aristocracy.
What was the Appeal of Calvinism?
Who is Catherine de Medicis and what power did she have over the French Monarchy?
At a meeting in Poissy, she tried unsuccessfully to reconcile the Protestant and Catholic
factions. Fearing the power and guile of the Guises, Catherine, whose first concern was always
to preserve the monarchy, sought allies among the Protestants. In 1562, after conversations
with Beza and Coligny, she issued the January Edict, which granted Protestants freedom to
worship publicly outside towns-although only privately within them-and to hold synods. In
March 1562, this royal toleration ended abruptly when the duke of Guise surprised a Protestant
congregation at Vassy in Champagne and massacred many worshippers. That even marked the
beginning of the French wars of religion.
-
Catherine de Medicis, who exercised power during the reigns of three of her sons
between 1559 and 1589, attempted with only some success to play Catholics and
Huguenots off against each other
The first French war of religion was extremely brutal. What was the outcome? What were the
terms of the “peace of Saint-Germain-en-Laye?”
It was a measure of the international character of the struggle in France that troops
from Hesse and the Palatinate fought alongside the Huguenots. A brief resumption of hostilities
in 1567-1568 was followed by the bloodiest of all conflicts, between September 1568 and
August 1570. Conde was killed, and Huguenot leadership passed to Coligny. This was actually a
blessing in disguise for the Protestants because Coligny was far the better military strategist. In
the peace of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1570), which ended the third war, the crown,
acknowledging the power of the Protestant nobility, granted the Huguenots religious freedoms
within their territories and the right to fortify their cities.
What happened on August 24, 1572?
On Saint Bartholomew’s Day, August 24, 1572, Coligny and 3000 fellow Huguenots were
butchered in Paris. Within three days coordinated attacks across France killed an estimated
20,000 Huguenots.
- Henry of Navarre, a Bourbon, survived the massacre.
How did Pope Gregory XIII and Philip II (King of Spain) mark this event?
Pope Gregory XIII and Philip II of Spain reportedly greeted the news of the Protestant
massacre with special religious celebrations. By throwing France into civil war, the massacre
ended any planned French opposition to his efforts to subdue his rebellious subjects in the
Netherlands.
How did Protestants across Europe respond to the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre?
The massacre of thousands of Protestants also gave the discerning Catholic world cause
for new alarm. The event changed the nature of the struggle between Protestants and Catholics
both within and beyond the borders of France. It was thereafter no longer an internal contest
between Guise and Bourbon factions for French political influence, now was it simply a
Huguenot campaign to win basic religious freedoms. Henceforth, in Protestant eyes, it became
an international struggle for sheer survival against an adversary whose cruelty justified any
means of resistance.
Catholic French Henry III vs. Protestant French Henry IV of Navarre:
Catholic: Henry III was the last of Henry II’s sons to wear the French crown. He found the
monarchy wedged between a radical Catholic League, formed in 1576 by Henry of Guise, and
vengeful Huguenots. Neither group would have been reluctant to assassinate a ruler they
considered heretical and a tyrant. Like the queen mother, Henry sought to steer a middle
course. In this effort, he received support from a growing body of neutral Catholics and
Huguenots, who put the political survival of France above its religious unity. Such politiques
were prepared to compromise religious creeds to save the nation.
Protestant: The Peace of Beaulieu in May 1576 granted the Huguenots almost complete
religious and civil freedom. France, however, was not ready then for such sweeping toleration.
Within seven months of the Peace, the Catholic League forced Henry to return to the illusory
quest of absolute religious unity in France. In October 1577, the king truncated the Peace of
Beaulieu and once again limited areas of permitted Huguenot worship. Thereafter, Huguenot
and Catholic factions to their accustomed anarchical military solutions. Protestants were led by
Henry of Navarre, a legal heir to the French throne by virtue of his descent in a direct male line
from St. Louis IX.
Who won the fight for the throne? What did the Pope and Spain do?
Direct Spanish intervention in the affairs of France seemed only to strengthen Henry IV’s
grasp on the crown. The French people viewed his right to hereditary succession more seriously
than his Protestantism. Henry was also widely liked. Notoriously informal in dress and mannerwhich made him especially popular with the soldiers-Henry also had the wit and charm to
neutralize the strongest enemy in a face-to-face confrontation. He came to the throne as a
politique, long weary with religious strife and fully prepared to place political peace above
absolute religious unity. He believed a royal policy of tolerant Catholicism would be the best
way to achieve such peace. On July 25, 1593, he publicly abandoned the Protestant faith and
embraced the traditional and majority religion of his country.
It was, in fact, a decision he had made only after a long period of personal agonizing. The
Huguenots were horrified, and Pope Clement VIII was skeptical of Henry’s sincerity, but most of
the French church and people, having known internal strife too long, rallied to his side. By 1596,
the Catholic League was dispersed, its ties with Spain were broke, and the wars of religion in
France, to all intents, had ground to a close.
What was the Edict of Nantes? Did it last?
On April 13, 1598, Henry IV’s Edict of Nantes proclaimed a formal religious settlement.
The following month, on May 2, 1598, the Treaty of Vervins ended hostilities between France
and Spain.
- In 1593, a few years after the Bourbon Huguenot Henry of Navarre took the French
throne, Henry renounced his Protestantism in favor of Catholicism; his 1598 Edict of
Nantes sanctioned minority religious rights within Catholic France.
Imperial Spain and Philip II:
Define the Spanish Kingdom:
New World Riches:
Increased Population:
Where did these people come from? Why? Was Spain the largest in Europe?
Efficient Bureaucracy and Military:
What set Philip II apart from other rulers?
Supremacy in the Mediterranean:
Was the Spanish Armada truly that powerful?
The Revolt in the Netherlands:
Who was the Cardinal Granvelle and what was his involvement in the Netherlands?
How were Calvinists involved in this revolt?
Who was William of Orange? What did he do?
Who was the Duke of Alba? What did he do to the people of the Netherlands?
What is the Union of Utrecht?
What did this mean for the Netherlands?
England and Spain:
How was Mary I’s (the protestant) reign remembered?
Elizabeth I:
What was the Act of Supremacy she had parliament pass?
What did the Thirty-Nine Articles mean for the Protestants and Catholics in England?
How did Elizabeth handle the Protestant vs. Catholic feud in England?
What did the Puritans want from Elizabeth?
Who are the Presbyterians and which religious movement did they follow closely?
What was the Conventicle Act? What did that mean for the English people?
What was Elizabeth’s (England) role in the Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre?
Mary, Queen of the Scotts:
This French Catholic Queen hated Elizabeth… What did she do to demonstrate her hate?
The Thirty Years War:
- Pages 156-165 give the “preconditions” of the war… if you know the above information
and the glance at the map on page 371, you can see that with different religions in close
proximity and the knowledge that Religion and Monarchies constantly struggle for
power. War is inevitable.
This war can be broken down into four phases:
The Bohemian Period
Where is “Bohemia?”
Who is involved?
What happened?
The Danish Period
Where does this take place?
Who is involved?
What happened?
The Swedish Period
Where does this take place?
Who is involved?
What happened?
The Swedish-French Period
Where does this take place?
Who is involved?
What happened?
Explain the Treaty of Westphalia:
FRQ’s: (Practice writing thesis statements for these questions)
- The Reformation and wars of religion that wrecked Europe in the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries began a process of conflict and negotiation that ultimately
resulted in the institutionalization of religious toleration in some European societies.
Describe specific instances that point toward a developing notion of religious toleration.
- In the last third of the sixteenth century and early seventeenth centuries, European
diplomacy revolved around the situation in the Low Countries. Why? What was the
impact of the revolt of the Netherlands on the Low Countries, Spain, and England? How
did the Dutch revolt affect European politics in general?
- The Thirty Years War marked a major turning point in European history. What were the
political, social, economic, and religious consequences of the conflict?