Instructor | History 321 Home Page | Schedule of Weekly Readings and Questions

Holt, The French Wars of Religion, 50-98.

Identify: le grand voyage de France, military triumvirate, Confraternity of the Holy Ghost, Gastines cross, Simon Vigor, Peace of La Rochelle, rites of violence, pollution.

1. The French Wars of Relgion were puncutated with several peace treaties or edicts. What were the developments that led to each edict? Explain the terms and significance of

  • the Edict of Toleration (1562)
  • the Edict of Amboise (1563)
  • the Edict of Longjumeau (1568)
  • the Edict of St. Germain (1570)

    2. Who had the military advantage/disadvantage in the fighting during the 1560s? Why?

    3. What evidence does Holt provide that for French Catholics "the sacral monarchy was the very foundation of the social and political order" (79)? Was this also the case for French Calvinists? Why or why not?

    4. What was the mood of Protestants and Catholics on the eve of the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre?

    5. The massacres in Paris:

  • What were the three principal events or phases?
  • What are the main issues of debate among historians? What are the views of N. M. Sutherland and of Barbara Diefendorf? Are they convincing?

    6. The massacre in the provinces:

  • Where did they take place?
  • What did the cities in which the massacres occured have in common?
  • What started the massacres?
  • Who was responsible for the massacres?
  • Did the provincial massacres have anything in common with the massacre in Paris?

    7. What impact did the massacres in Paris and in the provinces have on the Wars of Religion generally and on the Protestant movement in particular?

    This page was last revised on 15 May 2005 and has been visited
    times.