men, far and near, the most painful impression. Politicians
might applaud an act intended to conciliate the favor of the
great majority of the nation, and extol the astuteness of the
king in choosing the most opportune moment for his change of
religion--the moment when he would secure the support of the
Roman Catholics, fatigued by the length of the war and too
eager for peace to question very closely the sincerity of the
king's motives, without forfeiting the support of the
Huguenots. But men of conscience, judging Henry's conduct by a
standard of morality immutable and eternal, passed a severe
sentence of condemnation upon the most flagrant instance of a
betrayal of moral convictions which the age had known."
_H. M. Baird,
The Huguenots and Henry of Navarre,
chapter 13 (volume 2)._
"What the future history of France would have been if Henry
had clung to his integrity, is known only to the Omniscient;
but, with the annals of France in our hands, we have no
difficulty in perceiving that the day of his impious, because
pretended conversion, was among the 'dies nefasti' of his
country. It restored peace indeed to that bleeding land, and
it gave to himself an undisputed reign of seventeen years; but
he found them years replete with cares and terrors, and
disgraced by many shameful vices, and at last abruptly
terminated by the dagger of an assassin. It rescued France,
indeed, from the evils of a disputed succession, but it
consigned her to two centuries of despotism and misgovernment.
It transmitted the crown, indeed, to seven in succession of
the posterity of Henry; but of them one died on the scaffold,
three were deposed by insurrections of their subjects, one has
left a name pursued by unmitigated and undying infamy, and
another lived and died in a monastic melancholy, the feeble
slave of his own minister."
_Sir J. Stephen,
Lectures on the History of France,
lecture 16._
ALSO IN:
_P. F. Willert,
Henry of Navarre and the Huguenots of France,
chapters 5-6._
{1214}
FRANCE: A. D. 1593-1598.
Henry's winning of Paris.
The first attempt upon his life.
Expulsion of Jesuits from Paris.
War with Spain.
The Peace of Vervins.
"A truce of three months had been agreed upon [August 1,
1593], during which many nobles and several important towns
made their submissions to the King. Many, however, still held
out for the League, and among them Paris, as well as Rheims,
by ancient usage the city appropriated to the coronation of
the kings of France. Henry IV. deemed that ceremony
indispensable to sanctify his cause in the eyes of the people,
and he therefore caused it to be performed at Chartres by the
bishop of that place, February 27th 1594. But he could hardly
look upon himself as King of France so long as Paris remained
in the hands of a faction which disputed his right, and he
therefore strained every nerve to get possession of that
capital. ... As he wished to get possession of the city
without bloodshed, he determined to attempt it by corrupting
the commandant. This was Charles de Cossé, Count of Brissac.
... Henry promised Brissac, as the price of his admission into
Paris, the sum of 200,000 crowns and an annual pension of
20,000, together with the governments of Corbeil and Mantes,
and the continuance to him of his marshal's bâton. To the
Parisians was offered an amnesty from which only criminals
were to be excepted; the confirmation of all their privileges;
and the prohibition of the Protestant worship within a radius
of ten leagues. ... Before daybreak on the morning of the 22nd
March 1594 Brissac opened the gates of Paris to Henry's
troops, who took possession of the city without resistance,
except at one of the Spanish guard-houses, where a few
soldiers were killed. When all appeared quiet, Henry himself
entered, and was astonished at being greeted with joyous
cheers. ... He gave manifold proofs of forbearance and good
temper, fulfilled all the conditions of his agreement, and
allowed the Spaniards [4,000] to withdraw unmolested." In May,
1594, Henry laid siege to Laon, which surrendered in August.
"Its' example was soon followed by Chateau Thierry, Amiens,
Cambrai and Noyon. The success of the King induced the Duke of
Lorraine and the Duke of Guise to make their peace with him." In
November, an attempt to kill the King was made by a young man
named Jean Chatel, who confessed that he attended the schools
of the Jesuits. "All the members of that order were arrested,
and their papers examined. One of them, named Jean Guignard,
on whom was found a treatise approving the murder of Henry
III., and maintaining that his successor deserved a like fate,
was condemned to the gallows: and the remainder of the order
were banished from Paris, January 8th 1595, as corrupters of
youth and enemies of the state. This example, however, was
followed only by a few of the provincial cities. The
irritation caused by this event seems to have precipitated
Henry IV. into a step which he had been some time meditating:
a declaration of war against his ancient and most bitter enemy
Philip II. (January 17th 1595). The King of Spain, whom the
want of money had prevented from giving the League much
assistance during the two preceding years, was stung into fury
by this challenge; and he immediately ordered Don Fernando de
Velasco, constable of Castile, to join Mayenne in Franche
Comté with 10,000 men. Velasco, however, was no great captain,
and little of importance was done. The only action worth
mentioning is an affair of cavalry at Fontaine Française (June
6th 1595), in which Henry displayed his usual bravery, or
rather rashness, but came off victorious. He then overran
nearly all Franche Comté without meeting with any impediment
from Velasco, but retired at the instance of the Swiss, who
entreated him to respect the neutrality of that province.
Meanwhile Henry had made advances to Mayenne, who was
disgusted with Velasco and the Spaniards, and on the 25th
September Mayenne, in the name of the League, signed with the
King a truce of three months, with a view to regulate the
conditions of future submission. An event had already occurred
which placed Henry in a much more favourable position with his
Roman Catholic subjects; he had succeeded [September, 1595] in
effecting his reconciliation with the Pope. ... The war on the
northern frontiers had not been going on so favourably for the
King." In January, 1595, "Philip II. ordered the Spaniard
Fuentés, who, till the arrival of Albert [the Archduke],
conducted the government of the Netherlands, to invade the
north of France; and Fuentés ... having left Mondragone with
sufficient forces to keep Prince Maurice in check, set off
with 15,000 men, with the design of recovering Cambrai.
Catelet and Doullens yielded to his arms; Ham was betrayed to
him by the treachery of the governor, and in August Fuentés
sat down before Cambrai. ... The Duke of Anjou had made over
that place to his mother, Catherine de'Medici, who had
appointed Balagni to be governor of it. During the civil wars
of France, Balagni had established himself there as a little
independent sovereign, and called himself Prince of Cambrai;
but after the discomfiture of the League he had been compelled
to declare himself, and had acknowledged his allegiance to the
King of France. His extortion and tyranny having rendered him
detested by the inhabitants, they ... delivered Cambrai to the
Spaniards, October 2nd. Fuentés then returned into the
Netherlands. ... The Cardinal Archduke Albert arrived at
Brussels in February 1596, when Fuentés resigned his command.
... Henry IV. had been engaged since the winter in the siege
of La Fère, a little town in a strong situation at the
junction of the Serre and Oise. He had received reinforcements
from England as well as from Germany and Holland. ... Albert
marched to Valenciennes with about 20,000 men, with the avowed
intention of relieving La Fère; but instead of attempting that
enterprise, he despatched De Rosne, a French renegade ... with
the greater part of the forces, to surprise Calais; and that
important place was taken by assault, April 17th, before Henry
could arrive for its defence. La Fère surrendered May 22nd;
and Henry then marched with his army towards the coast of
Picardy, where he endeavoured, but in vain, to provoke the
Spaniards to give him battle. After fortifying Calais and
Ardres, Albert withdrew again into the Netherlands. ...
Elizabeth, alarmed at the occupation by the Spaniards of a
port which afforded such facilities for the invasion of
England, soon afterwards concluded another offensive and
defensive alliance with Henry IV. (May 24th), in which the
contracting parties pledged themselves to make no separate
peace or truce with Philip II." The Dutch joined in this
treaty; but the Protestant princes of Germany refused to
become parties to it. "The treaty, however, had little
effect." Early in 1597, the Spaniards dealt Henry an alarming
blow, by surprising and capturing the city of Amiens, gaining
access to it by an ingenious stratagem. But Henry recovered
the place in September, after a vigorous siege. He also put
down a rising, under the Duke de Mercœur, in Brittany,
defeating the rebels at Dinan, while his lieutenant,
Lesdiguières, in the southeast, invaded Savoy once more,
taking Maurienne, and paralyzing the hostile designs of its
Duke.
{1215}
The malignant Spanish king, suffering and near his end,
discouraged and tired of the war, now sought to make peace.
Both the Dutch and the English refused to treat with him; but
Henry IV., notwithstanding the pledges given in 1596 to his
allies, entered into negotiations which resulted in the Treaty
of Vervins, signed May 2, 1598. "By the Peace of Vervins the
Spaniards restored to France Calais, Ardres, Doullens, La
Capelle, and Le Câtelet in Picardy, and Blavet (port Louis) in
Brittany, of all their conquests retaining only the citadel of
Cambrai. The rest of the conditions were referred to the
treaty of Câteau-Cambresis, which Henry had stipulated should
form the basis of the negotiations. The Duke of Savoy was
included in the peace." While this important treaty was
pending, in April, 1598, Henry quieted the anxieties of his
Huguenot subjects by the famous Edict of Nantes.
_T. H. Dyer,
History of Modern Europe,
book 3, chapters 10-11 (volume 2)._
ALSO IN:
_Lady Jackson,
The First of the Bourbons,
volume 1, chapters 14-18,
and volume 2, chapters 1-7._
_J. L. Motley,
History of the United Netherlands,
chapters 29-35 (volume 3)._
_R. Watson,
History of the Reign of Philip II.,
books 23-24._
FRANCE: A. D. 1598-1599.
The Edict of Nantes.
For the purpose of receiving the submission of the Duke of
Mercœur and the Breton insurgents, the king proceeded down the
Loire, and "reached the capital of Brittany, the commercial
city of Nantes, on the 11th of April, 1598. Two days later he
signed the edict which has come to be known as the Edict of
Nantes [and which had been under discussion for some months
with representatives of a Protestant assembly in session at
Châtellerault]. ... The Edict of Nantes is a long and somewhat
complicated document. Besides the edict proper, contained in
95 public articles, there is a further series of 56 'secret'
articles, and a 'brevet' or patent of the king, all of which
were signed on the 13th of April; and these documents are
supplemented by a second set of 23 'secret' articles, dated on
the last day of the same month. The first of these four papers
is expressly declared to be a 'perpetual and irrevocable
edict.' ... Our chief concern being with the fortunes of the
Huguenots, the provisions for the re-establishment of the
Roman Catholic worship, wherever in the course of the events
of the last 30 years that worship had been interfered with or
banished, need not claim our attention. For the benefit of the
Protestants the cardinal concession was liberty to dwell
anywhere in the royal dominions, without being subjected to
inquiry, vexed, molested, or constrained to do anything
contrary to their conscience. As respects public worship,
while perfect equality was not established, the dispositions
were such as to bring it within the power of a Protestant in
any part of the kingdom to meet his fellow-believers for the
holiest of acts, at least from time to time. To every
Protestant nobleman enjoying that extensive authority known as
'haute justice,' and to noblemen in Normandy distinguished as
possessors of 'fiefs de haubert,' the permission was granted
to have religious services on all occasions and for all comers
at their principal residence, as well as on other lands
whenever they themselves were present. Noblemen of inferior
jurisdiction were allowed to have worship on their estates,
but only for themselves and their families. In addition to
these seigniorial rights, the Protestant 'people' received
considerable accessions to the cities where they might meet
for public religious purposes. The exercise of their worship
was authorized in all cities and places where such worship had
been held on several occasions in the years 1596 and 1597, up
to the month of August; and in all places in which worship had
been, or ought to have been, established in accordance with
the Edict of 1577 [the edict of Poitiers--see above: A. D.
1577-1578], as interpreted by the Conference of Nérac and the
Peace of Fleix [see above: A. D. 1578-1580]. But in addition
to these, a fresh gift of a second city in every bailiwick and
sénéchaussée of the kingdom greatly increased the facilities
enjoyed by the scattered Huguenots for reaching the assemblies
of their fellow-believers. ... Scholars of both religions were
to be admitted without distinction of religion to all
universities, colleges, and schools throughout France. The
same impartiality was to extend to the reception of the sick
in the hospitals, and to the poor in the provision made for
their relief. More than this, the Protestants were permitted
to establish schools of their own in all places where their
worship was authorized. ... The scandal and inhumanity
exhibited in the refusal of burial to the Protestant dead, as
well in the disinterment of such bodies as had been placed in
consecrated ground, was henceforth precluded by the assignment
of portions of the public cemeteries or of new cemeteries of
their own to the Protestants. The civil equality of the
Protestants was assured by an article which declared them to
be admissible to all public positions, dignities, offices, and
charges, and forbade any other examination into their
qualifications, conduct, and morals than those to which their
Roman Catholic brethren were subjected. ... Provision was made
for the establishment of a 'chamber of the edict,' as it was
styled, in the Parliament of Paris, with six Protestants among
its sixteen counsellors, to take cognizance of cases in which
Protestants were concerned. A similar chamber was promised in
each of the parliaments of Rouen and Rennes. In Southern
France three 'chambres mi-parties' were either continued or
created, with an equal number of Roman Catholic and Protestant
judges." In the "brevet" or patent which accompanied the
edict, the king made a secret provision of 45,000 crowns
annually from the royal treasury, which was understood to be
for the support of Protestant ministers, although that purpose
was concealed. In the second series of secret articles, the
Protestants were authorized to retain possession for eight
years of the "cautionary cities" which they held under former
treaties, and provision was made for paying the garrisons.
"Such are the main features of a law whose enactment marks an
important epoch in the history of jurisprudence. ... The Edict
of Nantes was not at once presented to the parliaments; nor
was it, indeed, until early in the following year that the
Parliament of Paris formally entered the document upon its
registers. ... There were obstacles from many different
quarters to be overcome. The clergy, the parliaments, the
university, raised up difficulty after difficulty." But the
masterful will of the king bore down all opposition, and the
Edict was finally accepted as the law of the land. "On the
17th of March [1599] Henry took steps for its complete
execution throughout France, by the appointment of
commissioners--a nobleman and a magistrate from each province
--to attend to the work."
_H. M. Baird,
The Huguenots and Henry of Navarre,
chapter 14 (volume 2)._
ALSO IN:
_C. M. Yonge,
Cameos from English History,
5th series, chapter 36._
{1216}
The full text of the Edict of Nantes will be found in the
following named works:
_C. Weiss,
History of French Protestant Refugees,
volume 2, appendix._
_A. Maury,
Memoirs of a Huguenot Family
(J. Fontaine), appendix._
FRANCE: A. D. 1599-1610.
Invasion of Savoy.
Acquisition of the Department of Aisne.
Ten years of peace and prosperity.
The great works of Henry IV.
His foreign policy.
His assassination.
"One thing only the peace of Vervins left unsettled. In the
preceding troubles a small Italian appanage, the Marquisate of
Saluces, had been seized by Charles Emmanuel, Duke of Savoy,
and remained still in his possession. The right of France to
it was not disputed, did not admit indeed of dispute; but the
Duke was unwilling to part with what constituted one of the
keys of Italy. He came to Paris in December 1599 to negotiate
the affair in person," but employed his opportunity to
intrigue with certain disaffected nobles, including the Duke
of Biron, marshal of France and governor of Burgundy. "Wearied
with delays, whose object was transparent, Henry at last had
recourse to arms. Savoy was speedily overrun with French
troops, and its chief strongholds taken. Spain was not
prepared to back her ally, and the affair terminated by
Henry's accepting in lieu of the Marquisate that part of Savoy
which now constitutes the Department of Aisne in France."
Biron, whom the King tried hard to save by repeated warnings
which were not heeded, paid the penalty of his treasonable
schemes at last by losing his head. "The ten years from 1600
to 1610 were years of tranquillity, and gave to Henry the
opportunity he had so ardently longed for of restoring and
regenerating France." He applied his energies and his active
mind to the reorganization of the disordered finances of the
kingdom, to the improvement of agriculture, to the
multiplication of industries, to the extending of commerce. He
gave the first impulse to silk culture and silk manufacture in
France; he founded the great Gobelin manufactory of tapestry
at Paris; he built roads and bridges, and encouraged canal
projects; he began the creation of a navy; he promoted the
colonization of Canada. "It was, however, in the domain of
foreign politics that Henry exhibited the acuteness and
comprehensiveness of his genius, and his marvellous powers of
contrivance, combination, execution. ... The great political
project, to the maturing of which Henry IV. devoted his
untiring energies for the last years of his life, was the
bringing of the ... half of Europe into close political
alliance, and arming it against the house of Austria, and
striking when the fit time came, such a blow at the ambition
and intolerance of that house that it might never be able to
recover. After innumerable negotiations ... he had succeeded
in forming a coalition of twenty separate States, embracing
England, the United Provinces, Denmark, Sweden, Northern
Germany, Switzerland. At last the time for action came. The
Duke of Cleves died, 25th March 1609. The succession was
disputed. One of the claimants of the Dukedom was supported by
the Emperor, another by the Protestant Princes of Germany [see
GERMANY: A. D. 1608-1618]. The contest about a small German
Duchy presented the opportunity for bringing into action that
alliance which Henry had planned and perfected. In the great
military movements that were projected he was himself to take
the lead. Four French armies, numbering 100,000, were to be
launched against the great enemy of European liberty. One of
these Henry was to command; even our young Prince of Wales was
to bring 6,000 English with him, and make his first essay in arms
under the French King. By the end of April, 1610, 35,000 men
and 50 pieces of cannon had assembled at Chalons. The 20th May
was fixed as the day on which Henry was to place himself at
its head." But on the 16th of May (1610) he was struck down by
the hand of an assassin (François Ravaillac), and the whole
combination fell to pieces.
_W. Hanna,
The Wars of the Huguenots,
chapter 8._
"The Emperor, the King of Spain, the Queen of France, the Duke
d'Epernon, the Jesuits, were all in turn suspected of having
instigated the crime, because they all profited by it; but the
assassin declared that he had no accomplices. ... He believed
that the King was at heart a Huguenot, and thought that in
ridding France of this monarch he was rendering a great
service to his country."
_A. de Bonnechose,
History of France,
volume 1, page 450._
ALSO IN:
_M. W. Freer,
The Last Decade of a Glorious Reign._
_Duke of Sully,
Memoirs,
volumes 2-5._
_Sir N. W. Wraxall,
History of France, 1574-1610,
volume 5, chapter 7-8, and volume 6._
FRANCE: A. D. 1603-1605.
First settlements in Acadia.
See CANADA: A. D. 1603-1605;
and 1606-1608.
FRANCE: A. D. 1605-1616.
Champlain's explorations and settlements in the Valley of the
St. Lawrence.
See CANADA: A. D. 1608-1611; 1611-1616; 1616-1628.
FRANCE: A. D. 1610.
Accession of King Louis XIII.
FRANCE: A. D. 1610-1619.
The regency of Marie de Medicis.
The reign of favorites and the riot of factions.
Distractions of the kingdom.
The rise of Richelieu.