French Politics and Religious Divisions Notes

French Politics and Religious Divisions

  • Politics in France were deeply divided by religious factions, primarily between Catholics and Huguenots (French Protestants).

  • Huguenots, though a minority, were too strong to be defeated, leading to constant conflict.

The Three Henrys and Catherine de Medici

  • A period of intense conflict and political maneuvering involving three key figures named Henry and Catherine de Medici.

  • In 1572, the Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre occurred during the wedding of Henry of Navarre (a Bourbon ruler) to the reigning Valois king Charles IX's sister.

    • The king's guards murdered prominent Huguenot leaders, sparking widespread violence against Protestants.

  • Henry III succeeded Charles IX, but ultra-Catholics wanted to replace him with Henry, the Duke of Guise.

  • Henry III was assassinated by the Duke of Guise, who then joined forces with Henry of Navarre.

  • Henry of Navarre eventually ascended to the throne and reconverted to Catholicism.

Edict of Nantes

  • The conflicts were temporarily resolved by the Edict of Nantes, which granted Huguenots limited political and religious freedoms in designated areas.

Louis XIV and Cardinal Richelieu

  • Louis XIV became king in 1643 at a young age (four years and eight months old).

  • Cardinal Richelieu served as Louis XIV's chief advisor and strategist, consolidating the power of the monarchy.

  • Richelieu's domestic policy focused on centralizing power by imprisoning nobles and demolishing castles. His external policy aimed to limit the expansion of the Habsburg Empire.

  • Richelieu, despite being a Catholic cardinal, supported Protestant forces in the Thirty Years' War to weaken the Habsburgs.

    • In 1638, he prompted Louis XIII to consecrate France to the Virgin Mary, reinforcing Catholicism's role in the empire.

Holy Roman Empire and Religious Friction

  • The Holy Roman Emperor was selected by German princes.

  • Conflicts arose from the principle of "whose realm, his religion," established by the Peace of Augsburg.

  • The Habsburg rulers in Austria, who were Catholic, controlled the Holy Roman Empire.

Thirty Years' War

  • The Thirty Years' War is initially viewed as a religious war but evolved into a dynastic and nationalist conflict.

  • The Bourbon dynasty of France fought against the Habsburgs of Austria and Spain.

Four Phases of the Thirty Years' War

  1. Bohemian Phase (1618-1625):

    • Protestant nobility in Bohemia rebelled against Archduke Ferdinand's attempts to re-Catholicize the region.

    • They replaced Ferdinand with Frederick V, an elector who helped select the Holy Roman Emperor.

    • Ferdinand, elected Holy Roman Emperor, defeated Frederick and the Bohemians with the support of the Catholic League in 1620.

    • Catholicism was enforced in Bohemia, and Spain gained territory.

  2. Danish Phase (1625-1629):

    • King Christian IV of Denmark, a Lutheran, invaded Northern Germany to support the Protestant cause.

    • Imperial forces, led by Albrecht von Wallenstein, defeated Christian IV.

    • Denmark's involvement in the war ended, diminishing its supremacy in the Baltic area.

    • Wallenstein was later dismissed.

  3. Swedish Phase (1630-1635):

    • King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, a Lutheran, received financial support from France to fight in the war.

    • Gustavus Adolphus invaded Northern Germany.

    • Wallenstein was recalled to lead the imperial forces.

    • The Swedish forces won the Battle of Lutzen, but Gustavus Adolphus was killed.

    • Wallenstein was assassinated in 1634.

    • Imperial forces won the Battle of Nordlingen, ensuring Southern Germany remained Catholic.

    • The Holy Roman Emperor revoked the Edict of Restitution.

  4. Franco-Swedish Phase (1635-1648):

    • Religious issues became less significant as dynastic powers took precedence.

    • Catholic France supported Protestant Sweden against the Catholic Habsburgs.

    • Cardinal Richelieu's decision highlighted the political nature of the conflict.

Effects of the Thirty Years' War

  • The Peace of Westphalia (1648) reaffirmed the Peace of Augsburg.

  • France gained territory to the Rhine.

  • Sweden acquired lands in the Baltic.

  • German princes gained more autonomy, while Austrian power was reduced.

  • German states were granted the freedom to determine their own religion.

  • France gained control over the Franco-German border.

  • The authority of the Austrian Habsburgs over Germany diminished.

  • The numerous states within the Holy Roman Empire were excluded from decisions related to the Treaty of Westphalia.

Political and Philosophical Shifts

  • The concept of the divine right of kings gained prominence in France, Spain, Austria, and Sweden.

  • England began to develop a natural law political philosophy.

  • The separation of religion and politics began to emerge.

  • The Thirty Years' War affected every country in Europe, granting equal rights to subjects professing different religions from their rulers.

  • Reformed Christianity was recognized alongside Lutheranism and Catholicism.

  • The war led to disillusionment with religion and the rise of atheism.

Hardening of Theology

  • The Thirty Years' War and the Reformation led to the development of orthodox theology, characterized by a dogmatic and polemical focus on authority.

  • This new theology effectively sidelined popular theology.

Catholicism

  • The Council of Trent affirmed a strong papacy, but rising nationalism in Catholic countries challenged papal political authority.

  • Popes in the seventeenth century were relatively weak.

  • France resisted accepting parts of the Council of Trent, revisiting controversies from the Middle Ages.

  • Gallicanism emerged, asserting that ecclesiastical authority resided with bishops, not the pope.

  • The rise of Ultramontanism promoted the idea that the spiritual head of the church was the pope.

  • Louis XIV sought greater control over the French bishops and church property, invoking his divine right of kings.

  • Innocent XI threatened to excommunicate Louis XIV, but Louis convened an assembly of the clergy.

  • The assembly produced the Four Gallican Articles, asserting the pope's lack of authority over temporal matters.

  • A compromise was reached after Innocent XI's death, where the Four Articles were not taught in French schools.

  • Jesuits supported papal reforms, leading Gallicans to call for their suppression.

  • Gallicanism was eventually suppressed by the French Revolution.

Febronianism

  • Febronianism emerged in Germany, advocating for Gallicanism.

  • The movement argued that the pope should only have primacy of honor, not authority to legislate for other churches.

  • Pope Clement XIII condemned Febronianism.

Jansenism

  • Jansenism, named after Cornelius Jansenius, emerged in France, concerned that the Catholic condemnation of the reformers might deny Augustine's thought.

  • Jansenius was condemned in 1643 because his version of Augustine resembled Calvin's teachings too closely.

  • Earlier efforts to reassert Augustine's heritage in the Catholic church were compromised by Pope Gregory I's reinterpretation.

  • Tensions arose between Dominicans, who supported Augustinianism, and Jesuits, who defended Trent.

  • Jansenism became a reform movement in France, criticizing ecclesiastical corruptions.

  • Blaise Pascal was a prominent French proponent of Jansenism.

  • A papal condemnation in 1713 did not end the movement, but it eventually faded away due to its political nature.

Quietism

  • Quietism was a controversial mystical movement that emerged from the works of Miguel de Molinos.

  • Madam Jean Guillaume carried it forward in France.

  • Quietism taught total passivity before God, with believers losing themselves in God.

  • It rejected the church's mediatorial function and ascetic discipline.

  • The inquisition condemned Molinos in 1585, and Pope Innocent XI condemned the French version of his views, leading to its decline.