HENRY OF NAVARREAND THE EDICT OF NANTES

By: Cadeena Liou and Lauren Chen

HENRY OF NAVARRE

• French nobleman

• Henry was in line to be the king however he was Huguenot (a French Calvinist protestant) so he had to fight through Catholic troops to become king

• Converted to Catholicism and was accepted by the people

• Crowned Henry IV and reigned between 1553-1610

EVENTS LEADING UP TO HENRY OF NAVARRE’S REIGN

• Henry of Navarre was in Paris getting married during the time that the Queen of France ordered the killing of Huguenots

- Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre

• Huguenot nobles, who were attending Henry’s wedding, were killed first

• Many were killed but Henry escaped by denying his religion

• This was the starting point of the violence spreading through France

THE EDICT OF NANTES

• Created by King Henry IV to restore peace

• Issued in 1598 and gave Huguenots some freedom to worship

- Were able to hold office positions

- Could rule 200 towns where Huguenots dominated the area

• The “one king, one law, one religion” concept was gone with this edict

• Catholicism was still the official religion of France but you weren’t forced to follow this religion

• Huguenots had to financially support the Catholic Church under the Edict

FRANCE AFTER THE EDICT OF NANTES

• Religious wars stopped

• Henry eliminated all of France’s debt and France became economically stable again

• The extra money was put towards improving the country by creating more industries and building canals and roads

DISUNITY IN EUROPE

• The Edict of Nantes had to be issued because there were religious wars occurring between Catholics and Huguenots all throughout France

• France was broken up into two different religions after King Henry VI decided that Huguenots could worship even under a Catholic government

• If this was happening in France, this must have been happening elsewhere in Europe, breaking everyone apart