the edict of nantes was issued in an effort to promote civil unity.
the edict of nantes was issued in an effort to promote civil unity.
what was the edict of nantes issued in an effort to do?
promote civil unity
the edict of nantes (french: "édit de nantes"), signed in april 1598 by king henry iv of france, granted the calvinist protestants of france (also known as huguenots) substantial rights in the nation, which was still considered essentially catholic at the time. in the edict, henry aimed primarily to promote civil unity. the edict separated civil from religious unity, treated some protestants for the first time as more than mere schismatics and heretics, and opened a path for secularism and tolerance. in offering general freedom of conscience to individuals, the edict offered many specific concessions to the protestants, such as amnesty and the reinstatement of their civil rights, including the right to work in any field or for the state and to bring grievances directly to the king. it marked the end of the religious wars that had afflicted france during the second half of the 16th century.
edict of nantes
some historians have critiqued the company's attacks on protestants. the company aimed to increase conversions and organized the preaching of missions to protestants in lorraine, dauphiné, and limousin and founded establishments in paris, sedan, metz, and puy for young converts from protestantism. moreover, it opposed protestant attacks on catholic doctrines and defended the catholic populations in majority protestant cities, such as la rochelle. finally, without seeking the revocation of the edict of nantes, the company fought to prevent any further concessions beyond what the formal text of the edict demanded and its members sent documents to jean filleau, a poitiers lawyer, who for twenty-five years issued "catholic decisions" from a legal point of view, on the interpretation of the edict of nantes. the protestation of the general assembly of the french clergy in 1656 against the infringement of the edict by protestants was the outgrowth of a long documental work prepared by the members. in 1660 lechassier, who was maître des comptes (master of accounts) and also one of the company, forwarded to all the country branches a questionnaire imbued with a view to helping the inquiry, of thirty-one articles on the infringement of the edict of nantes by protestants. the answers were collected by toussaint de forbin-janson, bishop of digne, who took an active role in the assembly of the clergy, the result being that commissaries were sent into the provinces for the purpose of setting right these abuses. but, in its own turn, the company violated the edict of nantes (of which art. 27 declared huguenots wholly eligible to public office), and, by secret manoeuvring, one day prevented twenty-five young protestants from being received as attorneys at the parliament of paris. "the members thought they were doing right", explained père de la briere "nevertheless, if we consider not their intention, but the very nature of their act and of their procedure, it is impossible to doubt that they were guilty of an iniquity". according to the testimony of père rapin and the count d'argenson, these proceedings of the company were the starting-point of the policy that was to culminate in 1685 in the revocation of the edict of nantes.
company of the blessed sacrament