French Wars of Religion

The French Wars of Religion refers to the period of civil war between French Catholics and Protestants (called Huguenots) from 1562 to 1598. Between two and four million people died from violence, famine or disease directly caused by the conflict, and it severely damaged the power of the French monarchy.[1] One of its most notorious episodes was the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in 1572. The fighting ended with a compromise in 1598, when Henry of Navarre, who had converted to Catholicism in 1593, was proclaimed King Henry IV of France and issued the Edict of Nantes, which granted substantial rights and freedoms to the Huguenots. However, Catholics continued to disapprove of Protestants and of Henry, and his assassination in 1610 triggered a fresh round of Huguenot rebellions in the 1620s.

French Wars of Religion
Part of the European wars of religion
St. Bartholomew's Day massacre by François Dubois
Date 2 April 1562 – 30 April 1598 (36 years and 4 weeks) Location Kingdom of France Result Catholics retain their hegemony in France and France remains a Catholic state; Protestants tolerated under the Edict of Nantes; Peace of Vervins
Belligerents
Protestants: Huguenots  England  Scotland  Navarre  United Provinces Politiques	France  Spain (until 1588)  Papal States (until 1588) Tuscany	Catholics: Catholic League  Spain  Savoy Portugal
Commanders and leaders
Henry of Navarre (until 1589) Princes of Condé † Gaspard II de Coligny † Gabriel de Lorges, Count of Montgomery † Elizabeth I James VI Jeanne d'Albret Wolfgang, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken † John I, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken Louis of Nassau William the Silent Francis, Duke of Anjou Henri I de Montmorency (from 1574)	Catherine de' Medici Charles IX Henry III † Henry IV (after 1589) Antoine of Navarre † Jacques d'Albon, Seigneur de Saint André † Francis, Duke of Guise † Henry I, Duke of Guise † (until 1584) François de Montmorency Anne de Montmorency † Claude, Duke of Aumale †	House of Guise Philip II Pope Sixtus V Charles Emmanuel I 1595–1598: Pedro Henriquez de Acevedo, Count of Fuentes Carlos Coloma Albert VII, Archduke of Austria Girolamo Caraffa Luis de Velasco y Velasco, 2nd Count of Salazar Juan Fernández de Velasco y Tovar, 5th Duke of Frías Hernando Portocarrero † Charles, Duke of Mayenne
Casualties and losses
Between 2 million to 4 million deaths from all causes[1]

Tensions between the two religions had been building since the 1530s, exacerbating existing regional divisions. The death of Henry II of France in July 1559 initiated a prolonged struggle for power between his widow Catherine de' Medici and powerful nobles. These included a fervently Catholic faction led by the Guise and Montmorency families, and Protestants headed by the House of Condé and Jeanne d'Albret. Both sides received assistance from external powers, with Spain and Savoy supporting the Catholics, and England and the Dutch Republic backing the Protestants.

Moderates, also known as Politiques, hoped to maintain order by centralising power and making concessions to Huguenots, rather than the policies of repression pursued by Henry II and his father Francis I. They were initially supported by Catherine de' Medici, whose January 1562 Edict of Saint-Germain was strongly opposed by the Guise faction and led to an outbreak of widespread fighting in March. She later hardened her stance and backed the 1572 St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in Paris, which resulted in Catholic mobs killing between 5,000 and 30,000 Protestants throughout France.

The wars threatened the authority of the monarchy and the last Valois kings, Catherine's three sons Francis II, Charles IX, and Henry III. Their Bourbon successor Henry IV responded by creating a strong central state and extending toleration to Huguenots; the latter policy would last until 1685, when Henry's grandson Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes.