Dragonfang88

UK, History student

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• French Wars of Religion - attempting to make a very large topic more manageable. As there were insufficent sub-pages I kept a lot of the detail on this main page - if anyone would make sufficent sub-pages then reducing the detail on this page would probably be a good idea - have been informed that there is no consensus on how many wars the French Wars of Religion actually constituted, am considering the best form of revision (2009)

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The Eleven Articles of Nancy (1588)

The Eleven Articles of Nancy were a series of demands drawn up by the leadership of the Catholic League in Nancy, January 1588, aimed at diminishing the power and independance of King Henry III. The articles demand that the King accept Guise command in a war against heresy, dismiss favourites which the League disapproved of, and publish the decrees of the Council of Trent.

The Articles

"1. The King will be called on to adhere more openly and with a will to the League. And to remove from his entourage and from important offices those who will be named to him.

2. To have the Council of Trent published in all his lands, except with a pause in its execution for a certain time, in matters concerning the revocation of the exemptions of some chapters, abbeys and other churches from the episcopal authority, as will be advised.

3. To establish the Holy Inquisition, at least in the walled towns, which is the best way to defeat the heretics and suspects, provided the Inquisitors are outsiders, or at least not natives of those places, with relatives and friends there.

4. To accord to the clergy the power to repurchase in perpetuity the alienated property of their churches or those hereafter so alienated, whatever the quality of the said goods or those who have purchased them; nevertheless, to constrain the beneficed to repurchase quickly (within a certain stated time) what has been or will be sold from their benefices, according to their available means, by those who will be appointed to investigate their revenues.

5. He will be asked to place in the hands of certain chiefs some strongholds of importance which will be named to him, where they will be able to make fortresses and establish garrisons, as they decide, at the expense of the towns and the countryside, as also in those they already hold.

6. To pay the wages of the soldiers that must be kept in Lorraine and nearby to prevent an invasion by foreign troops. And to this end, to continue the war already begun, to sell as soon as possible and without more ado, all the goods of the heretics and those allied with them.

7. Furthermore, that those who have been heretics, or reputed such since the year 1560, of whatever quality or condition they be, be assessed at a third or at least a quarter of their property while the war lasts.

8. And the Catholics at one-tenth of their revenue per annum only, to be repaid afterwards, according to the receipt and expenditure made. And that commissioners be appointed to make the sales and assessments, both of clergy and lay people and of officers of the sovereign courts, and that promptly and with the least cost.

9. That the relatives of heretics or their allies will be forced by all means to buy their property, remitting the fifth part of the just price. Where it is sold to others, if they refuse, they will have no right to plead lineage right or other claim.

10. That the first money to be raised in this way will be employed in paying the most pressing debts that the chiefs have hitherto incurred. The rest will be then placed in the hands of those appointed and is not to be used for anything else.

11. That mercy will not be shown any enemy prisoner unless he gives assurance of living as a Catholic and paying the value of his property in cash, if it has not already been sold; if it has, renouncing all right he can claim and agreeing to serve for three years and more wherever it is deemed necessary, without pay."

Context

The Guise asociation with Catholicism and the Catholic League:

Protection of Huguenots, Sidelined at Court, an Alliance with the League - response to the succession crisis, War of the 3 henrys,

Reception and Impact

Henry III's Reaction

An offer of Spanish Money

Guise's arrival in Paris 9th May, Day of the Barricades 13th May

Edict of Union, Rouen (July)

Assasination of the Guise 23rd December

Sources

David Potter (ed. and trans.) The French Wars of Religion: Selected Documents, (London, 1997).

Stuart Carroll