Edict of Beaulieu
Encyclopedia
The Edict of Beaulieu was promulgated from Beaulieu-lès-Loches
Beaulieu-lès-Loches
Beaulieu-lès-Loches is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France.The inhabitants are known as Bellilociens or Bellilociennes.-History:...

 on 6 May 1576 by Henry III of France
Henry III of France
Henry III was King of France from 1574 to 1589. As Henry of Valois, he was the first elected monarch of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with the dual titles of King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1573 to 1575.-Childhood:Henry was born at the Royal Château de Fontainebleau,...

, who was pressured by Alençon
François, Duke of Anjou
Francis, Duke of Anjou and Alençon was the youngest son of Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici.-Early years:...

's support of the Protestant army besieging Paris that spring.

The Edict, which was negotiated by the king's brother, MonsieurFrançois, duc d'Alençon
François, Duke of Anjou
Francis, Duke of Anjou and Alençon was the youngest son of Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici.-Early years:...

, who was now made duc d'Anjou— gave Huguenot
Huguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...

s the right of public worship for their religion, thenceforth officially called the religion prétendue reformée ("so-called reformed religion"), throughout France, except at Paris and at Court. In eight parlement
Parlement
Parlements were regional legislative bodies in Ancien Régime France.The political institutions of the Parlement in Ancien Régime France developed out of the previous council of the king, the Conseil du roi or curia regis, and consequently had ancient and customary rights of consultation and...

s there were also to be established chambers, called the mi-partis because they were composed of equal numbers of Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

s and Huguenots; eight places de sûreté were to be given to the Huguenots; there was to be a disclaimer of the Massacre of St. Bartholomew, and the families which had suffered from it were to be reinstated. These large concessions to the Huguenots and the approbation given to their political organization led to the formation of the Catholic League
Catholic League (French)
The Catholic League of France, sometimes referred to by contemporary Roman Catholics as the Holy League, a major player in the French Wars of Religion, was formed by Duke Henry of Guise in 1576...

, which was organized by Catholics anxious to defend their religion.

The King held a lit de justice
Lit de Justice
Lit de Justice is an American Champion Thoroughbred racehorse. He was bred by Robert Sangster's Swettenham Stud, and purchased by the French racing operation Mise de Moratalla who named him for a famous Parlement of Paris known as the Lit de justice...

in the Parlement of Paris on 14 May to subvent pending opposition in the strongly Catholic parlement and to ensure that the Edict was duly inscribed. In December 1576, however, the States-General of Blois declared itself against the Edict of Beaulieu. Thereupon the Protestants took up arms under the leadership of Henry of Navarre, who, escaping from the Court, had returned to the Calvinism
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...

 which he had abjured at the time of the Massacre of St. Bartholomew. The advantage was on the Catholic side, thanks to some successes achieved by the duc d'Anjou
François, Duke of Anjou
Francis, Duke of Anjou and Alençon was the youngest son of Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici.-Early years:...

. In September 1577, the Treaty of Bergerac
Treaty of Bergerac
The Treaty of Bergerac was signed at Bergerac on 14 September 1577 between Henry III of France and Huguenot princes, and later ratified by the Edict of Poitiers on 17 September. This accord was developed after the sixth phase of the French Wars of Religion. The treaty replaced the Edict of...

, confirmed by the Edict of Poitiers, left the Huguenots the free exercise of their religion only in the suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...

s of one town in each bailiwick
Bailiwick
A bailiwick is usually the area of jurisdiction of a bailiff, and may also apply to a territory in which the sheriff's functions were exercised by a privately appointed bailiff under a royal or imperial writ. The word is now more generally used in a metaphorical sense, to indicate a sphere of...

(bailliage), and in those places where it had been practiced before the outbreak of hostilities and which they occupied at the current date.

Sources

  • Pierre Miquel. Les Guerres de religion. Fayard, 1980. ISBN 27274207858.
  • Wilkinson, Maurice. "The Wars of Religion in the Périgord", The English Historical Review 21, No. 84., October 1906. (Oxford University Press).
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