The French Wars of Religion, 1562–1629

Published on 3 April 2008 at 00:36

Reading time 2 min.

2nd Edition Series : New Approaches to European History (No. 36) Mack P. Holt George Mason University, Virginia Hardback

This book is a new edition of Mack P. Holt’s classic study of the French religious wars of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Drawing on the scholarship of social and cultural historians of the Reformation, it shows how religion infused both politics and the socio-economic tensions of the period to produce a long extended civil war.

Professor Holt integrates court politics and the political theory of the elites with the religious experiences of the popular classes, offering a fresh perspective on the wars and on why the French were willing to kill their neighbors in the name of religion.

The book has been created specifically for undergraduates and general readers with no background knowledge of either French history or the Reformation.

This new edition updates the text in the light of new work published in the last decade and the ‘Suggestions for further reading’ has been completely re-written.

• A new edition of the first fully comprehensive survey of the French wars of religion for nearly twenty years

• Written specifically for undergraduate students and fully supported by student features, including biographies, bibliography, chronology, maps and diagrams

• Based on latest research on the social history of the Reformation

Contents Introduction ; Chronological table of events ;

1. Prologue : Gallicanism and reform in the sixteenth century ;

2. ‘The beginning of a tragedy’ : the early wars of religion, 1562–1570 ;

3. Popular disorder and religious tensions : the making of a massacre, 1570–1574 ;

4. The rhetoric of resistance : the unmaking of the body politic, 1574–1584 ;

5. Godly warriors : the crisis of the league, 1584–1593 ;

6. Henry IV and the edict of Nantes : the remaking of Gallicanism ;

7. Epilogue : the last war of religion, 1610–1629 ;

8. Conclusions : economic impact, social change and absolutism ;

Short biographies ; Genealogical charts ; Suggestions for further reading.

Reviews ‘This book is the first comprehensive study of the wars to appear for over twenty years … it succeeds admirably in steering the reader through the confusing morass…

Observetoir des Religions

Observatory of Religions The 21st century will be or not be religious. This Malraux prophecy is being fufilled: the impact of religion on political, economic, financial and social spheres is making front page news. Observatory of Religions’ (L’Observatoire des religions) perspective, that is; the observation, analysis and commentary of religious issues in a current affairs framework, is purely unreligious. L'Observatoir des Religions was created by Philippe Simonnot, economist and author of numerous works on history and economics.