Wars of Religion: 1559-1648French Civil Wars

Hapsburg-Valois Wars (c. 1519-1559)

Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis 1559 Ended period of

dynastic wars Initiated period of

religious wars France kept HRE

from gaining hegemony in Germany

Spain got control of Sicily, Naples, and Milan

Wars of Religion 1560-1648 wars

fought largely over religious issues Spain to squash

Protestantism in Western Europe and Islam in Mediterranean

French Catholics to squash Huguenots

HRE to re-impose Catholicism

Calvinist Netherlands to break away from Spanish rule

Civil war in England between Puritans and Anglicans

French Civil Wars

9 wars (1562-1598) Death of Henry II in 1559

Three week sons could not provide the necessary leadership

Carherine de Médici Nobles convert to

Calvinists Upper class-surface issue Lower classes fueled by

preachers

St. Bartholomew Day Massacre(Aug 24, 1572)

Marriage of Margaret of Valois to Protestant Henry of Navarre

Leader of Catholic aristocracy Henry of Guise had leader of Huguenot party murdered

12000-20000 Huguenots killed 8/24-10/3 ordered by Catherine de Médicis

War of the Three Henrys

Henry IV (Henry of Navarre)(r. 1589-1610)

Ended the French Civil Wars

Was a politique Political solutions Converted to Catholicism

to gain loyalty of Paris “Paris is worth a mass”

Edict of Nantes 1598 a degree of religious toleration to Huguenots Worship Universities, public office,

fortified towns More like a truce in the

religious wars