Edicto de Nantes

El edicto de Nantes

El Edicto de Nantes ( francés : édit de Nantes ) fue firmado en abril de 1598 por el rey Enrique IV y otorgó a los protestantes calvinistas de Francia , también conocidos como hugonotes , derechos sustanciales en la nación, aunque todavía se consideraba esencialmente católico . En el edicto , Henry apuntó principalmente a promover la unidad civil. ^[a] El edicto separó la unidad civil de la religiosa , trató a algunos protestantes por primera vez como algo más que meros cismáticos y herejes y abrió un camino paralaicismo y tolerancia. Al ofrecer una libertad general de conciencia a las personas, el edicto ofreció muchas concesiones específicas a los protestantes, como la amnistía y el restablecimiento de sus derechos civiles , incluido el derecho a trabajar en cualquier campo, incluso para el estado, y a presentar quejas directamente. al rey . Marcó el final de las guerras de religión francesas , que habían afligido a Francia durante la segunda mitad del siglo XVI.

El Edicto de St. Germain , promulgado 36 años antes por Catalina de Médici , había otorgado tolerancia limitada a los hugonotes, pero fue superado por los acontecimientos, ya que no se registró formalmente hasta después de la Masacre de Vassy el 1 de marzo de 1562, que desencadenó el primero de las guerras francesas de religión .

El Edicto de Fontainebleau , que revocó el Edicto de Nantes en octubre de 1685, fue promulgado por Luis XIV , nieto de Enrique IV. Eso provocó un éxodo de protestantes y aumentó la hostilidad de las naciones protestantes fronterizas con Francia.

Antecedentes [ editar ]

El edicto tenía como objetivo principal poner fin a las guerras de religión francesas de larga duración . ^[B]

El rey Enrique IV también tenía razones personales para apoyar el edicto. Antes de asumir el trono en 1589, había abrazado el protestantismo y seguía simpatizando con la causa protestante. Se creía ampliamente que se convirtió al catolicismo en 1593 solo para asegurar su posición como rey. El edicto logró restaurar la paz y la unidad interna en Francia, pero no agradó a ninguna de las partes. Los católicos rechazaron el aparente reconocimiento del protestantismo como un elemento permanente en la sociedad francesa y aún esperaban imponer la uniformidad religiosa. Los protestantes aspiraban a la paridad total con los católicos, lo que el edicto no estipulaba. "La tolerancia en Francia era una noción real, y el asentamiento religioso dependía del continuo apoyo de la corona". ^[1]

El restablecimiento de la autoridad real en Francia requería paz interna, que se basaba en la tolerancia limitada impuesta por la corona. Dado que las tropas reales no podían estar en todas partes, los hugonotes necesitaban tener posibilidades de autodefensa estrictamente limitadas. ^[1]

Condiciones [ editar ]

Enrique IV de Francia por Frans Pourbus el joven .

El Edicto de Nantes que firmó Enrique IV tenía cuatro textos básicos, incluido un texto principal compuesto por 92 artículos que se basaba en gran parte en tratados de paz infructuosos firmados durante las guerras recientes. El edicto también incluyó 56 artículos "particulares" (secretos) que tratan de los derechos y obligaciones de los protestantes. Por ejemplo, el estado francés garantizó la protección de los protestantes franceses que viajaban al extranjero de la Inquisición . "Esto me crucifica", protestó el Papa Clemente VIII al enterarse del edicto. Las dos últimas partes consistían en brevets ( cartas de patente ), que contenían las cláusulas militares y las cláusulas pastorales. Ambos brevets fueron retirados en 1629 por Luis XIII después de una guerra civil religiosa final.

La patente de dos cartas ^{[2] que} complementa el edicto concedía a los protestantes refugios seguros ( lugares de sûreté ), que eran bastiones militares como La Rochelle , en cuyo apoyo el rey pagaba 180.000 écus al año, junto con 150 fuertes de emergencia más ( lugares de refugio ), que se mantendría a expensas de los hugonotes. Tal acto de tolerancia era inusual en Europa Occidental , ^[c] donde la práctica estándar obligaba a los sujetos a seguir la religión de su gobernante bajo la aplicación del principio de cuius regio, eius religio .

While it granted certain privileges to Huguenots, the edict upheld Catholicism's position as the established religion of France. Protestants gained no exemption from paying the tithe^[d] and had to respect Catholic holidays and restrictions regarding marriage. The authorities limited Protestant freedom of worship to specified geographic areas. The edict dealt only with Protestant and Catholic coexistence ans made no mention of Jews or Muslims, who were offered temporary asylum in France when the Moriscos were expelled from Spain.^[e]

The original act that promulgated the edict has disappeared. The Archives Nationales in Paris preserves only the text of a shorter document modified by concessions extracted from the King by the clergy and the Parlement of Paris, which delayed ten months before finally signing and setting seals to the document in 1599. A copy of the first edict, sent for safekeeping to the Protestant Geneva, survives. The provincial parlements resisted the edict. The most recalcitrant of them was the Parlement of Rouen, which unreservedly registered the edict only in 1609.^[4]

The location of the signing is uncertain. The edict itself stated merely that it was "given at Nantes, in the month of April, in the year of Our Lord one thousand five hundred and ninety-eight". By the late 19th century the Catholic tradition^[5] cited the signing in the Maison des Tourelles, the home of the prosperous Spanish trader André Ruiz, whicj was destroyed by bombing during the Second World War.

Revocation[edit]

Louis XIV, by Hyacinthe Rigaud

The Edict remained unaltered in effect, registered by the parliaments as "fundamental and irrevocable law," with the exception of the brevets, which had been granted for a period of eight years, and were renewed by Henry in 1606 and in 1611 by Marie de Médecis, who confirmed the Edict within a week of the assassination of Henry, stilling Protestant fears of another St. Bartholomew's Day massacre. The subsidies had been reduced by degrees, as Henry gained more control of the nation.^[6] By the peace of Montpellier in 1622, concluding a Huguenot revolt in Languedoc, the fortified Protestant towns were reduced to two, La Rochelle and Montauban. The brevets were entirely withdrawn in 1629, by Louis XIII, following the Siege of La Rochelle, in which Cardinal Richelieu blockaded the city for fourteen months.

During the remainder of Louis XIII's reign, and especially during the minority of Louis XIV, the implementation of the Edict varied year by year, voiced in declarations and orders, and in case decisions in the Council, fluctuating according to the tides of domestic politics and the relations of France with powers abroad.^[7]

In October 1685, Louis XIV, the grandson of Henry IV, renounced the Edict and declared Protestantism illegal with the Edict of Fontainebleau. This act, commonly called the 'revocation of the Edict of Nantes,' had very damaging results for France. While the wars of religion did not re-ignite, intense persecution of Protestants took place. All Protestant ministers were given two weeks to leave the country unless they converted to Catholicism and all other Protestants were prohibited from leaving the country. In spite of the prohibition, the renewed persecution - including many examples of torture - caused as many as 400,000 to flee France at risk of their lives.^[8]^[9] Most moved to Great Britain, Prussia, the Dutch Republic, Switzerland, South Africa and the new French colonies and the Thirteen Colonies in North America.^[10] Some even moved to Denmark, where the city of Fredericia, laid waste after the Swedish conquest in 1656, needed new settlers and a specific clause in the city ordinance allowed other than Lutheran-Protestants to live in the city.^[11] This exodus deprived France of many of its most skilled and industrious individuals, some of whom thenceforward aided France's rivals in the Netherlands and in England. The revocation of the Edict of Nantes also further damaged the perception of Louis XIV abroad, making the Protestant nations bordering France even more hostile to his regime. Upon the revocation of the edict, Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg issued the Edict of Potsdam, which encouraged Protestants to come to Brandenburg-Prussia.

Freedom to worship and civil rights for non-Catholics in France were not restored until the signing of the Edict of Versailles, also known as the Edict of Tolerance, by Louis XVI 102 years later, on 7 November 1787. This edict was enacted by parlement two months later, less than two years before the end of the Ancien Régime and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen of 1789 would fully eliminate religious discrimination in France.^[12]

Translation of selected passages[edit]

These are the principal and most salient provisions of the edict as promulgated in Nantes, Brittany, probably on 30 April 1598:^[13]

Henri, by the grace of God king of France and of Navarre, to all to whom these presents come, greeting:

Among the infinite benefits which it has pleased God to heap upon us, the most signal and precious is his granting us the strength and ability to withstand the fearful disorders and troubles which prevailed on our advent in this kingdom. The realm was so torn by innumerable factions and sects that the most legitimate of all the parties was fewest in numbers. God has given us strength to stand out against this storm; we have finally surmounted the waves and made our port of safety,—peace for our state. For which his be the glory all in all, and ours a free recognition of his grace in making use of our instrumentality in the good work.... We implore and await from the Divine Goodness the same protection and favor which he has ever granted to this kingdom from the beginning....

We have, by this perpetual and irrevocable edict, established and proclaimed and do establish and proclaim:

I. First, that the recollection of everything done by one party or the other between March, 1585, and our accession to the crown, and during all the preceding period of troubles, remain obliterated and forgotten, as if no such things had ever happened....

III. We ordain that the Catholic Apostolic and Roman religion shall be restored and reëstablished in all places and localities of this our kingdom and countries subject to our sway, where the exercise of the same has been interrupted, in order that it may be peaceably and freely exercised, without any trouble or hindrance; forbidding very expressly all persons, of whatsoever estate, quality, or condition, from troubling, molesting, or disturbing ecclesiastics in the celebration of divine service, in the enjoyment or collection of tithes, fruits, or revenues of their benefices, and all other rights and dues belonging to them; and that all those who during the troubles have taken possession of churches, houses, goods or revenues, belonging to the said ecclesiastics, shall surrender to them entire possession and peaceable enjoyment of such rights, liberties, and sureties as they had before they were deprived of them....

VI. And in order to leave no occasion for troubles or differences between our subjects, we have permitted, and herewith permit, those of the said religion called Reformed to live and abide in all the cities and places of this our kingdom and countries of our sway, without being annoyed, molested, or compelled to do anything in the matter of religion contrary to their consciences, ... upon condition that they comport themselves in other respects according to that which is contained in this our present edict.

VII. It is permitted to all lords, gentlemen, and other persons making profession of the said religion called Reformed, holding the right of high justice [or a certain feudal tenure], to exercise the said religion in their houses....

IX. We also permit those of the said religion to make and continue the exercise of the same in all villages and places of our dominion where it was established by them and publicly enjoyed several and divers times in the year 1597, up to the end of the month of August, notwithstanding all decrees and judgments to the contrary....

XIII. We very expressly forbid to all those of the said religion its exercise, either in respect to ministry, regulation, discipline, or the public instruction of children, or otherwise, in this our kingdom and lands of our dominion, otherwise than in the places permitted and granted by the present edict.

XIV. It is forbidden as well to perform any function of the said religion in our court or retinue, or in our lands and territories beyond the mountains, or in our city of Paris, or within five leagues of the said city....

XVIII. We also forbid all our subjects, of whatever quality and condition, from carrying off by force or persuasion, against the will of their parents, the children of the said religion, in order to cause them to be baptized or confirmed in the Catholic Apostolic and Roman Church; and the same is forbidden to those of the said religion called Reformed, upon penalty of being punished with especial severity....

XXI. Books concerning the said religion called Reformed may not be printed and publicly sold, except in cities and places where the public exercise of the said religion is permitted.

XXII. We ordain that there shall be no difference or distinction made in respect to the said religion, in receiving pupils to be instructed in universities, colleges, and schools; nor in receiving the sick and poor into hospitals, retreats, and public charities.

Notes[edit]

^ In 1898, the tricentennial celebrated the edict as the foundation of the coming Age of Toleration; the 1998 anniversary, by contrast, was commemorated with a book of essays under the title, Coexister dans l'intolérance (Michel Grandjean and Bernard Roussel, editors, Geneva, 1998).
^ A detailed chronological account of the negotiations that led to the Edict's promulgation has been offered by Janine Garrisson, L'Édit de Nantes: Chronique d'une paix attendue (Paris: Fayard) 1998.
^ For Eastern Europe, see Mehmed II's Firman on the Freedom of the Bosnian Franciscans or the Warsaw Confederation.
^ The king agreed to support the Protestant ministers in partial compensation.
^ The ordonnance of 22 February 1610 stipulated that the refugees had to settle north of the Dordogne, safely away from the manipulations of Spanish agents, and that they embrace the Catholic faith; those who did not wish to do so were granted right of passage to French ports on the Mediterranean to take ship for Barbary.^[3] By the time the ordonnance was published, Henri IV had been assassinated.

References[edit]

Footnotes[edit]

^ a b George A. Rothrock, Jr., "Some Aspects of Early Bourbon Policy toward the Huguenots" Church History 29.1 (March 1960:17–24) p. 17.
^ Texts published in Benoist 1693 I:62–98 (noted by Rothrock).
^ L. P. Harvey, Muslims in Spain, 1500 to 1614, 2005:318
^ Rothrock 1960:23 note 6.
^ Reported in Baedeker, Northern France, 1889.
^ A point made in Rothrock 1960:19.
^ Ruth Kleinman, "Changing Interpretations of the Edict of Nantes: The Administrative Aspect, 1643–1661" French Historical Studies 10.4 (Autumn 1978:541–71.
^ "Internet History Sourcebooks". www.fordham.edu.
^ Morison, Samuel Eliot (1972). The Oxford History of the American People. New York City: Mentor. pp. 220. ISBN 0-451-62600-1.
^ See History of the French in Louisville.
^ City ordinance of 1682-03-11
^ Encyclopedia of the Age of Political Ideals, Edict of Versailles (1787) Archived 2012-07-14 at the Wayback Machine, downloaded 29 January 2012
^ History Guide, The Edict of Nantes (1598)

Sources[edit]

The source followed by most modern historians is the Huguenot refugee Élie Benoist's Histoire de l'édit de Nantes, 3 vols. (Delft, 1693–95). E.G. Léonard devotes a chapter to the Edict of Nantes in his Histoire général du protestantisme, 2 vols. (Paris) 1961:II:312–89.

External links[edit]

Media related to Edict of Nantes at Wikimedia Commons

The Edict of Nantes
The Edict of Nantes Manuscript and French transcription of the Edict of Nantes

[1] In 1898, the tricentennial celebrated the edict as the foundation of the coming Age of Toleration; the 1998 anniversary, by contrast, was commemorated with a book of essays under the title, Coexister dans l'intolérance (Michel Grandjean and Bernard Roussel, editors, Geneva, 1998).

[2] A detailed chronological account of the negotiations that led to the Edict's promulgation has been offered by Janine Garrisson, L'Édit de Nantes: Chronique d'une paix attendue (Paris: Fayard) 1998.

[5] For Eastern Europe, see Mehmed II's Firman on the Freedom of the Bosnian Franciscans or the Warsaw Confederation.

[6] The king agreed to support the Protestant ministers in partial compensation.

[8] The ordonnance of 22 February 1610 stipulated that the refugees had to settle north of the Dordogne, safely away from the manipulations of Spanish agents, and that they embrace the Catholic faith; those who did not wish to do so were granted right of passage to French ports on the Mediterranean to take ship for Barbary.^[3] By the time the ordonnance was published, Henri IV had been assassinated.

[Rothrock17-3] George A. Rothrock, Jr., "Some Aspects of Early Bourbon Policy toward the Huguenots" Church History 29.1 (March 1960:17–24) p. 17.

[4] Texts published in Benoist 1693 I:62–98 (noted by Rothrock).

[7] L. P. Harvey, Muslims in Spain, 1500 to 1614, 2005:318

[9] Rothrock 1960:23 note 6.

[10] Reported in Baedeker, Northern France, 1889.

[11] A point made in Rothrock 1960:19.

[12] Ruth Kleinman, "Changing Interpretations of the Edict of Nantes: The Administrative Aspect, 1643–1661" French Historical Studies 10.4 (Autumn 1978:541–71.

[13] "Internet History Sourcebooks". www.fordham.edu.

[14] Morison, Samuel Eliot (1972). The Oxford History of the American People. New York City: Mentor. pp. 220. ISBN 0-451-62600-1.

[15] See History of the French in Louisville.

[16] City ordinance of 1682-03-11

[17] Encyclopedia of the Age of Political Ideals, Edict of Versailles (1787) Archived 2012-07-14 at the Wayback Machine, downloaded 29 January 2012

[18] History Guide, The Edict of Nantes (1598)