Noble Power during the French Wars of Religion: The Guise Affinity and the Catholic Cause in Normandy

657 Pages·1998·3.13 MB·English

by  Stuart Carroll

Cover

Noble Power During the French Wars of
Religion : The Guise Affinity and the
title:
Catholic Cause in Normandy Cambridge
Studies in Early Modern History
author: Carroll, Stuart.
publisher: Cambridge University Press
isbn10 | asin: 0521624045
print isbn13: 9780521624046
ebook isbn13: 9780511007477
language: English
Normandy (France)--History--Religious
aspects, France--History--Wars of the
Huguenots, 1562-1598, Guise, House of,
subject
Nobility--France--Normandy--Political
activity, Catholic Church--France--
Normandy--History--16th century.
publication date: 1998
lcc: DC611.N894C37 1998eb
ddc: 944/.2
Normandy (France)--History--Religious
aspects, France--History--Wars of the
Huguenots, 1562-1598, Guise, House of,
subject:
Nobility--France--Normandy--Political
activity, Catholic Church--France--
Normandy--History--16th century.
Page i
Noble Power during the French Wars of Religion
The Guise Affinity and the Catholic Cause in Normandy
Noble affinities were the essence of power in sixteenth-century France.
This is the first book to analyse the development of a noble following
during the whole course of the Wars of Religion and the first substantial
study of the Guise — the most powerful family of the period — to appear
this century.
The Guise, champions of the catholic cause, were the largest landowners
in Normandy and used the province — the wealthiest in France — as a
base for their support of catholicism in the British Isles. The family
exploited religious dissension to build a formidable ultra-catholic party in
Normandy which ultimately challenged the monarchy. This study breaks
new ground by illuminating the relationship between high politics and
popular confessional solidarities, especially the rise of radical catholicism.
It exploits new archival sources to consider all groups in political society,
reinterpreting court politics and discussing groups usually excluded from
the traditional political narrative, such as the peasantry.
STUART CARROLL is Lecturer in History, University of York
Page iii
CAMBRIDGE STUDIES IN EARLY MODERN HISTORY
Edited by Professor Sir John Elliott, University of Oxford Professor Olwen
Hufton, University of Oxford
Professor H. G. Koenigsberger, University of London Dr H. M. Scott,
University of St Andrews
The idea of an ‘early modern’ period of European history from the
fifteenth to the late eighteenth century is now widely accepted among
historians. The purpose of Cambridge Studies in Early Modern History is
to publish monographs and studies which illuminate the character of the
period as a whole, and in particular focus attention on a dominant theme
within it, the interplay of continuity and change as they are presented by
the continuity of medieval ideas, political and social organization, and by
the impact of new ideas, new methods and new demands on the
traditional structure.
For a list of titles published in the series, please see end of book
Page v
Noble Power during the French Wars of Religion
The Guise Affinity and the Catholic Cause in Normandy
STUART CARROLL
Page vi
Some images in the original version of this book are not available for
inclusion in the netLibrary eBook.
PUBLISHED BY CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS (VIRTUAL
PUBLISHING) FOR AND ON BEHALF OF THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF
THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
PUBLISHED BY THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF
CAMBRIDGE
The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 IRP, United
Kingdom
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge, CB2 2RU, United Kingdom
http://www.cup.cam.ac.uk
40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011—4211, USA
http://www.cup.org
10 Stamford Road, Oakleigh, Melbourne 3166, Australia
© Stuart Carroll 1998
This edition © Cambridge Press (Virtual Publishing) 2001
This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the
provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of
any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge
University Press.
First published 1998
Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge
Typeset in Postscript Ehrhardt 10/12 pt [VN]
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data
Carroll, Stuart, 1965—
Noble Power during the French Wars of Religion: the Guise Affinity and
the Catholic Cause in Normandy/Stuart Carroll.
p. cm. — (Cambridge Studies in Early Modern History) Includes
bibliographical references and indexes.
ISBN 0 521 62404 5
1. Normandy (France) — History — Religious aspects. 2. France — —
History — Wars of the Huguenots, 1562–1598. Guise, House of. 4.
Nobility — France — Normandy — Political activity. 5. Catholic Church —
France — Normandy — History — 16th century. I. title.
II. Series.
DC611.N894C37 1998
944′.2—dc21 97—38680 CIP
ISBN 0 521 62404 5 hardback
eISBN 0-511-00747-7 virtual (netLibrary Edition)
Page VII
To Deborah
Page ix

Contents
page
List of illustrations
x
List of abbreviations xii
A note on usage xiv
Acknowledgements xv
Introduction: Political society during the Wars of Religion 1
1 The rise of the house of Lorraine in Normandy 14
2 Clients and servants 53
3 Faction, religious schism and dynastic strategy, 1558–1562 89
4 Civil war and blood feud, 1562–1574 116
5 Malcontents and defenders of the faith: the building of a political power
160
base
6 The triumph of the Guise affinity in Normandy 193
7 The Catholic League in Normandy: hegemony and decline 221
Conclusion 250
Appendix A: Buyers of rentes from the ducs d'Aumale 256
Appendix B: Buyers of rentes from the duc d'Elbeuf 258
Appendix C: Muster rolls consulted 260
Appendix D: The Guise affinity in Picardy and the evolution of the Catholic
262
League
Appendix E: Guise clients and supporters at the provincial Estates and the
264
Estates-General, 1583–1588
Appendix F: Marriages among the leaguer nobility 266
Appendix G: Career summaries of some Guise clients and allies 269
Bibliography 276
Index 290