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HUGUENOTS 37 Catholic Franks, there remained a widespread dissatisfaction with the religion of the victors. Throughout the middle ages the national senti- ment of the race of Languedoc, as the history of the Albigenses and kindred sects amply proves, was prone to sympathize and to iden- tify itself with demands for religious reform, and even with open secession from the church of Eome. (See CATHAKISTS.) To these influ- ences was added during the reign of Francis I. the very important aid of courtly fashion, or rather the sympathy of those nobles and schol- ars who had become interested in the revival of letters, and who in France, as in Germany and other countries of Europe, were involved in animated conflicts with the monks and the prominent theologians of the churches. These elements of courtly, scholarly, or popular op- position to the church gave birth not merely to the humor of Rabelais, but to the poetry and philosophy which sprung up around the beautiful Marguerite of Valois, queen of Na- varre, from whom the spirit of the reforma- tion was transmitted to Jeanne d'Albret, the mother of Henry IV. At this court all poets, scholars, and clergymen more or less tinctured with the spirit of reform, such as Lefevre, Farel, and Roussel, were welcome ; and for a time it seemed as though the court and the government of France might be gained for the cause of the reformation. But at length Fran- cis I., like his opponent the emperor Charles V., decided in favor of the old church, as the papal nuncio succeeded in convincing him that " a new religion disseminated among the peo- ple must result in a change of kings." In the city of Meaux, around its bishop Briconnet, a large body of men inclined to the new faith began, without formally professing schism, to act as reformers. Among these were Gerard lioussel, Francois Vatablo, Martial Mazurier, Jossfi Clicthou, Michel d'Arando, and Guil- laume Farel. Their labors, joined to the po- litical and social agitations of the day, soon at- tracted persecution. It is remarkable that this persecution in France acted so effectually on the French reformation as to free it in a great measure from excesses such as those of the Anabaptists in Germany. Yet it would prob- ably have fallen away had not the strong hand of Calvin taken it up (1528). Hence we find the French reformers embodying Calvin's ideas of church government and discipline in a com- mon confession of faith, which was formally done at the celebrated general synod in May, 1559. During the reign of Henry II. (1547-'59) the Huguenots gathered such strength as to entertain hopes of becoming the dominant po- litical party ; hopes which were confirmed by the fact that several of the royal family, such as the king of Navarre, his brother the prince de Cond6, and many of the nobility, including the Chatillons and Admiral Coligni, favored the reformation. From this blending of re- ligions reform with politics arose the conspira- cy of Amboise, whose object was to overthrow the power of Duke Francois of Guise and his brother the cardinal de Lorraine, who with Mary of Scotland ruled the kingdom through the feeble-minded boy-king Francis II. The king of Navarre and prince de Conde were deeply involved in this plot, and would have suffered death with their Calvinist friends had it not been for the unexpected demise of the king. This occasioned a pause in persecution, of which the queen mother, Catharine de' Medici, and the ruling party availed themselves for politi- cal purposes, becoming more moderate in their treatment of reformers. By extending tolera- tion to the Augsburg confession, the cardinal de Lorraine shrewdly fomented quarrels be- tween the Calvinists and Lutherans. This state of affairs, which led to terrible commo- tions, was again temporarily checked by the edict of January, 1562. At this time, during the reigns of two successive kings whose in- tellectual inferiority rendered a regency always necessary (after 1559), Catharine de' Medici held the reins of authority, while the dukes of Guise supported by the Catholics, and the princes of Bourbon by the Huguenots, contend- ed for the regency. Some liberal concessions, made for the sake of policy by Catharine and the Guises to the Huguenots, excited the anger of the Catholics, and to allay these feelings war was renewed and raged till the peace of St. Germain (1570), when full liberty was guaran- teed the Huguenots, and the king's sister given as wife to Henry of Navarre. The leading Protestants were invited to Paris to the nup- tials, where on the day of St. Bartholomew, 1572, a general massacre of Protestants was at- tempted at the instigation of the queen mother. The Huguenots, with Henry of Navarre as lead- er, now battled against the holy league formed by the Guises and Philip II. of Spain. Charles IX. died a victim to nervous excitement (1574), and Henry III., disgusted with the tyranny of the league, had Henry, duke of Guise, and the cardinal put to death, and fled for safety to the Protestant camp. He was himself assassi- nated by the Dominican Clement (1589), and was succeeded by Henry of Nayarre, who, to pacify these terrible disorders in France, be- came a Catholic, but secured full freedom of conscience and all political and religious rights to the Huguenots by the edict of Nantes (1598). The murder of Henry IV. by Ravaillac (1610) left the Protestants without a protector. Under his young son and successor Louis XIII. their rights w r ere soon attacked. Cardinal Richelieu, determined to build up royal power and crush all jarring elements, at one time made war upon the Protestants, driving them into an un- lucky league with England, which resulted in the siege and capitulation of La Rochelle. But his treatment of them was on the whole toler- ant, though its ultimate result was to greatly di- minish their numbers and weaken their power. From 1629 to 1661, under Richelieu and espe- cially under his successor Mazarin, there was comparative rest. After the death of Mazarin