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The French Wars of Religion were a series of civil wars between French Catholics and Protestants (called Huguenots) from 1562 to 1598.Between two and four million people died from violence, famine or disease directly caused by the conflict, and it severely damaged the power of the French monarchy. [1]
Thus followed a wave of town seizures by Huguenots across France, seizing Tours, Le Havre, Rouen and Lyon among others. [1] The city of Orléans became Protestant; only reformed worship was tolerated; its institutions (the governor, the city aldermen, etc.) were taken over and the bishop was removed in April 1562.
The Huguenots were concentrated in the southern and western parts of the Kingdom of France. As Huguenots gained influence and more openly displayed their faith, Catholic hostility grew. A series of religious conflicts followed, known as the French Wars of Religion, fought intermittently from 1562 to 1598.
The penalties for preaching or attending a Protestant assembly were severe: life terms in the galleys for men, imprisonment for women, and confiscation of all property were common. Beginning in 1702, a group of Protestants in the region of the Cévennes mountains, known as Camisards, revolted against the government. Fighting largely ceased ...
On September 10, the first cannon shots were fired by La Rochelle against royal troops at Fort Louis, starting the third Huguenot rebellion. La Rochelle was the greatest stronghold among the Huguenot cities of France, and the centre of Huguenot resistance. Cardinal Richelieu acted as commander of the besiegers when the King was absent.
The mayor and the militia lost control of the proceedings and a general massacre of the town's Huguenot population ensued, the rural pilgrims from out of town setting themselves upon the burghers, with over 50 houses looted and 100 killed. [15] The authorities sought in vain to re-establish control on 13 April but their orders were ignored. [16]
The next article mandated that the Catholic religion be restored in all regions where Huguenot ascendency during or prior to the civil war had seen it suppressed in sole favour of Huguenot worship. Article 4 built upon a concept that had been established first in the Edict of July , prohibiting subjects from investigating their neighbours ...
The wars listed were the most severe in casualties; the remaining religious conflicts in Europe lasted for only a few years, a year, or less and/or were much less violent. Huguenot rebellions were possibly the most damaging conflict after the German Peasants' War and may have taken up to 100,000 lives.