R. J. Knecht - The French Civil Wars, 1562-1598

R. J. KNECHT

First published 2000 by Pearson Education Limited

Published 2013 by Routledge

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ISBN 13: 9780-58209549-6 (pbk)

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Knecht, R. J. (Robert Jean)

The French civil wars, 15621598 / R.J. Knecht.

p. cm. (Modern wars in perspective)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0582095492 (pbk.: alk. paper) ISBN 0582095484 (cased: alk. paper)

1. FranceHistoryWars of the Huguenots, 15621598. I. Title. II. Series.

DC111.3.K55 2000

944.029dc21

00026013

Although civil wars are in many respects similar to foreign wars, notably in their destructiveness of life and property, they are also profoundly different. A foreign war, complex as its origins may be, is fought between two or more countries, usually over some piece of disputed territory. It is fought along one or more fronts which can be easily identified on a map. Thus, in the early sixteenth century, French armies crossed the Alps into Italy in pursuit of certain claims which the kings of France laid to the kingdom of Naples or the duchy of Milan. Civil wars are fought essentially for another reason: to overthrow a government or to extract concessions from it. This aim may stem from a variety of motives political, economic, social, religious or racial or a mixture of some or all of these. Whereas a foreign war may start almost unexpectedly as an aggressor tries to spring a surprise, a civil war is invariably the culmination of a period of domestic unrest. The French civil wars may have begun formally in April 1562 but they were preceded by a long period of turmoil. Their outbreak can only be understood if this is taken into account. Foreign wars can involve several nations. In this respect, a civil war is no different, for the parties involved nearly always need outside assistance. Thus, during the French civil wars, the crown looked to Spain while the Huguenots turned to England and the Dutch rebels. The course of a civil war is also usually difficult to plot on a map. Fronts tend not to exist as fighting may break out anywhere in a given country. Civil wars also raise particular ethical issues. A war may be deemed just if it is fought defensively by a country facing external aggression, but can it ever be just if brother is expected to kill brother? As the rival French armies faced each other for the first time on the field of Dreux in 1562, the hideousness of their fratricidal plight caused them to hesitate for a moment. But once battle was joined, there was no limit to the blood-letting. And as the appetite for fighting grew, so did its fierceness. Family disputes are known to be the most bitter, and civil wars demonstrate that awful truth on a larger scale.

Perhaps for all these reasons, historians have tended to be wary of the civil wars that tore France apart during the second half of the sixteenth century. Military historians have traced the movements of armies, described the battles and sieges and considered changes of tactics and armaments. The wars have been considered within the context of the so-called Military Revolution. Other historians have examined the rise of Protestantism in France and the challenge which it posed to a monarchy closely tied by tradition to the Catholic church. Others still have tried to relate religious change to underlying socio-economic developments. Traditionally the civil wars have been called Wars of Religion, but the label is misleading. Though undoubtedly a major source of conflict, religion was not alone. The wars may also be seen as struggles for power between rival families of noblemen. Indeed, some historians, taking their cue from a contemporary witness, have argued that the nobles were using religion as a cloak with which to cover their more selfish motives. This, however, is another simplification. Mack Holt has argued convincingly that the French Wars of Religion were fought primarily over the issue of religion as defined in contemporary terms: as a body of believers rather than the more modern definition of a body of beliefs.1 Recent research by a host of scholars, not merely focusing on the power struggles at the centre of government but also on conflicts in the provinces and in particular towns, has yielded a far more complex picture than that traditionally presented by historians. Profound disagreements over matters of faith which may or may not have been influenced by socio-economic conditions did sponsor violence of different kinds, but other factors, not least professional or personal jealousies, may have played a part. Popular hysteria, fed by rumours or incited by fanatical preachers, could unleash a massacre of innocent people, thereby provoking a response in kind.