Edict of Nantes

Edict of Nantes, decree giving partial religious freedom to the Huguenots (French Protestants), proclaimed by Henry IV, king of France, in 1598 and revoked by Louis XIV in 1685.

The Edict of Nantes ended the series of religious wars between Catholics and Protestants that ravaged France from 1562 to 1598. During these wars, several ineffective treaties were concluded, embodying privileges for the Huguenots. The Edict of Nantes included the religious provisions of these treaties and added a number of others.

By the terms of the edict, the Huguenots were granted liberty of conscience throughout France. They were allowed to build churches and hold religious services in specified villages and the suburbs of any city except episcopal and archiepiscopal cities, royal residences, and within a 5-mile radius of Paris; Huguenot nobles were permitted to hold services in their homes. Followers of the faith were granted civil rights and the right to hold official positions. Four universities or schools (at Montauban, Montpellier, Sedan, and Saumur) were permitted to be Huguenot. A special court, composed of ten Catholics and six Protestants, called the Chambre de l'Edit (Chamber of the Edict) was established for Huguenot protection in the parliament of Paris; subsidiary chambers were established in the provincial parliaments. Huguenot pastors were paid by the government, as were Catholic priests. As a guarantee of protection, 100 fortified cities (places de sûreté) were given to the Huguenots for eight years.

The provisions of the Edict of Nantes were never fully carried out, even during the reign of Henry IV. Its political clauses were abrogated by Cardinal Richelieu, chief minister of King Louis XIII, in 1629. Persecution of the Huguenots resumed during the reign of Louis XIV, particularly after 1681. When the edict was revoked four years later, hundreds of thousands of Huguenots were forced to flee France and take refuge in Protestant countries.