Louis XIV's Religious Policy: Recap and Review

1. RECAP AND REVIEW – LOUIS XIV’S RELIGIOUS POLICY • 1 – OVERALL FOCUS • The examiner is expecting you to be able to tell him / her about the following: • What were Louis’ views on religion and religious orthodoxy? • Who were the Huguenots and what had relations been like between the Crown and them before Louis XIV? • Did the Huguenots pose a threat to Louis? • Why did Louis attack the Huguenots and revoke the Edict of Nantes? • What damage was caused by the revocation of the Edict of Nantes? • Who were the Jansenists and why did Louis dislike them? • What was the impact of Louis’ attack on the Jansenists? • How successful was Louis in his dealings with the Papacy? • How successful was Louis’ religious policy?

2. LOUIS AND THE PAPACY • Louis was a devout Catholic who saw it as his duty to protect and maintain the Catholic faith. His view was based on belief rather than understanding of doctrinal issues. Louis was not a great thinker and probably did not really understand complex theological ideas and debates – but he saw himself instinctively as a Catholic. Louis XIV understood little about religious doctrine but was guided by an unquenchable belief in the Catholic Church; to him all other religious beliefs were an affront to God and to his own royal authority. • Louis was guided by his confessors -- all Jesuits who were committed to promotion of Catholic faith. These people exercised considerable influence over Louis and helped to shape his ideas, perceptions and policies. They continually warned the king that his soul was in danger as long as he tolerated such heresy within his kingdom. • Traditionally Crown and Church had co-operated to maintain order in state and church, but under Louis this relationship was tense. • At the root of the problem was the question of authority over the catholic church in France. Louis was convinced that he had right to supervise French Church despite Pope's claim to be supreme authority. The Church was influential and rich -- whoever controlled the pulpit more or less controlled public opinionthroughout France. Louis was determined to ensure that he, not the Pope, controlled France. Allowing the Pope control of the French Church would weaken his position and authority.

3. LOUIS AND THE PAPACY… cont • French kings had always wanted to extend their power over the Church at the expense of the Popes, whilst the Popes had sought to maintain control. This struggle went even further. Many inside France (within the Church and among the nobility) wanted a Church in France that was free from interference from the Pope. They wanted an independent French Church. This led to the emergence of a group called Gallicanism springing up in the Middle Ages to campaign for freedom of French Church from papal influence. • Gallicanism was an aristocratic movement aimed at increasing aristocratic control over church -- as such threat to both King and Pope. Louis' predecessors had sided with Pope, but Louis saw Gallicanism as something that could be exploited in his conflicts with the Pope. Louis had no real time for Gallicanism as he had no wish to see the nobles control the Church at his expense – if the Pope was to lose control, then Louis wanted it for himself, not for the nobles. However, he knew that he could use the Gallicans as a weapon to use to put pressure on the Pope. By threatening to side with the Gallicans, Louis hoped the Pope would make concessions to him to try to avoid this.

4. LOUIS AND THE PAPACY… cont • Louis was determined to show his independence from Papacy. When a fracas broke out in 1662 between Pope's guards and those of French ambassador in Rome, Louis demanded and received an apology. Yet for most of time relations were cordial -- in 1665 Pope issued bull denouncing the Jansenists against whom Louis was waging a vendetta. Louis was also glad to accept the Pope's lead in patching up compromise with Jansenism in 1669. It was to the benefit of both the Pope and the King to maintain cordial relations as neither wished to see instability in France or within the Church. Yet both were prepared to threaten such peace and stability if they felt that their own interests were being threatened. • A clear example of where Louis was prepared to undermine such cordial relations is revealed in 1673 when Louis declared he was entitled to the regale throughout France. The Regale was an ancient custom by which the king appropriated the revenues of vacant bishoprics; but it had only operated in northern France. Two French bishops appealed against Louis to the Pope and the Pope threatened to censure Louis. Both sides saw their interests being threatened by the other and a crisis emerged.

5. LOUIS AND THE PAPACY… cont • Louis decided to use Gallicanism against Pope in a deliberate attempt to put pressure on the Pope to back down. In March 1682 the French clergy published the Gallican Articles. These were anti-papal pronouncements declaring that the king was not subordinate to Rome in non-spiritual matters and the Pope's decisions could be reversed by the approval of the whole church -- these were deeply offensive to Rome. Normally Louis would not have wanted to encourage such anti-papal activities, but now he needed a lever against the Pope and so allowed these pronouncements. • If Louis had expected the Pope to respond by making concessions, Louis had misjudged the Pope. Pope Innocent XI responded by refusing to consecrate any more French bishops, leaving 35 dioceses unfilled. The crisis had increased, and neither side seemed prepared to back down over the issue. • The Pope was determined not to give in and stepped up the crisis in 1687 by cancelling the immunity of the French embassy in Rome from inspection by officials chasing criminals. This was a direct affront to Louis. Louis was equally determined to stand firm. Louis told the Ambassador to defy the authorities – the Pope excommunicated the Ambassador and prepared to do same to Louis.

6. LOUIS AND THE PAPACY… cont • Louis had precipitated a major crisis with the papacy and had met a Pope who was determined not to give in to Louis’ threats and bullying tactics. The crisis had got out of hand : Louis was His Most Catholic Majesty. If he was excommunicated he would be cut off from the Church and his soul would be in peril. Yet the Pope also realised the obvious danger and never excommunicated Louis. • Louis had gained nothing from the quarrel and had almost lost a great deal. However, the crisis reached its height over the Cologne election (1688). Cologne was strategically important to France and up to 1688 had had a pro-French Archbishop. Cologne was a border city that controlled access between France and the Empire. Louis could not allow such an important city to fall into the hands of his enemies. Unfortunately when the Archbishop died, it was up to the Pope to select a successor. Louis now tried to persuade the Pope to accept a French candidate, but the Pope refused -- so Louis threatened force. He threatened to invade Italy -- Pope responded by appointing a candidate not friendly to Louis. Louis responded by seizing the papal state of Avignon in southern France. This embarrassed French Catholics and made Louis look the aggressor. Louis gained nothing from this and harmed his reputation and international standing.

7. LOUIS AND THE PAPACY… cont • Louis -- late in the day -- realised he had more to gain from peace with the papacy. His whole policy had resulted in failure : he had antagonised the Pope, damaged his standing and reputation, appeared as a bullying aggressor and had lost control over the important city of Cologne. • Louis now set out to try to build fences. The policy of reconciliation was assisted by the death of Pope Innocent XI in 1689. • In 1693 Louis withdrew the Gallican Articles and a compromise was reached over the regale. Louis was especially keen to mend fences with Rome because he needed papal support against French Jansenists. • The Sun King's relations with Papacy therefore had bizarre conclusion : he had to agree to the Pope’s demands in order to impose his policies on his own people.

8. THE HUGUENOTS • Huguenots was the name given to the French Protestants, who had emerged in France in the mid-sixteenth century. • Initially the leaders of the Huguenots were aristocratic and during Sixteenth Century they fought against the kings in the Wars of Religion, which tore the country apart and lasted for over 40 years. • In 1589 the Huguenot leader, Henri IV, became king and it looked as if the Huguenots had gained a great victory, but Henri needed the support of the whole of France and so converted to Catholicism. • Yet Henri realised that there could be no peace unless both sides felt secure and so he decided to make concessions to the Huguenots to ensure peace. • Henri issued the Edict of Nantes (1598) – under this the Huguenots were given freedom of worship and received military and financial guarantees. • Yet it did not solve the underlying dislike that most Catholics had for the Huguenots. Many Catholics were ashamed of Edict – the Edict was signed with yellow wax rather than green wax of permanent royal edicts to make a clear point.

9. THE HUGUENOTS … cont • After the murder of Henri IV, he was succeeded by Louis XIII. Louis XIII has often been criticised for launching an attack on the Huguenots in 1617, but he was well aware of the dangers they had presented to previous rulers and how powerful they were still. In addition the existence of a Huguenot minority in France was an offence to him. • Yet the vast majority of Protestants were deeply loyal to the Crown and Louis’ attack only served to stir up unrest where it had not existed. • Nor can Louis’ campaign be seen as anything other than a failure. He was forced to agree to a compromise peace, which although it weakened the Huguenots by forcing them to destroy many of their fortresses, left them in control of two powerful cities and resentful against the king. At the same time it angered Catholics who felt that Louis should have finished the business once and for all.

10. THE HUGUENOTS … cont • It used to be believed that Louis XIII;s Chief Minister, Richelieu, set out to destroy the Huguenots as he saw them as a threat to the establishment of royal absolutism. In fact the evidence suggests that Richelieu was quite prepared to leave them alone, but the resentment felt against Louis XIII had not subsided and in 1625 open rebellion broke out, led by the citizens of La Rochelle. • The defeat of this rebellion led to a humiliating peace being imposed on La Rochelle, which only caused further resentment and led to renewed rebellion the following year. Again, despite the intervention of the English on their side, the Rochelais were defeated. By 1629 Huguenot resistance had collapsed across France. On Richelieu’s advice Louis issued the Edict of Ales, which confirmed the religious causes of the Edict of Nantes, while rendering the Huguenots militarily harmless. Their armies were disbanded and their fortresses demolished. Most Frenchmen were unenthusiastic and wanted to see all tolerance to the Huguenots removed.

11. THE HUGUENOTS … cont • There can be no doubt that the Huguenots had been decisively weakened under Richelieu. They were never again to be in a position to threaten the Crown militarily, but Protestantism survived and seems to have increased in support between 1629 and 1661. However the loyalty of the Huguenots to the crown was never questioned again and the Huguenots were loyal to the crown during the Frondes. • Despite this, when Louis became King he hated Protestantism – he regarded its presence as a challenge to his Christian credentials. • Louis' Jesuit confessors also assured him that the Protestants were heretics and it was his duty to save them through conversion – Louis therefore gave a frosty reception to a Huguenot delegation which visited him in 1659. • Louis gloried in the title of His Most Catholic Majesty and was determined to stamp out any groups that challenged the orthodoxy of religion within his realm.

12. THE HUGUENOTS … cont • Between 1661 and 1679 Louis introduced a series of measures to make life unpleasant for the Huguenots : restrictions were placed on marriages and funerals; schools and churches closed; Huguenots bribed to abandon faith. • Next a Special government department was set up -- casse des conversions -- to oversee conversions. It has been estimated that the number of Huguenots fell from 2 million to 1.25 million -- at this rate Huguenots would have disappeared by 1750. In 1668 Turenne, one of the Huguenots military leaders converted to Catholicism – this was a blow to the Huguenots, and soon others followed. The Huguenots were slowly losing their important and powerful leaders. • Yet Louis was not prepared to simply sit back and watch the Huguenots slowly disappear. The speed of conversions was not sufficient enough for Louis as he wanted the Huguenot religion eradicated in France during his lifetime.In 1679 Louis adopted a more aggressive policy. This was the year when Louis stood at the height of his power in Europe. He was dominating the Continent and yet was being openly defied by heretics at home. He was determined to eradicate heresy and unify the Church. • Louis was being heavily influenced by a group of enthusiastic Catholics (known as the Devots) who maintained Protestantism could be stamped out with firm action. Louis accepted their arguments.

13. THE HUGUENOTS … cont • By 1680 Louis was at the height of his power in Europe -- yet he believed that he was still being defied at home by heretics, and this was an insult to his authority. Louis decided it was now time to end this. In the 1680s Louis was also influenced by those around him who were telling him that his soul was in peril as long as he allowed heresy in his kingdom. In addition Louis influenced by Madame de Maintenon, one of his mistresses, who convinced him that his sexual promiscuity could only be forgiven by eradicating heretics. • Louis launched a series of measures – he abolished the Chambres de l'Edit which had protected Huguenot interests (they had been legal bodies to which the Huguenots could appeal); in June 1680 all conversions from Catholicism to Protestantism were forbidden; Huguenot churches were destroyed on the flimiest excuse; Huguenots were banned from public offices and from the medical, legal and publishing professions; their children were taken from them at the age of 7 to be educated as Catholics.

14. THE HUGUENOTS … cont • All these measures were designed to encourage Huguenots to escape such persecution by conversion. Louis spared no method to step up the pressure as all this was accompanied by offensive propaganda and the deliberate billeting of troops on Huguenot families -- men were beaten up, women raped, children terrorised and property destroyed. Yet the later came to the attention of Louis and was too much for Louis -- he denounced the violence and ordered an end to it but the billeting continued. • Economic pressure was also put on the Huguenots -- converts to Catholicism were exempt from taille, but heretics had to pay 4 times as much as previously. • Such tactics began to work well and saw large numbers convert, but Louis would not be satisfied until all Huguenots had converted and so stepped up pressure : People who denounced Huguenots were rewarded with half their property; Protestants were forbidden to preach or write; they were not allowed to employ Catholic servants and were not allowed to emigrate.

15. THE HUGUENOTS … cont • To Louis the most shameful stain on France was the existence of a decree that recognised the Protestant faith. In 1685 he removed the disgrace to France and to his royal dignity be revoking the Edict of Nantes. To many historians this was merely the logical outcome of his policies since Protestantism had effectively ceased as a force in France and Louis was merely tidying up the situation. Yet Louis was more motivated by the desire to remove any stain on his dignity and to outdo the Emperor. • Louis adored the title "Most Christian Majesty" and resented the Emperor's claim that he, not Louis, was the foremost Catholic monarch after he had just secured a victory against the heretical Turks and was wallowing in the glory of smashing heretics. Catholics in Europe were now looking to the Emperor, rather than Louis, as Europe's foremost Catholic monarch. Louis needed to do something his defeat of the heretical Turks -- Louis needed a victory against heretics. • The Revocation included clauses totally banning public Protestant worship, banishing ministers who refused to conform, insisting that children of Protestants should be baptised and educated in the Catholic religion and condemning to the galleys laymen who tried to emigrate.Louis was determined to deal with the matter once and for all.

16. THE HUGUENOTS … cont • On the surface it may appear that Louis had effectively wiped out the Huguenots and strengthened the Crown by ensuring religious orthodoxy, but in fact his measure actually weakened France. • The immediate results of the revocation were tragic -- 240,000 fled to other countries taking their skills and hatred of Louis; however 1450 were caught and sent to galleys. 10,000 Huguenots fought for William of Orange against France, including 600 officers. • The remaining Huguenots were subjected to forced conversions, forced attendance at mass, and forced protestations of loyalty. • Persecution escalated. Between 1685 and 1762 46 Huguenot ministers were executed and dead bodies of relapsed heretics were dug up and thrown on rubbish heaps. • In the longer term the campaign against the Huguenots failed -- in remote areas, like Midi, Protestant congregations continued to worship, while Huguenots revolted in the Cevannes in 1689 and 1692. At a time when Louis was fighting against powerful enemies, he was forced to send troops to these areas. Protestant worship continued until it was officially recognised by Napoleon.

17. THE HUGUENOTS … cont • Roland Mousnier condemned Louis' policy as pointless, ineffectual and tyrannical. • Certainly the whole incident has damaged Louis' reputation -- most regard it as a blunder. Emigration of so many merchants, bankers and craftsmen hurt France and helped countries like England. Although it is now disputed whether this had the terrible economic impact that was once assumed, there can be no doubt that it did lead to economic problems in certain French industries, and had a bad effect upon the state of the French economy. • Even Louis' ambition to be seen as foremost Christian king came to nought as Catholics continued to take lead from anti-French Pope and the Emperor. • His policy had stepped up hostility to Louis among Protestants in countries like England and The United Provinces. In fact his persecution helped to turn many in England against the pro-French James II and witness his overthrow by Louis' main enemy William of Orange, who was committed to the destruction of Louis. • Louis’ reign began with the Huguenots supporting the Crown during the Frondes and ended with open Huguenot rebellions against the King. Louis’ policy had only served to weaken the Crown.

18. THE HUGUENOTS … cont • Yet French Catholics generally welcomed policy. This was one of the reasons why Louis did it – it made him popular with his Catholic subjects. • The revocation also brought advantages to Louis. The Spanish accepted his grandson as their king in 1701 -- unlikely if France had still tolerated heretics -- and Louis' new subjects in Flanders and Franche-Comte were impressed by religious unity. And only revocation could have inspired self-sacrifice of French people when Louis appealed for unity in the crisis of 1709-11.

19. JANSENISM • Jansenism was a religious movement that originated from Cornelius Jansen's book Augustine (1640). • Jansen claimed St Paul and St Augustine had supported the doctrine that man was hopelessly sinful and could only be saved by God's grace. • This brought them into conflict with the Jesuits who believed in people's freedom of choice and the value in God's sight of their good deeds -- and these were people who influenced Louis. They convinced Louis that the Jansenists were threatening religious orthodoxy and peace and were threatening Louis’ authority over religion in France. • The arguments put forward by Jansenists were based on Catholic teaching and so not heretical and the Jansenists were people of blameless lives and great learning. They were, therefore, not heretics like the Huguenots. • Yet their alternative views over areas such as original sin ensured that they were hated by the Jesuits, who were totally subservient to the Pope. Opposition from the Jesuits at first helped the Jansenists in France as the Jesuits were not popular in France due to their subservience to Rome.

20. JANSENISM …. cont • The Jansenists impressed people with their high moral standards and intellectual honesty -- they established their base at the monastery of Port-Royal des Champs, outside Paris. Their simple life their compared favourably with the laxity of the French Church as a whole. • Louis did not really understand Jansenism, but he disliked it as his Jesuit advisers told him it was a disruptive influence and Louis was aware that some Jansenists had been involved in the Frondes -- Louis became convinced that the Jansenists were a threat to the stability of Church and State and rejected their claims that they had been misrepresented. In reality the Jansenists posed no threat to either Catholic doctrine or the authority of the King. • These were the sort of people that Louis should have admired and supported. They lived blameless lives and based all their views on Catholic doctrine. Yet in some ways it was their very success in France that worried Louis. Louis saw himself as the Most Catholic Majesty and wanted religious orthodoxy within his realm. the last thing he wanted were people questioning this orthodoxy. The popularity of the Jansenists in France threatened this religious orthodoxy as people began to question the church in France and in particular its laxity and corruption.

21. JANSENISM …. cont • Louis was aware that there were faults with the French Church but would rather reform it himself than take lessons from the Jansenists. • Under Louis there were improvements in the Church : the training and education of parish priests improved and Louis took trouble over appointments, promoting men on merits as well as birth.

22. JANSENISM …. cont • Louis' approach to Jansenism was two-fold : on the one hand he would take the wind out of their sails by reforming the Church, and on the other he would repress their influence. • In 1661 he imposed Jesuit doctrines on Port-Royal and chased out the male Jansenist leaders; in 1664 the Archbishop of Paris, Louis' ex tutor, expelled the nuns from Port-Royal. • Despite this Jansenism remained a force in France and Louis found he needed papal support. Jansenism received support from many Catholics in France, but such Catholics took their lead from the Pope. If the Pope condemned Jansenism it would lose respectability in the eyes of Catholics. Louis therefore welcomed an anti-Jansenist bull issued by the Pope in 1665. This he hoped would convince Catholics that this organisation was heretical and should not be supported. • Yet the policy proved a disaster for Louis. Unfortunately several French bishops disagreed with the Pope and Louis over the condemnation. Also many French Catholics were influenced by Gallicanism and resented papal interference. The pope's support for Louis had back-fired. As a result between 1668 and 1679 anti-Jansenist campaign was temporarily replaced by "peace of the church" – a period of compromise inspired by a more sensitive and tolerant pope.

23. JANSENISM …. cont • Yet Louis was furious that the group had survived and in 1679 as part of his religious campaign against the Huguenots, he also stepped up campaign against the Jansenists. The 1680s saw Louis' drive for religious orthodoxy, as witnessed by attack on Huguenots and for Louis made sense to deal with Jansenists at same time. • During the end of his reign Louis realised that to destroy Jansenism he needed to rebuild fences with Rome. Therefore in 1693 he disowned the Gallican Articles. In this way he hoped to win the active support of the pope in his campaign. • French pressure in Rome led to the pope ending the right of Jansenists to remain quiet on sensitive theological issues. In this way he hoped that Jansenists could be questioned over such issues and thereby reveal heretical thoughts. • With papal support Louis sent troops to expel the remaining nuns from Port-Royal. In 1711 he ordered the buildings to be razed to the ground and the bones of dead Jansenists to be reburied in a common grave.

24. JANSENISM …. cont • The climax to Louis' war came in 1713 when the Pope issued a bull condemning 101 heretical propositions in Jansenist literature. • Yet the bull provoked sympathy for the Jansenists -- parlement of Paris only registered the bull under protest, while 15 bishops refused to recognise it. In order to restore discipline and ensure acceptance of the bull, Louis proposed summoning a council of the French church, with the king presiding. But he died first, so Jansenism survived.

25. JANSENISM …. cont • Was all this worth it? In pursuit of religious orthodoxy, Louis had quarrelled with the Pope, alienated his own clergy and clashed with the Paris parlement and Jansenism survived. Indeed the Jansenists had revenge as they were active in the events leading to the fall of Louis' great-great-grandson, Louis XVI, in 1789.