On 18 August 1572, Paris hosted the lavish wedding of Marguerite de Valois and Henri de Navarre, which was designed to seal the reconciliation of France’s Catholics and Protestants. Only six days later, the execution of the Protestant leaders on the orders of the king’s council unleashed a vast massacre by Catholics of thousands of Protestants in Paris and elsewhere. Why was the celebration of concord followed so quickly by such unrestrained carnage? Arlette Jouanna’s new reading of the most notorious massacre in early modern European history rejects most of the established accounts, especially those privileging conspiracy, in favour of an explanation based on ideas of reason of state. The Massacre stimulated reflection on royal power, the limits of authority and obedience, and the danger of religious division for France’s political traditions. Based on extensive research and a careful examination of existing interpretations, this book is the most authoritative analysis of a shattering event.
Tabella dei contenuti
Translator’s note
Author’s Acknowledgements
Introduction
PART ONE: THE FRAGILITY OF CONCORD
1. Trial by suspicion: the peace of 1570
2. Politics matrimonial and international
3. The assault on peace
PART TWO: SWORD OF GOD, SWORD OF THE KING
4. Surgical strike
5. Catholic furies
6. The King’s truth, reason of state
PART THREE: ELUCIDATIONS AND RETORTS
7. Protestant misfortune in biblical perspective
8. Political readings of the French tragedy
9. The king’s death, or the meaning of a massacre revealed
Conclusion
Appendix: Sociology of the victims of the Massacre, 1572
Sources and bibliography
Index
Circa l’autore
Joseph Bergin is Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Manchester, Fellow of the British Academy and Correspondant Étranger, Institut de France.
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