Introduction

Peter Adamson looks at the history of toleration in France. Civil war between Catholics and Huguenots broke out in 1562 after a rapid proliferation of Protestant churches starting around 1555. The Queen Mother, Catherine de Medici, announced an edict of toleration for Protestantism but it was explicitly labeled as a temporary measure. By 1585, the French Crown would be announcing a very different policy that all Frenchmen must be Catholic.