Civic Rivalry and the Boundaries of Civic Identity in the French Wars of Religion: Châlons-sur-Marne and the Towns of Champagne

Abstract

An examination of the policies and actions of the city council of the Champagne town of Châlons-sur-Marne during the French Wars of Religion qualifies the view that the wars spelled the end of the bonne ville. In particular, this article examines Châlons' rivalries with the other towns of the region. The civil wars of the Catholic League in the late 1580s and early 1590s provided the opportunity to gain by military means what had previously been sought by bureaucratic. Yet at the same time that the city councillors were pursuing the traditional agenda of the bonne ville, they were also illustrating the dynamic of its demise, for the prizes over which these rivalries were fought were royal institutions. They were playing an old game for new stakes.