Confederates and Rivals: Picard Urban Alliances during the Catholic League, 1588-1594

Abstract

In a 1953 article that examined French provincial urban alliances during the Catholic League, Henri Drouot addressed the foundation of provincial councils of urban allies in 1588-89, without exploring their effectiveness and survival. This article picks up where Drouot left off by focusing on a provincial alliance of towns called the Chambre des États de Picardie. The Picard alliance was short-lived. Catholic League elites founded the chambre in January of 1589 and hoped to control the entire province from the capital in Amiens. The chambre suffered a rapid breakdown of authority, however, and disintegrated nine months later in September 1589. To explore the Picard urban federation the author addresses three main issues. First, pre-existing linkages within the province that might have promoted an urban alliance are scrutinized. Secondly, the establishment and breakdown of the alliance is examined in detail. Finally, the failure of provincial unity and its relevance to the demise of the Catholic League are discussed in the conclusion. By examining the structural weaknesses of the French Catholic League in Picardy, the author speculates that League-affiliated regional alliances never functioned effectively. Their failure suggests that the Catholic League may have been weaker at its inception than previously believed. Urban particularism and devotion to self-interest inhibited regional co-operation in Picardy as Amiens and Abbeville acted more like rivals than allies and the chambre proved to be nothing more than a cabal of the duke of Aumale’s clients. A key component of the Catholic League’s demise, therefore, pivoted on the fact that in failing to create a political framework capable of serving as an alternative to monarchy, the league remained a collection of disunited urban cells. Town populations thus looked to Henry IV to restore the unity never realized during the Catholic League.