De la paix à la coexistence: la mise en oeuvre de l’édit de Nantes en Normandie au début du XVIIe siècle

Abstract

ABSTRACT The Edict of Nantes was signed in April 1598. But the enforcement of the Edict in the provinces of the realm was long and difficult. In Normandy, where the Reformation had an early impact, the Parlement of Rouen registered the Edict in September 1599, but important changes were introduced in the text. King Henri IV managed to remove all the objections of the Parlement only in 1609. Commissions were sent to Normandy in 1600 and 1611-1612 for the purpose of establishing confessional coexistence. The success that was achieved in spite of local opposition, however, remained very fragile. The implementation of the peace suggests not only the victory of absolutism and the state’s ultimate right of judgment, but also, more simply, the definite wish to put an end to 40 years of conflict between Catholics and Huguenots.