Henry IV and the huguenot appeal for a return to Poissy

Abstract

When the queen mother, Catherine de Medici, summoned protestant and catholic spokesmen to a conference at Poissy, in 1561, the religious situation in France was still remarkably fluid. Religious ideas of an innovative and reformist character had long had an appeal in French intellectual circles, but it was only recently that Protestantism in France had begun to take on the appearance of an organised religious movement. The persecution of Protestants had been severe at times, but neither systematic nor continuous, and the bulk of French Protestants was inclined to be conciliatory. Even the question of whether they could be considered heretics was still somewhat open, as the council of Trent had not yet concluded its sessions. Thus the time must have seemed propitious to the queen, then enjoying real political power in France for the first time, to attempt to reconcile the theological differences which were dividing her subjects, and to restore the religious unity of the realm.