Nantes and the Origins of the Catholic League of 1589

Abstract

The Catholic League in Nantes was a movement for urban defense led by a majority of the municipal elites. It was not simply a defensive movement against a predatory crown, but was the culmination of a resurgence of urban autonomy originating in the crown's inability to defend the city against external threats, both Huguenot military forces and royal army commanders active in the province. The League in Nantes was an urban and not an aristocratic movement, although the two were allied. The municipal elites joined with the duke of Mercoeur's personal rebellion for their own purposes and on their own terms. There was little social conflict in the city, where the majority of the elites supported the decision to rebel. Finally, there were important religious overtones to the rebellion, which was framed in sacred language, although religious radicalism was not the prime motive of revolt. Nantes did not share the extremism of the large cities of Paris, Toulouse, and Troyes.