Religion and Royal Justice in Early Modern France: The Paris Chambre de l'Édit, 1598-1665 (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Religion and Royal Justice in Early Modern France: The Paris Chambre de l'Édit, 1598-1665 Charlotte C. Wells Religion and Royal Justice in Early Modern France: The Paris Chambre de l'Édit, 1598-1665. By Diane C. Margolf. [Sixteenth Century Essays and Studies 67.] (Kirksville, Missouri: Truman State University Press. 2003. Pp. xx, 227. $36.00 paperback.) Diane C. Margolf here offers the first archival investigation of the Paris Chambre de l'édit, most important of the courts established to protect the legal rights of French Protestants under the terms of the Edict of Nantes. The Edict, issued by Henri IV in 1598, aimed at ending more than thirty years of war between Catholics and Protestants in France. The Edict of Nantes and the courts it established were not an unqualified success, however. Margolf's exploration of the Chambre's records reveals several reasons why this was so. The courts were not independent but, rather, branches of the parlements, royal courts of appeal that dominated the judicial systems of the French provinces. Most of the parlements' judges were Catholics, which made it difficult for the subordinate Catholic-Protestant courts to act decisively in defense of Protestant rights. Just as the Paris parlement had the largest jurisdiction of any court in the system, so its Chambre de l'édit was the court of last resort for Protestants all over northern France. Yet it never had more than one Protestant judge. Margolf divides the Chambre's cases into three groups. The first covers lawsuits arising from actions taken during the wars of religion. The court had to decide what constituted religiously motivated crimes and what fell under the king's command that the violence normal in wartime should be forgiven, if not forgotten. Next come the numerous cases due to intermarriage between Catholics and Protestants and the familial disputes that resulted. Finally, Margolf considers slanders, violence, and judicial malfeasance caused by tensions between the two religions. In most situations, the Chambre did little to bring about genuine denominational reconciliation, but it did force both Catholics and Protestants to accept royal justice as the thread binding the French nation together. Margolf has thoroughly explored the Chambre's records. The book's greatest fascination comes from the stories of individual men and women trying to achieve justice with dignity in a world still riven by confessional prejudice. Most of the work focuses on the first two decades of the seventeenth century, and the author has made little effort to correlate the Chambre's work with outside events. It would have been interesting to know if the number and nature of cases changed after the Protestant rebellions of 1621-1628 or the Fronde of 1648-1653. Nonetheless, this is important reading for any scholar of early modern French history and should certainly interest anyone concerned about the long-term effects of religious violence upon society. Charlotte C. Wells University of Northern Iowa Copyright © 2007 The Catholic University of America Press