John Calvin By 1518, Martin Luther’s religious ideas had spread into much of France; however, John Calvin’s work grew in popularity in France over the next two decades. Many French citizens converted to Calvinism and were called Huguenots.

Monarchial weakness combined with religious division to create civil war. Popular Calvinism was manifested in iconoclasm, which led to further unrest between Catholics and Protestants. Iconoclasm is the destruction of religious relics. Tensions increased between Protestants and Catholics over the following decades.

Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre Thousands of Protestants were killed in the Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre (August 24, 1572), an event that sparked a fifteen year civil war.

Politiques By the 1580’s, a growing faction called politiques emerged in France. Politiques were religious moderates who believed that only the restoration of a strong monarchy could save France from collapse. The beginning of the reign of Henry IV in 1589, himself a politique, brought new stability to France.

The Edict of Nantes For the sake of peace, Henry converted to Catholicism and issued the Edict of Nantes (1589). An edict is an official decree or order, typically issued by a political or religious leader. The Edict of Nantes was seen as a peace offering to Protestants in Catholic France. The decree granted a degree of toleration to the Huguenots (French Protestants) and led to relative peace between the Catholics and Protestants in France.