Nantes, Edict of

   The Edict of Nantes was a decree giving partial religious freedom to the huguenots, proclaimed by King henry IV in 1598, and revoked by louis XIV in 1685. The edict ended the series of religious wars between Catholics and Protestants in France fought from 1562 to 1598. During the course of these wars, a number of ineffectual treaties were concluded, implying various privileges for the Huguenots. The Edict of Nantes included the religious provisions of these treaties and added a number of others. By the terms of the edict, the Huguenots were granted liberty of conscience throughout France. They were permitted to hold religious services and build churches in specified towns and villages, and in the suburbs of any city, except those that were episcopal and archiepiscopal sees, royal residences, or within a certain radius of Paris, while services were permitted in the domiciles of the Huguenot nobility. As a guarantee of protection, 100 sites were designated as fortified cities for a period of eight years. Four schools or universities were also allowed to be Huguenot (Montauban, Montpellier, Sedan, and Saumur). All followers of the faith were granted civil rights, including the right to hold political office, and a special court, the Chambre de l'édit (composed of 10 Catholics and six Protestants), was established to protect Huguenots in the Parlement of Paris, with corresponding courts established in the provincial parlements. Huguenot pastors were to be funded, as were the Catholic clergy, by the government. Although the edict of toleration was unique for its time, its provisions were never fully enforced, even during the reign of Henry iv. in 1629, Cardinal Richelieu annulled its political provisions. Persecution of the Protestants, including pressure to convert (1676), resumed during the reign of Louis XIV and culminated in the Dragonnades (persecution of French Protestants by soldiers of the Royal Dragoons) of 1680. When the Edict of Nantes was revoked, more than 200,000 Huguenots (officials, industrialist, merchants, artisans, farmers) were forced to emigrate, settling particularly in Holland and Prussia, while inside France, continued persecution provoked a number of uprisings, including that of the camisards.