michel de l’hôpital & christophe de thou lent in the judicial nobility. L’Hôpital subsequently became the president of the Chambres des comptes in 1554 thanks to the patronage of Marguerite de Valois, Henry II’s sister. He also enjoyed extensive and generous support from the powerful Guises. Charles de Guise, the cardinal de Lorraine, played a central role in helping him obtain the chancellorship of France in 1560. At the sudden death of Henri II in 1559, France faced religious dissensions, financial crisis, and the near breakdown of justice. Fifteen-year old Francis II continued the policy of religious persecution, but Calvinism was expanding rapidly, partly due to weak royal authority. The new chancellor pursued, with the support of Catherine de Médicis, the queenmother, a policy drawing a line between political sedition and religious misbelief: the Huguenots who resorted to violence should be punished, but the rest should be left in peace. L’Hôpital believed that the solution to the religious division was not persecution but moral amelioration. He appealed for religious concord: “Ostons ces mots diaboliques, noms de parts, factions et séditions, luthériens, Huguenots, papists: ne changeons le nom de chrestien.”19 At the extended assembly of the royal council at St. Germain-en-Laye in 1562, the chancellor declared that “many can be citizens who will not be Christians; even the excommunicated does not cease to be a citizen.”20 These bold statements intended not so much to guarantee religious freedom as a fundamental right (which would be an anachronistic interpretation) as to stop religious hostilities and safeguard peace in the kingdom. L’Hôpital did not deny the unquestioned value of religious agreement, yet he was also aware that, in the current situation, religious uniformity under Catholicism could not be achieved without endangering the state. The temporary co-existence of different religious beliefs was the only solution to the anarchy of civil war. In fact, the government had no alternative. Outright persecution seemed only to confirm Protestants in their opposition. Temporary coexistence was necessary for the preservation of peace, until such time as the grace of God should unite the churches. 19 L’Hospital, Michel de and Descimon, Robert 1993 p. 86-87. 138
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