marie seong-hak kim tending opinion of the parlementaires, First President de Thou eloquently defended the law court’s role as a guardian of the constitution and the protector of the kingdom’s fundamental laws. By stridently asserting their right to remonstrance, the judges were resisting not only the authority of the crown but also its religious initiatives to bring an end to civil conflict. L’Hôpital and de Thou shared fundamental political and judicial ideals. Both were deeply attached to Gallicanism and were convinced that the church needed reform. They shared the reforming spirit of law and the commitment to the crown. Both were Ciceronian stoics and humanists, and opposed persecution.104 De Thou often clashed with the extremist party in the Parlement, including his predecessor François de SaintAndré who supported a harsh policy against Protestants. Edouard Maugis describes an altercation between de Thou and Saint-André that took place on 16 February 1560. During themercuriales, Saint-André called de Thou “le petit avocat,” deriding the latter’s supposedly lowly career start.105 De Thou was generally regarded as a consensus builder who persuaded his less flexible colleagues to accept royal edicts of pacification.106 Historians agree that the eventual acceptance of the Edict of January by the Parlement, after much resistance, was the result of the mainstream moderate leadership of de Thou to mediate the relationship between the sovereign and his judges.107 Neither L’Hôpital nor de Thou questioned the value of religious unity in the kingdom. The difference was whether the coexistence of the two religions was a viable option. For L’Hôpital, it was the only alternative for 104 De Thou cited Cicero: justice, “c’est rendre à ung chacun ce quy lui apartient [Justice is “rendering each one his due”]. De Thou’s discourse of 11 May 1565. For the text of this discourse and its analysis, see Daubresse, Sylvie 1995 p. 387. 105 Maugis, Édouard 1913 vol. 1 p. 364. 106 Roelker, Nancy Lyman 1996 p. 183-184. 107 Daubresse, Sylvie 1998b p. 533; Daubresse, Sylvie 1998a p. 389. 157 Predicaments of the Chancellor and the First President during the Civil War
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