RS 27

michel de l’hôpital & christophe de thou The personal relationship between L’Hôpital and de Thou was cordial but bore certain reticence. The contemporaries noted that if there was mutual respect between the two there was no intimate friendship. Pasquier regretted the political circumstances that set them apart when they both pursued “the good and public peace.”135 Still, he testified that de Thou, more than anyone else, paid utmost respect to the chancellor.136 In short, consideration of their different backgrounds and careers allows an insight regarding how underlying political, cultural, and social elements intertwined to create distinct constitutional arguments and professional values in the sixteenth century. L’Hôpital was able to keep his position only so long as Catherine de Médicis, the queen mother, was inclined to try her chancellor’s religious toleration policy. When he had come to personify the unpopular and unsuccessful royal policy, Catherine concluded that his presence at court was no longer desirable when balanced against the continued opposition from the Catholic forces. L’Hôpital was disgraced in 1568 and relinquished the royal seal. In 1569, L’Hôpital, in retirement, penned a touching letter to de Thou: “You are still healthy and strong enough to achieve greater things. . . .God owes you a better fortune than what was mine.”137 L’Hôpital died in 1573. De Thou continued his service as thepremier président and remained the most trusted councilor of Henry III and Catherine de Medici until his death in 1582. With his death, the Parlement of Paris was bereft of the influential moderates. According to JacquesAuguste de Thou, HenryIII lamented that Paris would not have revolted in 1588 if de Thou had still be the head of the Parlement.138 The religious wars precipitated into a radical phase in which the fanatical Catholic League dominated Paris. 135 Pasquier, Étienne 1723 vol. 2 col. 187. 136 Ibid. 137 16 October 1569, BNDupuy 491, fol. 36. The text is printed in L’Hospital, Michel de and Petris, Loris 2002 p. 483. 138 De Thou, Jacques-Auguste 1734, vol. 8 p. 634-638. 164

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