Edict_of_Fontainebleau_(1540)

Edict of Fontainebleau (1540)

Edict of Fontainebleau (1540)

1540 French decree enabling the persecution of Protestants

This article is about the 1540 edict passed by Francis I. For the future edict by Louis XIV, see Edict of Fontainebleau (1685).

The Edict of Fontainebleau was issued June 1, 1540[1] by French King Francis I at his Palace of Fontainebleau. It occurred after the "Affair of the Placards" turned Francis I's policy from one of tolerance to persecution of Protestantism.[2] The edict stated that the Protestant heresy was "high treason against God and mankind" and so deserved the appropriate punishments of torture, loss of property, public humiliation and death.[3]

The French King Francis I

Thus, the Edict of Fontainebleau codified the persecution of the French Protestants, also called Huguenots, and was the first of many edicts in France to persecute them. The next major edict was the Edict of Châteaubriant, which was issued by Francis I's son, heir and the next king, Henry II.[2]

Notes

  1. [1]
    Armstrong 1986, pp. 167
  2. [2]
    Jones 1997, pp. 157
  3. [3]
    Shepardson 2007, pp. 21

References

  • Armstrong, Elizabeth (1986), Robert Estienne, royal printer: an historical study of the elder Stephanus, Cambridge, England: Cambridge University, ISBN 0-900721-23-5
  • Jones, J.A.P. (1997), Europe, 1500-1600, Cheltenham, Britain: Nelson Thornes, ISBN 0-17-435064-3
  • Shepardson, Nikki (2007), Burning zeal: the rhetoric of martyrdom and the Protestant community in Reformation France, 1520-1570, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania: Lehigh University Press, ISBN 978-0-934223-87-4
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