Edict of Pacification of Boulogne, July 1573

The edict of Pacification issued at Boulogne in July 1573 ended the Fourth War of Religion, and restricted the religious freedoms granted to the Huguenots at the end of the each of the first three wars of religion.

By the terms of the edict the Huguenots were given the freedom to worship in public in La Rochelle, Nismes and Montauban. Huguenots throughout France were allowed freedom of conscience, meaning that they wouldn’t be punished for not attending Catholic services, but only noblemen who held land with the high jurisdiction were given the right to conduct marriages and baptisms with Protestant rights.

Although the Fifth War of Religion didn’t break out for two years, this Edict failed to produce peace in much of France, and there were at least two major Huguenot plots to free Condé and Navarre from captivity at the court during 1574. The death of Charles IX on 30 May 1574 led to a temporary lull, but the Fifth War broke out soon after the coronation of Henry III in February 1575.

The French Religious Wars 1562-1598, Robert Jean Knecht. A useful guide to the complex series of nine French Wars of Religion, including an examination of who the wars began and the main players on both sides, narrative accounts of the wars, overviews of the most important battles and sieges. Also looks at the impact of the wars on France’s neighbours, many of whom got dragged into the conflict, and on a selection of soldiers and civilians. Supported by a series of maps that help show how complex the conflict was

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