THE AGE OF THE REFORMATION
Worksheet 8: Jensen, Ch. 7 France During the Wars
of Religion
Essential Question: Why did France suffer a series of wars
after 1559 and what role did religion play in them?
| 1. |
French Government and Administration |
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What role did the Estates General and the provincial estates play in
French governance? How did the French central government function?
What was the role of the Parlement de Paris? Who controlled provincial
supervision and law enforcement? In practice, what was the most important
instrument of royal government?
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| 2. |
The Crisis of the French Crown |
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How did Henri II die? Why did the monarchy decline after his
death? Who was the one stabilizing influence of the decadent Valois
monarchy? Around which "principle" did Catherine de' Medici shape
her public policy? What type of woman was Catherine de' Medici?
What was her greatest character flaw? What obstacles stood in her
way of being able to secure the success and tranquility of France?
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| 3. |
Social and Economic Upheaval |
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What was the chief reason that Henri II had agreed to the Peace of
Cateau-Cambresis? What factors contributed to making the latter half
of the sixteenth century an "unsettled period" in French economic
history? How did governmental invovlement both help and hinder trade
and industry? What were the principal problems in the agricultural
sector during the latter half of the sixteenth century? On what resources
did the French crown depend upon for revenue? What explains the relative
frequent summoning of the Estates General during the reigns of Francis
II and Henri III? Why percentage of the French population was the
peasantry? Why were their lives so "fragile" and how did the attempt
to cope?
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| 4. |
Religious Schism |
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What factors contributed to the deterioration of French administration
under Catherine de' Medici and her sons? Among which groups did Calvinism
spread and what appealed to them about Calvinist doctrine? What sense
of "mission" did the Calvinist possess in reference to the French government?
Which were the four major factions invovled in the struggle for power?
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| 5. |
Catherine de' Medici and the French Civil Wars |
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How did Catherine de' Medici attempt to reconcile the contending forces
in France and bring about a deescalation of tension? Why did a permanent
compromise prove impossible? What event prompted the beginning of
the French Wars of Religion? How did Catherine meet the initial Protestant
threat? How was the Peace of Saint Germain "sealed" in Paris?
Why did the queen mother decide to use violence against the Protestants?
How did the Huguenots react to the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre?
How did Huguenot theorists and pamphleteers justify armed rebellion against
the crown? How did the Catholics react to the Peace of Monsieur (1576)?
What event in June 1584, brought Henri of Navarre to the threshold of victory?
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| 6. |
Politiques and the Catholic League |
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How did Huguenot political philosophy after 1584 change? What
was the nature of the politique political position? Why did
they defend religious toleration? What attitude did the politiques
maintain toward the monarchy? What was the chief motive that brought
them to this position? How did the Catholic faction react to the
idea of a Huguenot king? What brought upon the "War of the three
Henries" and what were the results? How did Henri IV manage to undercut
the power of the Catholic League? Who were the three "victors" of
the French Wars of Religion?
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| 7. |
Recovery Under Henri IV |
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What type of man was Henri IV? What were the chief problems he
faced as king and how did he deal with them? What common cause did
Henri IV give the French? Why was the Treaty of Vervins (1598) so
welcomed by both the French and Spanish? What did Henri IV achieve
by the Edict of Nantes and what did it give the Huguenots? How did
Henri's ministers, especially Sully and Bellievre revitalize France?
Under Henri IV, what was the main goal of French foreign policy?
How was Henri IV killed?
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| 8. |
The Cultural Conflict in France |
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Who was the principle patron of the French arts throughout the period
of the French Wars of Religion? What "trend" can be detected in French
art during this time? What was the purpose to the Pleiade and
to what extent was it successful? How did the Academie de Poesie
et de Musique differ from that of the Academie du Palais?
What was the result of the Academy of the Palace's amalgam of Platonic
and Aristotelian moral and intellectual virtues? For what literary
form is Montaigne most noted? What was Montaigne's basic philosophical
position? How does Montaigne define the "greatness of the soul"?
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| 9. |
Popular Culture and the Wars of Religion |
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What type of popular literature was most widely read?
What sixteenth century taste in literature has a remarkable modern ring?
Why did the noble, clerical and courtly culture consciously attempt to
separate itself from popular culture?
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