Memoirs of a Huguenot Family/Appendix
APPENDIX.
THE KING'S EDICT.
Given at Nantes, April, 1598, and published in Parliament, 15
February, 1599.
Henry, by the Grace of God, King of France and Navarre.
To all that are and shall be, greeting:
The most signal and remarkable mercy, among the infinite ones which it has pleased God to vouchsafe to us, is the having given us virtue and firmness sufficient to prevent our granting any thing under the influence of the dreadful trouble, discord and confusion which prevailed at the period of our accession to the throne. The kingdom was divided into many parts and factions, so many that the orderly portion was, perhaps, one of the smallest. We have been supported so as to withstand this great storm, we have overcome it, and now at last have reached the haven of safety and repose. Wherefore, to God's holy name be all the glory, and to us thankfulness of heart, in that he has been pleased to make use of our efforts, as his instrument for accomplishing the good work. It is plainly to be seen, that in view of so desirable an end, we have gone beyond what duty required of us, and have exposed ourselves with a freedom that at another time would scarcely have been consistent with the dignity of our position.
In the conflicting claims for pre-eminence amongst the various important and perilous affairs which pressed upon us, and which could not all receive attention at once, we resolved upon the following course. In the first place to deal with such as required to be settled by main force, delaying for a while such as could be regulated by principles of reason and justice; as, for example, the general differences amongst our good subjects, and some particular hardships, complained of by the more healthy portions of the State, which we believe may be the more effectually relieved by our having first put an end to the civil war, which was one chief cause.
By the grace of God, we have happily so far succeeded that hostilities have ceased throughout the kingdom. We hope for equal success in composing those differences that yet remain to be adjusted, and then will be accomplished the great object of our prayers, and we shall be rewarded for all our labors, by once more beholding peace and tranquillity within our borders. Amongst the most important of said affairs, the consideration of which we were obliged to postpone, were the complaints of various Catholic towns and provinces that the Catholic Religion had not been universally re-established, in conformity with the Edicts formerly passed for the pacification of religious troubles; also, the petitions and remonstrances of our subjects of the pretended Reformed Religion, complaining of the non-performance of what had been promised to them by the said Edicts, and begging for further enactments to secure to them that liberty of conscience, personal safety and security of property which the late disturbances have made them believe to be in jeopardy, giving them reason to fear that plans were laid for their ruin. We have put off from time to time the providing a remedy for these grievances, partly, because we would avoid the burden of too much business at once, and partly because the enactment of laws, be they ever so desirable in themselves, can scarcely be compatible with the din of arms. But, it having now pleased God to grant us the enjoyment of more tranquillity, we think we can make no better use of it than in giving our attention to that which concerns the glory of His Holy Name and service, and endeavoring to provide for the religious worship of all our subjects, who, if they cannot yet join in one form, we may at least hope, are actuated by one and the same purpose, and therefore that by wise regulations all tumult and strife may be put an end to, and that we and this kingdom may forever continue to deserve the glorious title of "Most Christian," that title which was originally acquired by great merit and has been so long possessed. "We hope to be able so to regulate matters that future trouble shall be avoided, on that subject which is of all others the most delicate and searching, the subject of religion. Being fully sensible of the great importance of this subject, and the necessity of bestowing deep consideration upon it, we have carefully looked over the folios of complaints from our Catholic subjects, and we have permitted our subjects of the aforesaid pretended Reformed Religion to assemble by deputy to prepare their list of grievances. We have conferred with both parties various times, and carefully examined all former Edicts, and now we have concluded that one general, clear, plain and absolute law must be enacted, for the government of all our subjects, and by which they shall be regulated in the settlement of all differences which have already arisen, or which may in future arise. With this, all must rest satisfied, as the best that the state of the times allows, we having, in our deliberations, had do other end in view than zeal for the service of God and a desire to see it manifested by our said subjects, amongst whom we hope to establish a firm and durable peace. We implore and look for the same blessing upon this, our effort, from the mercy of God that he has heretofore showered upon this kingdom from its earliest foundation to this day. We entreat him to send his grace upon our subjects, and to make them understand that in the observing of this our Ordinance, is laid the great foundation (after their duty to God and one another) of their union and tranquillity and the best prospect of a restoration of this State to its former splendor, opulence and strength. On our part, we promise to have it rigidly enforced, without any infringement.
Accordingly, with the advice and assistance of the Princes of the Blood, the Princes and Officers of the Crown, and other great and important personages of our Council of State, we have duly weighed and considered all this matter; and we have, by this perpetual and irrevocable Edict, said, declared and ordered, and we do say, declare and order,
1st.—That the memory of the past, on both sides; from the beginning of March, 1585, to the date of our accession to the throne, shall be buried in oblivion; and it shall be unlawful for our Attorney General, or any other person, public or private, at any time, or for any purpose whatsoever, to make mention of the former troubles in any process or law suit, in any Court or Jurisdiction whatever.
2d.—We forbid all our subjects, whatever may be their rank or condition, to revive the recollection of the past, or to attack, resent, injure or provoke by reproaches, under any pretext whatever; and they must not dispute, quarrel, outrage or offend one another, by word or deed, but must restrain themselves, and live in peace as brothers, friends and fellow citizens, upon penalty to the disobedient of being punished as disturbers of the peace.
3d.—We command that in all places of this our Kingdom and country of our obedience, where the exercise of the Apostolic Roman Catholic religion has been interrupted, it shall be re-established, to be there freely exercised without trouble or hindrance. We forbid expressly, all persons, of whatsoever rank, degree or condition, upon the above named penalty, to molest or disturb the clergymen in the celebration of Divine Service, the enjoyment and collection of tithes, first fruits and revenues from their benefices, or any other rights and duties appertaining thereto. All persons, who, during the troubles, became possessed of churches, houses, property and revenues belonging to the said clergymen, and who retain and occupy them, shall give up the same to the clergy, with the entire possession and peaceable enjoyment of all rights, privileges and securities which they had before they were seized upon. It is expressly forbidden, to those of said pretended Reformed religion, to preach or perform any service according to said religion in the churches, houses, or places of abode of said clergymen.
4th.—It shall be optional with the said clergymen to buy the houses and buildings erected upon unconsecrated ground occupied by them before the troubles, or to oblige the present possessor of the buildings to buy the ground; in either case the property to be valued by skilful persons, whom the parties shall agree to appoint. In default thereof, provision shall be made by the Judges of the places, reserving to the occupant a right of appeal. And wherever the said clergy shall constrain the occupant to purchase the ground, the estimated value shall not be paid to the former, but shall remain in the hands of the occupant, he being required to pay interest upon it at the rate of 5 per cent., until it shall be applied to the use of the church, which will be done at the expiration of one year. And when said time shall have expired, and the purchaser is unwilling to continue said rent, he shall be discharged therefrom, upon depositing the purchase money in the hands of a solvent person, authorized by the justice to receive it. Commissioners appointed without fail by us to see to the execution of the present Edict, shall give information as to the sacred places.
5th.—Notwithstanding, the ground, places and materials used for repairing and fortifying the cities and places of our kingdom shall not be sold by the clergy or other individuals public or private, until the said fortifications shall be demolished by our Decree.
6th.— And in order to leave no opening for discord and divisions amongst our subjects, we have permitted and do permit those of the pretended Reformed religion to live and remain in all cities and places within this our kingdom and country of our obedience without being disturbed, vexed, molested or forced to do any thing against their conscience on the subject of religion, neither can their houses or places of abode be searched on that score; provided that in all things they conform to what is contained in our present Edict.
7th.—We have also permitted all lords, nobles, and other persons, as well natives and others, professing the pretended reformed religion, in this our kingdom, having * "Haute Justice," or "plein+ fief de Haubert," as in Normandy, whether in full ownership or merely usufruct, the whole, one-half, or the third, to have the exercise of the said religion in such of the houses of the said "Haute Justice" or fiefs as they shall name as the principal domicile, in the presence of our Bailifis and Seneschals, each in his district; and in the absence of the heads of the family, their wives and families, and parts of them, may have religious exercises. Though the right of "Justice" or "fief de Haubert" be disputed, yet the exercise of the said religion shall be allowed, provided that the above mentioned be in actual possession of the said "Haute Justice," even if our Attorney General be opposed. We permit also said religious exercises in their other houses of "Haute Justice"[1] or "fief de Haubert"[2] when themselves are present, but not otherwise. Such services may be not only for their own benefit, but their families, subjects, and all who shall wish to attend.
8th.—In the houses of the fiefs, where those of the said religion shall not have the said "Haute Justice" or "fief de Haubert," they may have religious exercises for their own families only, nevertheless, if other persons should be present, not exceeding thirty in number, on Baptismal occasions, friendly visits, or by invitation, they may attend said worship; provided always that said fiefs are not within Cities, Towns, or Villages, belonging to Catholic Noblemen, and where they have houses. In the latter case, the permission of said Noblemen must be given before religious worship can be had.
9th.—"We also permit those of the said religion to continue the exercise of it in all cities and places under our government, where it was established and publicly practised at different times in the year 1596, and before the end of August 1597, notwithstanding any decrees or decisions to the contrary.
10th.—The said exercise shall likewise be established and restored in all cities and places where it was established, or had the right to be so, by the Edict of Pacification, passed in the year 1577, or by the secret articles and conferences of Nerac and Fleix, without the said establishment being prevented in places of the domain given in the said Edict, though they may since have been made over to Catholic persons. Let it then be understood that the said exercise may be always re-established in places of the said domain which have formerly been in the possession of those who professed the pretended Reformed Religion, in which it would have been placed in consideration of their persons, or because of their feudal rights, even if the said fiefs should now be possessed by persons of the said Apostolical Roman Catholic Religion.
11th.—Moreover, in each of the ancient Bailiwicks, Seneschal's jurisdictions, and governments taking the place of Bailiwicks and having jurisdiction independent of the Courts of Parliament, we ordain that in the faubourgs of a city besides those which have been granted to them by the said Edict, Articles, and Conferences, and where there are no cities, the exercise of the said religion may be publicly performed in any town or village, by all those who wish; though in the said Bailiwicks, Seneschal's jurisdictions and governments, there may be several places where the said exercise is now established, saving and excepting the towns in which there is an Archbishopric or Bishopric newly granted by present Edict; without for that reason depriving those of said pretended Reformed Religion of the privilege of demanding and naming as places for the said exercise, small towns and villages near to the said cities; except also the places and manors belonging to the Clergy, where we only mean that the said second place in the Bailiwick may be established, having them by special favor excepted and reserved. It is our intention, under the name of ancient Bailiwicks to designate those which, in the time of the late King Henry, our much honored Lord and Father-in-Law, existed as Bailiwicks, Seneschal's jurisdictions and independent governments.
12th.—We do not mean by the present Edict to take any thing from the Edicts and Agreements heretofore made for the reduction to submission of any Princes, Lords, Nobles, or Catholic Towns within our jurisdiction, in what concerns the exercise of said religion, which Edicts and Agreements shall be kept and observed. Instructions to that effect will be given to the Commissioners who shall be appointed to execute the present Edict.
13th.—We expressly forbid any of the said religion having any religious exercise whatever, either ministerial, or for discipline or public instruction of children and others in this our kingdom; except in those places permitted and granted by the present Edict.
14th.—As also having any exercises of said religion within our Court and Suite, nor likewise in our lands and territories beyond the Alps, nor in our city of Paris, neither within five leagues of the said city: nevertheless, those of the said religion living in the said country beyond the Alps, and in our said city, and within five leagues around it, shall not be subject to espionage in their houses, nor compelled to do any thing on account of their religion against their consciences, if they in all things act in conformity with the provisions of the present Edict.
15th.—The public exercise of the said religion cannot be permitted in the army, except at the Quarters of those Generals who profess it, always excepting that occupied by our own person.
16th.—In conformity with the second article of the Conference of Nerac, we allow those of the aforesaid religion to build places for the exercise of the aforesaid, in the towns and places where it is allowed. Those places built by them formerly or the foundations of them, will be restored in their present condition, even in those places where said exercise is not allowed, if they have not been converted into other kinds of edifices. In which case, the present possessors of the said edifices shall give property equal to the former value, in the estimation thereof by skilful appraisers; reserving to the said proprietors and possessors the right of appeal.
17th.—We forbid all Preachers, Readers, and others who speak in public, using any words or discourse tending to excite sedition among the people, but on the contrary we enjoin upon them the practice of forbearance and meekness, saying nothing but what is for the instruction and edification of their hearers, and suited to the maintenance of that peace and tranquillity which we have established in our said kingdom, under penalties prescribed in former Edicts. We expressly enjoin our Attorneys General and their substitutes to give official information against those who violate it, under the penalty of being answerable for the same in their own names and persons, and being ejected from office.
18th.—We also forbid all our subjects, of whatsoever rank or condition, carrying off children by force, or persuasion, against the will of their parents of the said religion, in order to have them baptized or confirmed in the Apostolical Roman Catholic Church: the same prohibition extends to those of the said pretended Reformed religion, all being subject to exemplary punishment for such offenses.
19th.—Those of the said pretended Reformed religion shall not remain bound by any abjuration, promise or oath which they may formerly have made, or any security given by them about matters concerning the said religion; and they shall be free from all disturbances or molestation on that account.
20th.—They shall be obliged also to observe all the appointed Festivals of the Apostolical Roman Catholic Church, and they may not on those days labor, sell, nor display in open shops their goods, and upon Festivals and other forbidden days, no artisan may work either out of his shop or within closed doors, at any trade the noise of which may be heard by passers by or neighbours. Nevertheless search shall not be made but by the officers of Justice.
21st.—Books relating to said pretended Reformed religion may only be publicly printed and sold in those cities and places where the public exercise of the said religion is permitted. And for the other books, which shall be printed in other towns, they shall be seen and inspected, as well by our officers as by Theologians, in the manner decreed by our Ordinances. The printing, publishing or selling any books or writings of an abusive, scandalous nature is forbidden under the penalties contained in our Ordinances. We enjoin it upon all our Judges and officers to attend to this.
22d.—We command that no difference or distinction shall be male on account of said religion in receiving pupils to be instructed in the Universities, Colleges and schools; or receiving the sick and poor into Hospitals, Infirmaries and Alms-houses.
23d.—Those of said pretended Reformed Religion, shall be obliged to obey the laws of the Apostolical Roman Catholic Church, received in this kingdom, with respect to the Consanguinity and Relationship of parties making marriage contracts.
24th.— Likewise, those of the said religion shall pay all customary dues for the offices and employments conferred upon them, without being obliged to take part in any ceremony contrary to their said religion: and being called upon to take an oath they shall not be required to do more than hold up the hand, swear, and promise before God to speak the truth: shall not be obliged also to take a dispensation from the oath given by them, in making contracts and agreements.
25th.—We desire and command that all of the said pretended Reformed Religion, and others who have joined their party, of whatsoever rank or condition, shall be obliged and compelled in all proper and reasonable ways, and under the penalties contained in this edict, to pay tithes to the pastors and other clergy, and to all others entitled to them according to established usage.
26th.—Disinheriting or depriving of property, whether during life, or by will, solely from hatred or religious animosity, shall be null and void, for the past as well as the future.
27th.—In order the better to promote that union which we wish to see prevail amongst our subjects, and to take away all cause of complaint, we declare that all those who have made or shall make profession of the pretended Reformed Religion shall be eligible for all public offices or employments, whether Royal, Manorial, or Civic, in all parts of our dominions, and shall be impartially appointed thereto, our Courts of Parliament confining themselves in the matter to inquiries as to the piety, morality, and integrity of those nominated for offices, as much those of one religion as the other, without requiring from them any other oath than that they will faithfully serve the King and obey the laws. In case of vacancies occurring in any of said offices in our disposal, we shall without partiality appoint capable persons to such offices. Let it also be understood, that those of said pretended Reformed Religion can be admitted and received into all Councils, Assemblies, and Meetings, which follow from the aforesaid offices, without rejection on account of said religion.
28th.—We command our Officers and Magistrates, and the Commissioners appointed for the execution of the present Edict, in all the towns, &c., of the kingdom, to provide promptly convenient places for the burial of the dead for those professing said religion. And the cemeteries they formerly possessed, of which they were deprived during the troubles, shall be restored to them, unless occupied by any kind of edifices or buildings, in which case, others shall be provided gratuitously.
29th.—We enjoin it expressly upon our officers, to see to it that no scandal occurs at said funerals: and in fifteen days, at farthest, after a requisition has been made, they shall be obliged to provide a convenient place for the said interments, without any delay or procrastination, under a personal penalty of a fine of five hundred crowns. All said officers and others are forbidden to require any thing for conducting said dead bodies, under penalty of extortion.
30th.—In order that justice may be administered to our subjects without suspicion, hatred or favor, as a principal means of maintaining peace and good order, we have commanded and do command, that, in our Court of Parliament in Paris, a Chamber shall be established, consisting of a President and sixteen Councillors from the said Parliament, which shall be entitled the Chamber of the Edict, and shall take cognizance not only of the causes and lawsuits of those of the pretended Reformed religion who shall be within the limits of said Court, but also within the districts of our Parliaments of Normandie and Bretagne, according to the jurisdiction which shall be hereafter given to it by the present Edict, till similar Chambers shall have been established in each of said Parliaments to administer justice in those places. We command also that for the four offices of Councillors, in our said Parliament, remaining from the last establishment made by us, four discreet and competent persons of the said pretended Reformed religion shall be provided and received in said Parliament, namely, the first to be received in the Chamber of the Edict, and the other three, as soon as they can be received, in three of the Chambres des Enquêtes and besides that, the two first offices of the Secular Councillors that shall become vacant by death, shall also be filled by two of the said pretended Reformed religion, and these received, shall be distributed also in the two other Chambres des Enquêtes.
3lst.—Besides the Chamber formerly established at Castres, for the district of our Court of Parliament of Toulouse, which shall be continued as at present, we have for the same consideration commanded and do command that, in each of our Courts of Parliament of Grénoble and Bourdeaux, a Chamber shall likewise be established, consisting of two Presidents, one Catholic and the other of the pretended Reformed religion, and of twelve Councillors, of whom six shall be Catholic and the other six of the said religion, which Catholic President and Councillors shall by us be taken from and chosen out of the bodies of our said Courts. And as for those of said religion, there shall be a new President and six Councillors created for the Parliament of Bourdeaux, and one President and three Councillors for that of Grénoble, which, with the three Councillors of said religion now in said Parliament, shall be employed in the said Chamber of Dauphiny. The newly created Officers shall be entitled to the same emoluments, honors, rewards and dignities as the others of the said Courts. And the said sitting of said Chamber of Bourdeaux shall be held at Bourdeaux or at Nerac, and that of Dauphiny at Grénoble.
32d.—The said Chamber of Dauphiny shall have cognizance of the causes of those of the pretended Reformed religion within the jurisdiction of our Parliament of Provence, without requiring letters of appeal as in the Chancery Court of Dauphiny, in like manner those of said religion in Normandy and Bretagne shall not be required to take out letters of appeal or other preparation as in our Chancery Court of Paris.
33d.— Our subjects of the religion, of the Parliament of Burgundy, shall have the choice of pleading before the Chamber ordered in the Parliament of Paris or in that of Dauphiny. And they shall not be obliged to take out letters of appeal or other preparation as in the said Chancery Courts of Paris or Dauphiny, according to the choice they shall make.
34th.—All the said Chambers, composed as aforesaid, shall take cognizance and pronounce sentence definitively, without appeal, making decisions, to the exclusion of all others, upon suits and causes commenced and intended to be commenced, in which those of said pretended Reformed religion shall be principal or security, vs plaintiff or defendant, in matters civil or criminal, whether the said complaint be made in writing or verbally, if it seems good to the said parties, and one of them shall demand it, before the commencement of the trial: excepting, always, all matters connected with Church Benefices, the possession of tithes not impropriated, clerical patronage and causes where the question turns upon the rights, duties or domains of the church, which shall all be treated and judged in the Courts of Parliament, without the said Chambers of the Edict having any cognizance thereof. It is also our will, that in deciding suits which may arise between the said Clergy and those of the said pretended Reformed religion, if the clergyman be defendant, the cognizance and judgment of the criminal suit shall belong to our Sovereign Courts, to the exclusion of said Chambers; and if the clergyman be plaintiff, and he of said religion defendant, the cognizance and judgment of the criminal suit shall belong to the said Chambers established, which shall give final decision, without appeal. During vacation, the said Chambers shall also have cognizance of matters referred, by the Edicts and Ordinances, to the Chambers established for the time of vacation, each within its district.
35th.—The said Chamber of Grenoble shall from this time forward be united and incorporated with the body of the said Court of Parliament, and the President and Councillors of the said pretended Reformed religion shall be nominated Presidents and Councillors of the said Court, and considered as of their number and of equal rank. And for these ends they shall first be distributed in the other Chambers; then selected and drawn from them to be employed and to serve in that which we shall order anew; always with the understanding that they shall attend, have a seat and vote in all the deliberations of the assembled Chambers, and shall enjoy the same emoluments, authority and dignities as the other Presidents and Councillors of said Court.
36th.—It is our will, and it must be understood, that the said Chambers of Castres and Bourdeaux shall be re-united and incorporated with those Parliaments, in the same way as the others, when required, and when the cause which has induced us to establish them shall cease and no longer be known amongst our subjects; and for these ends the Presidents and Councillors of those of the said religion, shall be named and appointed Presidents and Councillors of said Courts.
37th.—There shall also be newly appointed, in the Chamber ordered for the Parliament of Bourdeaux, two Substitutes for our Attorney and our Solicitor-General, one of whom shall be Catholic and the other of the said religion, for whom shall be provided ready money salaries from said offices.
38th.—The said substitutes shall be considered as substitutes only, and when the Chambers ordered for the Parliaments of Toulouse and Bourdeaux shall be united and incorporated with the said Parliaments, the said substitutes shall be furnished with the office of Councillors in them.
39th.—The copies of documents from the Court of Chancery of Bourdeaux, shall be made out in the presence of two Councillors of this Chamber, one of whom shall be Catholic, and the other of the said pretended Reformed religion in the absence of one of the Masters of Requests of our Hotel. And one of the Notaries and Secretaries of the said Court of Parliament of Bourdeaux shall reside in the place where the said Chamber shall be established, or else one of the ordinary Secretaries of the Court of Chancery, for the purpose of signing documents from said Court.
40th.—We desire and command that in the said Chamber of Bourdeaux there be two Clerks to the Registrar of the said Parliament, one civil and the other criminal, who shall discharge their duties under our Commission, and shall be called Clerks to the Court of Records, Civil and Criminal. The Registrars of the Parliament shall not have power to dismiss or recall them. The Clerks shall pay over to the Registrars all the fees of the said Registry, and they shall be paid by the Registrars as shall be deliberately resolved upon by the said Chamber, Moreover, Catholic doorkeepers shall be appointed, who shall be taken from said Court, or elsewhere, according to our pleasure: besides which there shall be two newly appointed of said religion, provided gratuitously, and the said doorkeepers shall all be regulated by the said Chamber, as well in regard to the fulfilment of their duties as in the allowance of perquisites lo them. There shall also be a prompt appointment of a person to pay salaries and receive fines in said Chamber, if it be established elsewhere than in said city, to be approved of by us. The appointment formerly made, of a Paymaster to the Chamber of Castres shall take effect, and the duty of receiving fines in the said Chamber, shall be added thereto.
41st.—Good and sufficient assignments shall be made for paying salaries to the Officers of the Chambers ordered by this Edict.
42d.—The Presidents, Councillors and other Catholic Officers of the said Chambers shall be continued so long as shall seem to be for our benefit and the good of our subjects; and when some are removed, others must be provided beforehand to take their places; and during the time of service they must not be absent without the permission of those who shall have suits pending in conformity with the Ordinance.
43d.—The said Chambers shall be established within six months, during which time (if it be so long before the establishment be made) the suits commenced and intended to be commenced, in which those of the said religion shall be parties, within the jurisdiction of our Parliaments of Paris, Rouen, Dijon and Rennes, shall be brought forward in the Chamber established for the present in Paris, in virtue of the Edict of the year 1577, or else in the Great Council, at the choice and option of those of the said religion if they require it: those who shall be of the Parliament of Bourdeaux, at their option, either in the Chamber established at Castres or at the said Great Council; and those who shall be of Provence in the Parliament of Grénoble. And if the said Chambers are not established within three months after our present Edict shall have been presented to them, those of our Parliaments which have refused, shall be deprived of all cognizance over and all right of judging the causes of those of the said religion.
44th.—The suits not yet tried of the above mentioned description, pending in the said Courts of Parliament and Great Council, shall be referred, in whatsoever state they may be, to the said Chambers, each in its proper district, if one of the parties of the said religion demand it within four months after the establishment thereof; and as for those which are suspended and not in a state for trial, the said persons of said religion shall be obliged to make their declaration on the first intimation and notice they shall have of the taking up of the suits; and the said time passed, it shall no longer be open to them to demand the reference.
45th.—The said Chambers of Grénoble and Bourdeaux, and the Chamber of Castres shall retain the forms and style of Parliaments, within the jurisdiction in which they shall be established, and those who sit in judgment shall be of equal numbers of each religion, unless the parties agree to the contrary.
46th.—All the judges to whom application shall be made for the execution of writs and orders from the said Chambers, and of Chancery letters, together with all constables and sergeants, shall be obliged to execute them; and the said constables and sergeants shall serve all subpoenas throughout the kingdom without asking Placet visa ne Pareatis, under pain of suspension from their offices, and the risk of all costs and injuries to the parties, the cognizance of which shall belong to the said parties.
47th.—There shall be no removing of suits, the cognizance of which belongs to said Chambers, save in the case of the Ordinances, which shall be referred to the nearest Chamber established in conformity with our Edict. And the distribution of the suits of said Chambers shall be decided in the nearest, observing the orders and forms of said Chambers in which the suits shall be prosecuted; except for the Chamber of the Edict in our Parliament of Paris, where the suits commenced shall be distributed in the same Chamber by Judges who shall be nominated by us, in special letters to that effect, if the parties shall not prefer waiting the renewal of said Chamber. And if it happen that a similar suit be given to all the Mixed Chambers, the distribution shall be referred to the said Chamber of Paris.
48th.—The objecting to or challenging of the President and Councillors of the Mixed Chambers shall be allowed, to the number of six; to which number the parties must be limited, otherwise all shall proceed without regard to said objections.
49th.—The examination of the Presidents and Councillors newly appointed for the Mixed Chambers, shall be made in our Privy Council, or in the said Chambers, each in its own district when they shall be numerous enough ; and nevertheless the usual oath, shall be taken by them in the courts where the said Chambers shall be established, and on their refusal, in our Privy Council, excepting those of the Chamber of Languedoc, who shall take the oath before our Chancellor or in that Chamber.
50th.—We desire and command that the acceptance of our Officers of the said religion shall be decided in the Mixed Chambers by the plurality of votes, as is usual in other tribunals, without requiring a majority of two-thirds, according to the Ordinance, which in this respect is null and void.
5lst.—And to these Mixed Chambers shall be referred all propositions, deliberations and resolutions appertaining to the maintenance of public tranquillity, and the private concerns and Police of those towns in which the Chambers shall be established.
52d.—The article upon the jurisdiction of the said Chambers, ordered by the present Edict, shall be followed and observed according to its form and tenor, equally in all that concerns the execution or non-execution, or infraction of our Edicts when those of said religion shall be parties.
53d.—The subaltern officers. Royal or otherwise, whose acceptance appertains to our Courts of Parliament, if they be of the said pretended Reformed religion, may be examined and received in the said Chambers: that is to say, those within the jurisdictions of the Parliaments of Paris, Normandy and Bretagne, in the said Chamber of Paris; those of Dauphiny and Provence, in the Chamber of Grénoble; those of Burgundy, in the said Chamber of Paris or of Dauphiny, at their option; those within the jurisdiction of Toulouse, in the Chamber of Castres; and those of the Parliament of Bourdeaux, in the Chamber of Guyenne; without any one being allowed to raise objection but our Attorneys-General and their substitutes, and those in said offices. Nevertheless, the usual oath shall be taken by them in the Courts of Parliament, which shall not be able to take any action as to their admission; and if the said Parliament refuse, the said Officers shall take the oath in the said Chambers, after which ceremony, they, shall be obliged to present the proof of their admission to the Registrars of the said Courts of Parliament, through a doorkeeper or notary, and also to leave a collated copy with the said Registrars : upon whom it is enjoined to record the said acts, upon pain of all costs and losses to said parties; and where the said Registrars shall refuse to do this, it shall be sufficient for the said Officers to report the fact of the said summons, dispatched by the said doorkeeper or notary, and the Registrar of the said district shall be obliged to make a record of it, for future reference, as occasion may require, under pain of prosecution and trial. And as for those Officers whose admission has not usually been granted through our said Parliaments, in case that those, who ought to examine and admit them, refuse to do so, the said Officers shall apply for redress to the said Chambers, as they have a right to do.
54th.—The Officers of the said pretended Reformed religion who shall be appointed hereafter, to serve in our Courts of Parliament, Great Council, Court of Exchequer, Court of Excise or Treasury Bureau, and other financial Offices, shall be examined and admitted in the accustomed places ; and in case of refusal or denial of justice, the matter shall be inquired into by our Privy Council.
55th.—The admission of Officers through the Chamber formerly established at Castres, shall be valid in spite of any Decree or Ordinance to the contrary. "We also declare to be valid, the admission of Judges, Councillors, Assessors and other Officers of said religion, by our Privy Council or by Commissioners appointed by us to act in case of the refusal of our Courts of Parliament, Excise and Exchequer, all to be as valid as if they were admitted by the said Courts and Chambers, or by the other Judges, to whom the right of admission belongs. And their salary shall be paid without objection by the Court of Exchequer; and if any have been struck off the list, they shall be reinstated without requiring further orders than those contained in the present Edict, and without obliging any Officer to bring fresh proof of admission, notwithstanding Decrees to the contrary, which shall be null and void.
56th.—Until means arise from the payment of fines, for the expenses of justice in the said Chambers, a sufficient assignment shall be made to meet the expenses, without prejudice to the recovery of interest upon the property of condemned persons.
57th.—The President and Councillors of the said pretended Reformed religion formerly received in our Court of Parliament of Dauphiny, and in the Chamber of the Edict, incorporated with it, shall continue to have their seats and rank therein; that is to say, the Presidents, as they have enjoyed and do enjoy them, and the Councillors, in conformity with the decrees and orders obtained from our Privy Council.
58th.—"We declare to be null and void, from this time forth, all sentences, judgments, arrests, prosecutions, seizures, sales and decrees made and given against persons, dead or alive of the said pretended Reformed religion, since the death of the late King Henry II., our much honored Lord and Father-in-law, on account of the said religion, the tumults and troubles thence arising, together with the execution of those sentences and decrees. We command all of them to be erased and taken away from the Records of the Registrars of all Courts, superior and inferior. It is also our will that all marks, vestiges and monuments of said executions shall be entirely effaced and removed, as well as all defamatory books or acts injurious to their persons, their memory or their posterity; and that wherever injury or destruction of property took place from that cause, the same shall be restored in its present condition to the former proprietors, to enjoy and dispose of as they please. And generally, we declare null and void all prosecutions and informations laid for pretended High Treason and other crimes. In spite of any prosecutions, decrees and judgments implying resumption, incorporation and confiscation that may have passed, we command the restoration in full, of all property to those of the said religion, others who belonged to their party and their heirs, and that they be put in real and actual possession of the same.
59th.—All legal proceedings carried on, and all sentences and decrees passed, during the troubles, against those of said religion who bore arms, or who withdrew from our Kingdom, or entered within cities or countries of which they had the possession, on account of other affairs besides religion and the troubles; together with all non-suits, claims from right of prescription, as well conventional as customary, all manorial seizures made from having lapsed during the troubles, or gained by means of legal impediments caused by them, and of which the cognizance belongs to our judges, shall be considered as never having been made, given or occurred. And such we have declared and do declare them, and we make them void and of none effect, without appeal; but every thing shall be restored and reinstated, in spite of said sentences, and all shall be replaced on the same footing as before. The same course shall be pursued with respect to persons who were attached to the party of those of said religion, or who absented themselves from our Kingdom on account of the troubles. And, with regard to minor children whose parents, under the above named circumstances, died during the troubles, all shall be restored to them, free of expense, and without being obliged to pay any fines; it is, however, not to be understood that the decisions given by the Presidial or Inferior Judges against those of the said religion or their party should be null, if given by Judges holding their sittings in towns possessed by them, and to which they had free access.
60th.—The decisions shall be of none effect, which have been given by our Courts of Parliament, in matters whose cognizance belongs to the Chambers ordered by the Edict of the year 1577, and Articles of Nerac and Fleix, when the parties did not proceed voluntarily in said courts, that is to say, when they protested against the jurisdiction of the court in the case, or where causes have gone by default or foreclosure, as well in civil as in criminal suits, where, in spite of protest, the said parties have been compelled to go on. Such decisions shall be of no value. But with regard to decisions given against those of said religion who have not protested, but who have proceeded voluntarily, those shall stand. Nevertheless, without prejudice to the execution thereof, the parties may, if it seem good to them, ask for a revision before the Chambers ordered by this Edict, unless the time allowed by the present Edict shall have expired; and until the said Chambers and Courts of Chancery be established, a verbal or written appeal from those of said religion presented to the Judges, Registrars or Clerks, executors of the sentences and judgments shall have the same force as if presented by Royal Letters.
61st.—In all inquiries which shall be made for any use in civil suits, if the Examiner or Commissioner be a Catholic, the parties shall be required to agree upon an associate, and where they cannot agree upon one, the aid Examiner or Commissioner shall select one himself of the said pretended Reformed religion: and the same practice shall be pursued, when the Examiner or Commissioner is of the said religion, with regard to the selection of an associate, who shall then be a Catholic.
62d.—It is our will and command that our Judges take cognizance of the validity of Wills, in which those of the said religion are interested, if they require it, and appeals from said judgments may be made, notwithstanding all custom to the contrary, even in Bretagne.
63d.—To obviate all differences which might arise between our Courts of Parliament and the Chambers of those Courts ordered by our present Edict, good and sufficient regulations shall be made by us for the government of said Courts and Chambers, such as shall secure to those of the said pretended Reformed religion, the full benefit of said Edict: which regulations shall be recorded in our Courts of Parliament, and kept and observed without regard to precedents.
64th.—We prohibit and forbid all our sovereign and other Courts of this kingdom to take cognizance and try any civil or criminal causes of those of said religion, the cognizance of which by this our Edict belongs to the said Chambers, provided that the reference be demanded as is said in XL. [3] article aforesaid.
65th.—We desire also in the meanwhile and until otherwise ordered, that in all suits commenced and intended to be commenced in which any of said religion shall be plaintiff or defendant, principal or security, in civil matters in which our officers and Presidial Courts have the power of final judgment, the privilege shall be granted to them of requiring that two of the Chamber where the suit is tried shall refrain from judging, which, without giving any reason, shall restrain said two from judging, the Ordinance to the contrary notwithstanding, which provides that judges shall not be challenged without cause: and in addition to this, the right of challenging others remains to them unimpaired. And in criminal suits, in which also the said Presidial and other Royal Subaltern Judge give final judgment, the arraigned parties, being of the said religion, may require three of the Judges to refrain from trying the cause, without assigning any reason. And the Provosts Marshal of France, the Vice-Bailiffs, Vice-Seneschals, Lieutenants of the Short Robe, and other officers of the same rank, shall judge in conformity with the ordinances and regulations heretofore given in the case of non-residents {vagabons). And as for residents accused and arraigned within the Provosts' jurisdiction, if they are of the said religion, they may require that three of the said Judges who have cognizance therein refrain from judging in their suits, and they shall refrain accordingly, without any reason being assigned; saving when, in the body where the suit is tried, there shall be found the number of two in civil suits, and three in criminal suits, of the said religion, in which case none shall be challenged without giving a reason: which practice shall be mutually and commonly followed with regard to Catholics, in the same form as given above for challenging the Judges, where those of the pretended Reformed religion shall be most in number; not having it understood, however, from what is here said, that the said Presidial Courts, Provosts Marshal, Vice-Bailiffs, Vice-Seneschals and others who give final judgment, shall take any cognizance of past difficulties. And as for crimes and excesses arising from other causes than the troubles, since the commencement of the month of March in the year 1585, until the end of the year 1597, in cases of which they have cognizance, it is our will that appeals may be lawfully made from their judgment to the Chambers ordered by the present Edict; the practice shall be similar for the Catholic participants and where those of said pretended Reformed religion shall be parties.
66th.—We desire and command that henceforth in all preparations other than informations for criminal suits in the Seneschal's Courts of Toulouse, Carcassonne, Rouergue, Loragais, Beziers, Montpellier and Nimes, the Magistrate or Commissioner deputed to make said preparations, if he be a Catholic, shall be obliged to take an Associate who shall be of the said pretended Reformed religion, upon whom the parties can agree, but if they shall be unable to agree upon one, the aforesaid Magistrate or Commissioner shall select for the office one of the said religion. In like manner, if the said Magistrate or Commissioner be of said religion, he shall be obliged to have a Catholic Associate.
67th.—Where the question shall be upon criminal prosecution by the Provosts and their Lieutenants, of any one who is a resident and is of the said religion, who is accused of crime within the jurisdiction of the Provosts' Court, if the said Provosts or their Lieutenants be Catholics, they shall be obliged to summon an Associate of said religion, for the preparation of the suit, which Associate shall be present, as well at the decision upon competency of jurisdiction, as at the final trial of the said suit. The question of competency can only be decided at the nearest Presidial Court, to which all the principal officers of said Court, who can be found in the neighborhood must be convened, under the penalty of the proceedings being null; unless the accused party should require the competency to be decided in the said Chambers, ordered by the present Edict. In which case, with regard to those residing in the Provinces of Guyenne, Languedoc, Provence or Dauphiny, the substitutes of our Attorneys-General in the said Chambers shall bring forward, at the request of said residents, the charges and accusations laid against them, for inquiry and decision as to whether the causes belong of right to the Provosts' Court or not, and afterwards, according to the nature of the crime, to be referred by the Chambers for trial in the accustomed mode, or transferred to the Provosts' Court. In either case the Chambers shall see that all is equitably done, in conformity with our present Edict. The Presidial Judges, Provosts, Vice-Bailiffs, Vice-Seneschals, and others who pronounce final judgment, shall be respectively bound to obey implicitly all commands they shall receive from said Chambers, in like manner as they have heretofore obeyed our said Parliaments, under penalty of being deprived of their estates.
68th.—The proclamations, placards and public sale of estates, under order from the Courts, shall take i)lace in the customary places and at the usual hours, so far as may be practicable, and consistent with our Ordinances; otherwise to be in the public market place. If there be no market in the place where the property is situated, the sale shall take place at the nearest market within the district where the adjudication was made, and placards shall be affixed to the post of the said market-place, and at the entrance of the Session House of the said place, and by this means the said notices shall be deemed valid and sufficient, and the sale carried on without delay from any plea of invalidity which might be raised on this account.
69th.—All title-deeds, papers, vouchers and documents which have been taken away, shall be returned and delivered up, equally by both sides to the rightful owners; even if the said papers or the castles and houses in which they were preserved have been taken and seized either by special Commission from the lately deceased King, our much honored Lord and brother-in-law, or others, or by command of the Governors and Lieutenant Generals of our Provinces, or on the other hand by authority of the Chiefs of the other party, or under any pretext whatsoever.
70th.—The children of those who quitted the Kingdom on account of religion and the troubles, after the death of our much honored Lord and Father-in law Henry II. even though the aforesaid children may have been born out of the Kingdom of France, shall enjoy all the rights and privileges of true native Frenchmen, and such we have declared and do declare them to be, and they shall not be obliged to take out letters of naturalization, or take any steps beyond the provisions of this Edict; notwithstanding all Ordinances to the contrary, which we have hereby annulled and do annul; only requiring that the said children, born abroad, shall take up their residence in this Kingdom within ten years after the publication of this Edict.
7lst.—Those of the said pretended Reformed religion who shall have farmed any crown lands, fiefs, gabels, customs, or any other taxes belonging to us, from which they could not draw the income on account of the troubles, shall be discharged, and we do hereby discharge them from paying that which they did not receive from said taxes, or which they paid, without fraud, elsewhere than into our Exchequer, notwithstanding the obligations by which they were bound.
72d.—All places, cities and provinces of our Kingdom, all countries, territories and manors owing obedience to us, shall have full benefit and enjoyment of all privileges, immunities, liberties, franchises, fairs, markets, jurisdictions and Courts of justice of which they were possessed previous to the troubles, dating from the month of March, 1585, and preceding, notwithstanding all Letters to the contrary. If any Courts were removed solely on account of the troubles, the said Courts shall be restored and re-established in the cities and places where they formerly existed. 73d.—If any prisoners are still in confinement or at the galleys, by judicial authority or otherwise, on account of the troubles, they shall be enlarged and set fully at liberty.
74th.—Those of said religion shall not, hereafter, be over-taxed or oppressed by the imposition of any tax, ordinary or extraordinary, beyond what is imposed upon Catholics, in proportion to their property and ability. The parties who complain of surcharge may apply for relief to the Judges who have cognizance thereof, and all our subjects. Catholics, and those of said pretended Reformed religion, shall receive equal justice, and shall be discharged from all impositions illegally laid on them by either party, together with all unpaid obligations, expenses incurred without consent of the parties, without, however, being able to recover the income which shall have been used for the payment of said charges.
75th.—It is intended that neither those of said religion, others of their party, nor the Catholics who remained in the towns and places occupied and retained by them, and who were laid under contribution, shall be prosecuted for the payment of subsidies, excise, city tolls, levies, land tax, quarters for soldiers, indemnities or other impositions and taxes laid during the troubles, before our accession to the Throne, whether by the Edicts and Mandates of the deceased Monarchs, our predecessors, or by the advice and legislation of Governors of Provinces, Courts of Parliament and others. We have discharged and do hereby discharge them from the payment of all such, in forbidding our Royal Treasurers, Receivers, General and Particular, their Clerks and Agents, and other Comptrollers and Commissioners of the Exchequer to inquire after, molest or disturb them, directly or indirectly, in any way whatever.
76th.—There shall be no claim upon the Chiefs, Lords, Knights, Nobles, Officers, Corporations, Societies, persons assisting them, or widows, heirs and successors of such as themselves took and collected, or by their decrees obtained money of any amount, whether belonging to the King's Revenues or to private individuals; rents, revenues, plate and sales of furniture belonging to clergy or laity; forest trees, royal or otherwise; fines, pillage, ransoms or any other kind of property, seized on account of the troubles beginning in March, 1585, and other previous troubles, up to our accession to the Throne. Those persons appointed to collect said funds, or who leased them, or procured them by their Ordinances, cannot be called to account for their proceedings now or at any future time, but shall forever remain free, they and their agents alike, from all inquiry about the management and administration of the said funds, on condition that they produce, before our Court of Parliament of Paris, within four months after the publication of the present Edict, receipts duly executed by the Chiefs of the said religion or by persons empowered by them to audit and close the accounts, or by the City Corporations who held power during the troubles. They shall remain equally free from disturbance on account of any acts of hostility, levying and leading troops, coining and valuing money, according to the orders of said Chiefs, casting or seizing upon artillery and ammunition, manufacturing gunpowder, seizing, fortifying, dismantling and destroying cities, castles, towns, &c., making attempts upon them, burning and otherwise destroying churches, houses, &c.; creating courts of justice, carrying out their sentences whether in matters civil or criminal, police regulations under them, journeys made, correspondence, negotiations entered upon, treaties and contracts concluded with foreign Princes and Governments, the introduction of foreigners within cities and other places in our Kingdom, In short, every thing is to be included within this general amnesty, that has been negotiated, arranged or completed, during the said troubles, by those of the said religion and their party, since the death of the late King. Henry II.
77th.—There shall no accusation be brought against any person of the said religion for holding General or Provincial Assemblies, as well that at Mantes as elsewhere, and since, up to this present time, together with Councils established and ordered through the Provinces, Deliberations, Ordinances and Regulations, made by said Assemblies and Councils; establishing and increasing garrisons, assembling troops, levying taxes, taking them out of the hands of our Receivers, Parish Collectors or others, in any way whatever, seizing salt, continuing or erecting new stage stations, toll houses, and receiving the tolls from them, even at Royan, and on the rivers Charente, Garonne, the Rhone and Dordonne; fitting out vessels and fighting with the same, together with any accidents or excesses arriving from enforcing the payment of said tolls and other rates, fortifying cities, castles and other places, imposing taxes and forced labor (cortées) receipts from the same, deposing our Receivers, Farmers and other Officers, appointing others in their places; all combinations formed, dispatches sent and negotiations carried on within or without the Kingdom: in short, nothing done, discussed, written and ordered by said Assemblies, shall be inquired into, and those persons who advised, signed, executed, caused to be signed and executed the said Ordinances, Regulations and Resolutions, shall remain undisturbed, as also their widows, children and heirs, now and forever, even if the particulars of the case be not specially provided for herein. We impose perpetual silence on these subjects upon our Attorneys-General, their substitutes, and any others who may be interested therein, in any way whatsoever, notwithstanding all decrees, sentences, judgments, prosecutions or proceedings to the contrary.
78th.—We fully approve, authorize and pronounce to be valid, the accounts which have been audited, closed and examined by the deputies of the said Assembly. We desire that these, together with the receipts and papers which have been presented by the responsible parties, shall be taken to the Court of Exchequer in Paris, three months after the publication of the present Edict, and placed in charge of our Attorney-General, to be delivered to the keeper of the books and registers of our Chamber, to be ready when wanted for reference, at all times, without requiring said accounts to be revised, nor the parties responsible for them being obliged to appear or make correction, unless in the case of any thing received having been omitted, or in that of false receipts having been given. Our said Attorney-General roust not raise any question with regard to deficient surplus, or formalities not carefully attended to. Officers of the Treasury, as well in Paris as in the Provinces where they are settled, are not to take cognizance of any such matters, in any way whatever.
79th.—With regard to accounts not yet given in, we wish them to be audited and closed by Commissioners who will be appointed by us for the purpose, who will make no difficulty in passing and allowing all items, paid by the said responsible parties, in virtue of the Ordinances of the said Assembly, or others possessing power.
80th.—All Collectors, Receivers, Farmers and all others, shall be fully and legally discharged from the payment of all funds of what nature soever, which they paid to the said Clerks of the said Assembly, up to the last day of this month. We wish to have every thing passed and allowed in the accounts presented to our Exchequer, purely and simply in virtue of the receipts which shall be borne upon them. If any shall be afterwards executed and delivered in, they shall be declared null, and persons who shall accept them or deliver them in, shall be condemned to the penalty, for presenting false accounts. And where there shall appear in accounts formerly given in to have been erasures made or entries introduced, the said parts shall be entirely restored as before, in virtue of these presents, without requiring special letters or any thing more than the production of an extract from the present article.
81st.—There shall be no claim upon Governors, Captains, Consuls, or persons appointed to collect funds for paying the garrisons of places held by those of the said religion, which our Parochial Receivers and Collectors, either by constraint or in obedience to command of the Paymasters, furnished by loan upon their notes or bonds, for the support of the said garrisons; as much as comes to what we concluded to place on the roll at the commencement of the year 1596, and the increase since granted by us. The said parties shall be free from all claim for what was paid for the above purpose, even if not expressly specified upon the notes and bonds, which shall be returned to them as null. And, in order to accomplish this discharge, the paymasters in each district shall make the individual Receivers of our taxes give receipts to the said Collectors, and the Receivers-general shall give receipts to the individual Receivers: for the release of the Receivers-general, there will be the sums of which they will have kept account, as much as it is said to be, endorsed upon the orders issued by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, under the names of the Paymasters-General for the payment of the said garrisons, and where the said orders do not amount to as much as our said establishment of the year 1596, and the subsequent addition to it, we command that fresh orders shall be given for the amount necessary to release those responsible for it, and to recover said promissory notes and bonds, so that there may not hereafter be any claim upon those who gave them. All papers requisite for confirming the discharge of the accountable parties shall be executed in virtue of the present article.
82d.—Likewise, those of said religion must forbear and desist from all devices, negotiations and correspondence, as well within as without our kingdom; and the assemblies formed in the provinces must be dissolved immediately; all leagues and associations formed, or to be formed, under any pretext whatsoever, contrary to our present Edict, shall be broken and annulled, as we do break and annul such; we expressly forbid all our subjects from this day forth, holding clubs, raising money without permission, making fortications, enlisting men, congregating and assembling otherwise than permitted by this Edict, and without arms, all of which we prohibit and forbid under pain of being severely punished, as despisers and breakers of our commands and ordinances.
83d.—All captures at sea, during the troubles, made in virtue of licenses, and those by land also, upon those of the opposite party, and which have been judged by judges and Commissioners of the Admiralty, or by the Chiefs of those of the said religion or their Council, shall be hushed under the provisions of our present Edict, without allowing any prosecution: neither the Captains nor others who have made the said captures, their securities, the said judges, officers, their widows or heirs, can ever be called to account or molested in any way whatever, notwithstanding any decrees of our Privy Council or letters of marque, and distraint, pending and not judged, of which we desire there to be full and entire replevin.
84th.—Likewise, there can be no inquiry made about those of said religion who, during, and even since the troubles, have hindered and opposed the execution of decrees and judgments obtained for the re-establishment of the Apostolic Roman Catholic Religion, in divers places within this kingdom.
85th.—And as for those who committed acts of hostility contrary to the regulations public or private, of Chiefs or Communities who held power in the Provinces, they may be prosecuted as the law directs.
86th.—Inasmuch, however, as if what was done contrary to the regulations on both sides, is indiscriminately excepted and reserved, from the general indemnity granted by our Edict, and allowed to be inquired into, there would be no military man exempt from disturbance, which would probably produce fresh troubles: on this account we wish and command that none but criminal cases shall be excepted from said indemnity, such as rape, burning, murder, theft committed by treachery, ambuscade out of the line of regular warfare to gratify private revenge, contrary to the laws of war, disregarding, passports and safe conducts, murdering and pillaging without orders. Such to be the rule with regard to those of said religion, and others who have followed the party of their Chiefs, acting from private motives.
87th.—We command likewise, that punishment be inflicted for crimes and offences committed amongst persons of the same party, provided they were not acts ordered by the Chiefs of either party, in conformity with the necessities, usages and laws of war. For raising and exacting money, bearing arms and other warlike operations on private account, without authority, they shall be liable to prosecution according to law.
88th.—The cities, dismantled during the troubles, may be rebuilt and repaired from the ruins, at the expense of the inhabitants, and the (octroi) toll formerly levied upon provisions for this purpose may be continued.
89th.—It is our order, desire and pleasure, that all Lords, Knights, Nobles, and others of whatsoever rank and condition of the said pretended Reformed Religion and their party, be restored to, and effectually replaced in the full enjoyment of every and all their property, privileges, names, rights, and offices, notwithstanding judgments to the contrary procured during the troubles. "We do declare all such decrees, seizures and judgments null and void.
90th.—Where those of the said pretended Reformed Religion, have become possessed of real estate belonging to the Church, in any other way than by grants from the deceased Kings our Predecessors, the title shall not stand good, but the Clergy shall be reinstated immediately and without delay, and be protected in the possession and actual enjoyment of the property alienated, without being obliged to defray the amount for which it was sold; and this notwithstanding deeds of sale, which we break and declare void; without however depriving the purchasers of the right to look for redress from the Chiefs, under whose authority the said property was sold. Nevertheless for the reimbursement of that which was truly and honestly paid, we shall execute Letters Patent giving permission to those of said religion, to claim upon them the amount of said sales, without allowing said purchasers to make any claim for damages from the loss of possession, but merely to content themselves with being repaid the sum actually paid by them for the property. If the property should have been bought at some unjust price below its value, a deduction of profits made from it must be allowed.
91st.—To the end that all Magistrates, Officers, and the rest of our subjects may perfectly understand our wishes and intentions, and that no ambiguity may arise from conflicting articles contained in former Edicts, we have declared, and we do now declare, to be null and void all former Edicts, Secret Articles, Letters, Declarations, Modifications, Restrictions, Explanations, Decrees and Records, as well as all Secret and other Resolutions formerly issued by us, or the Kings our predecessors, registered in our Courts of Parliament or elsewhere, upon subjects connected with the said religion, and the troubles arising therefrom in our Kingdom. To the abrogation herein contained, we add our declaration that by this our Edict we have broken, revoked, and cancelled all others; and we declare expressly, that we wish this our Edict to be steadfastly and inviolably kept and observed, by all Magistrates and Officers, as well as all our other subjects, eschewing every thing contrary to its provisions.
92d.—And for still further assurance, that this Edict be observed and carried out as we wish, it is our Royal will and pleasure that, immediately upon its reception, all Governors, and Lieutenant-Governors of our Provinces, all Bailiffs, Seneschals, and other Magistrates in our cities, shall swear to have it kept and observed, each within his District; as also the Mayors, Sheriffs, Capitouls, Consuls and Aldermen, annual or permanent, in our cities and towns. "We also enjoin upon our said Bailiffs, Seneschals, or their Lieutenants, and other judges, that they call upon the principal inhabitants, indifferently of either religion, to swear to the maintenance of the present Edict immediately after its publication. We take all alike under our protection and safe-keeping, and desire all mutually to protect each other; and we make our officers liable to answer themselves in Court for any infraction of the present Edict by the inhabitants of the said cities, if they do not lodge a complaint against such offenders, and hand them over to the law.
We command our right entirely and well-beloved people, comprising our Courts of Parliament, our Courts of Exchequer, and Courts of Aids, under the penalty for causing Acts, that would otherwise pass, to be null and void, to let nothing intervene, but, immediately after receiving the present Edict, take the above oath and have the Edict published and registered in our said Courts, purely and simply according to the form and tenor of its contents, without modification, restriction, protest, or secret record, not waiting for any further order or command from us; and we require our Attorneys-General to exact and enforce the publication immediately without delay.
Therefore we lay our commands upon the members of our said Courts of Parliament, Court of Exchequer, Courts of Aids, our Bailiffs, Seneschals, Provosts, and all other Magistrates, whose duty it may be, together with their Lieutenants, that they cause our present Edict and Ordinance to be read, published, and registered within their respective Courts and jurisdiction, and that they do all in their power to have it maintained and carried out in every point, giving the full and peaceable benefit thereof to all, putting a stop to every thing that could hinder or interfere with it. For, such is our Royal pleasure, in witness whereto, we have signed these presents with our own hand; and in order that it may be an established and settled thing for ever, we have affixed our seal.
Given at Nantes, in the month of April, year of Grace, one thousand five hundred and ninety-eight; and the ninth year of our reign.
Signed,HENRI.
and below, the King being in his Council,
Forget.
And at the side,
Visa.
And sealed with the great seal, with green wax upon cords of red and green silk.
Read, published and registered, the King's Attorney-General hearing
and consenting thereto, at Paris, in Parliament, the twenty-fifth day of
February, one thousand five hundred and ninety-nine.
Voysin.
Read, published and registered, in the Court of Exchequer, the King's
Attorney-General hearing and consenting thereto, the last day of March,
one thousand five hundred and ninety-nine.
De la Fontaine.
Read, published and registered, the King's Attorney- General hearing
and consenting thereto, at Paris, in the Court of Aids, the thirtieth and
last day of April, one thousand five hundred and ninety-nine.
Bernard.
Article 1st.—The sixth article of the said Edict relating to liberty of conscience, and permission to reside within this kingdom, granted to all his Majesty's subjects, shall be extended to, and include within it, all Ministers, Schoolmasters and others, who are or may be in future of the said religion, whether natives or foreigners, acting in all things in conformity with the provisions of said Edict.
2d.—Those of the said religion shall not be obliged to contribute towards the building or repairs of Churches or Chapels, nor to the purchase of Sacerdotal ornaments, Lights, casting of Bells, consecrated bread, hiring houses for Priests or Monks, nor any similar thing; except in cases where they themselves or their ancestors have made endowments.
3d.—They shall not be obliged to decorate their houses on Festivals when it is so ordered, they shall merely allow the official persons to do it, without contributing any thing towards it.
4th.—Those of the said religion shall not, when sick or dying, be obliged to receive exhortations from persons not of their own faith, and their own Ministers shall be permitted to visit and comfort them without hindrance. As for those who shall be under judicial condemnation, the said Ministers may visit and comfort them, but can only offer up public prayers in those places where the said religion is allowed free exercise.
5th.—The public exercise of the said religion shall be lawful at Pimpoul: and in the faubourg of Paulet for Dieppe; and the said places of Pimpoul and Paulet shall be places for bailiwicks. As for Sancerre, the said exercise shall be continued as at present, save that for the establishment of it in the said town, the inhabitants must make it appear that they have the consent of the Lord of the Manor. Commissioners appointed by His Majesty for the execution of the Edict will attend to this. The free exercise of the said religion shall be re-established in the town of Montagnac in Languedoc.
6th.—The following plan has been decided upon, for the execution of the article upon bailiwicks. Firstly, for the establishment of the exercise of the said religion, in the two places granted in each Bailiwick, Presidency or Government, those of the said religion shall name two cities, in the faubourgs of which, the said exercise shall be established by the Commissioners, his Majesty shall appoint for the execution of the Edict. And in cases where the Commissioners shall not approve, those of the said religion shall name two or three villages near to the said cities, from which the Commissioners shall make choice of one. And if from war or pestilence, or other actual impediment, the religious exercise cannot be carried on in the appointed places, others may be named for use during the continuance of the impediment. Secondly, there shall only be two cities named within the government of Picardy, in the faubourgs of which the exercise of said religion may be allowed, for the Bailiwicks, Presidencies, and Governments dependent upon it: and where it may not be convenient to allow it in the faubourgs of the cities, two villages may be selected. Thirdly, in consideration of the great extent of the Presidency of Provence, and the Bailiwick of Viennois, His Majesty grants permission for the exercise of said religion in a third place, which shall be selected according to the above provisions, and shall be in addition to the places where the exercise already exists.
7th.—That which is granted by the said article, for the exercise of the said religion within the Bailiwicks, shall extend to the lands owned by the late Queen, the mother-in-law of His Majesty, and to the Bailiwick of Beaujolois.
8th.—In addition to the two places granted for the exercise of the said religion, by the private articles of the year 1577, in the Isles of Marennes and Oleron, two others shall be granted, for the convenience of the inhabitants: that is to say, one for all the Isles of Marennes, and one for Oleron.
9th.—The octroi or toll upon provisions granted by His Majesty, for the exercise of said religion in the city of Mets, shall take full effect.
10th.—It is the will and pleasure of His Majesty, that the 27th article of his Edict, relating to the eligibility for official Dignity of persons of the pretended Reformed religion, shall be understood and fully observed according to its form and tenor; notwithstanding edicts and grants formerly made for the reduction of any Princes, Nobles, or Catholic cities to obedience, which grants shall have no prejudicial bearing upon those of said religion, except in the matter of the public exercise thereof, which shall be regulated by the following articles; from which, instructions shall be drawn up for the Commissioners, whom His Majesty will appoint to put in execution the provisions of his Edict.
11th.—According to the Edict given by His Majesty, for the reduction of the Duke of Guise, the exercise of the said pretended Reformed religion, shall not be allowed within the cities or faubourgs of Rheims, Rocroy, Saint Disier, Guise, Joinville, Fimes, and Moncornet in the Ardennes.
12th.—It shall not be allowed in the environs of the said cities, and places in which it was forbidden by the Edict of the year 1577.
13th.—And in order to take away all ambiguity that might possibly attach to the word environs. His Majesty declares that it is understood to apply to all places within the liberties, or the jurisdiction of the said cities, in which places the said religion shall not be established, except it should have been permitted by the Edict of 1577.
14th.—And inasmuch as by that, the said exercise was granted generally in the Fiefs belonging to those of the said religion, without excepting the said environs: His Majesty declares the same privilege shall still be possessed by those of the said religion holding such Fiefs, as is declared in the Edict given at Nantes.
15th.—According to the Edict given for the reduction of the Marshal de la Châtre, there shall be only one place granted for the exercise of the said religion, in each of the Bailiwicks of Orleans and Bourges, nevertheless the exercise may be continued where it is permitted by the Edict of Nantes.
16th.—The privilege of preaching in the Fiefs, shall be extended to the said Bailiwicks, in the way directed by the Edict of Nantes.
17th.—The Edict given for the reduction of the Marshal de Bois Dauphin shall be observed; and the said exercise shall not be permitted within any towns, faubourgs, or places brought by him into subjection to His Majesty. As for the environs of such, the Edict of 1577 shall be observed, even in the houses of the Fiefs, as directed by the Edict of Nantes.
18th.—There shall be no exercise of the said religion within the cities, faubourgs and castle of Morlais, in conformity with the Edict given on the reduction of the said city. The Edict of 1577 shall be observed within the district, even in the Fiefs, according to the Edict of Nantes.
19th.—In consequence of the Edict for the reduction of Quin-percorantin, there shall be no exercise of the said religion within the Bishopric of Cornouaille.
20th.—According also to the Edict given for the reduction of Beauvais, there shall be no exercise of the said religion at Beauvais, nor within the distance of three leagues around it. Nevertheless, it may be established in the places permitted by the Edict of 1577, even in the houses of the fifes, in conformity with the Edict of Nantes.
2lst.—Inasmuch as the Edict given for the reduction of Admiral Villars was only provisional, and to be in force until the King decreed otherwise, it is the will and pleasure of His Majesty, that henceforth his Edict of Nantes shall regulate all cities and jurisdictions brought into subjection to His Majesty by the said Admiral.
22d.—According to the Edict for the reduction of the Duke de Joyeuse, the exercise of said religion shall not be allowed in the city of Toulouse or its faubourgs, or within four leagues around it, nor any nearer than the cities of Villemur, Carmain and the Isle in Jourdan.
23d.—It shall not be restored in the towns of Alet, Auriac and Montesquieu; with the understanding, at the same, time, that if persons of the said religion within the said towns, shall petition for a place where they can have the exercise of said religion, the Commissioners of His Majesty, or the officers of the place, shall assign for each town some place of convenient and safe access for the said exercise, to be not further than one league distant from the town.
24th.—The said exercise may be established according to the provisions of the Edict of Nantes, within the jurisdiction of the Court of Parliament of Toulouse; excepting, always, in the Bailiwicks, Presidencies &c. the chief town of which was brought into subjection to the King by the said Duke de Joyeuse, where the Edict of 1577 must be observed. It is to be understood that the said exercise may be continued in the places where it existed at the time of the reduction; and in the houses of fiefs as set forth in the Edict of Nantes.
25th.—The Edict given for the reduction of Dijon shall be observed, and according to it, there shall be no religious exercises whatever but those of the Apostolic Roman Catholic Church, within the City or for four leagues around it.
26th.—The Edict given for the reduction of the Duke De Mayenne shall be likewise observed, and, in conformity with it, there shall be no exercise of the pretended Reformed religion within the towns of Chalons, and for two leagues around Soissons, for the space of six years, commencing from the month of January, 1596; after the expiration of which period, the Edict of Nantes shall extend there and be observed as through the rest of the Kingdom.
27th.—Persons of all ranks of the said religion shall be permitted to reside within the City of Lyons, and freely to go and come; and the same as regards other places within the Government of Lyonnois, notwithstanding prohibitions formerly made by the Syndics and Sheriffs of the said City of Lyons, and confirmed by His Majesty.
28th.—There shall be only one place in a Bailiwick for the exercise of said religion, within the whole Presidency of Poitiers, besides those in which it is now established. The fiefs to be regulated by the Edict of Nantes. The said exercise shall be continued in the town of Chauvigny : the said exercise shall not be re-established in the towns of Agen, and Perigueux, although by the Edict of 1577 it might be.
29th.—There shall be only two places in the Bailiwick for the exercise of the said religion, in the Government of Picardy, as has been said before; and the said two places may be given in the districts reserved by the Edict given on the reduction of Amiens, Peronne and Abbeville. The said exercise may be permitted in the houses of the fiefs, throughout the Government of Picardy, according to the Edict of Nantes.
30th.—There shall be no exercise of the said religion in the town and faubourg of Sens, and only one place in the Bailiwick shall be allowed within the district; without prejudice, however, to the privileges granted to the owners of fiefs, which shall be in accordance with the Edict of Nantes.
31st.—The said exercise shall not be allowed within the city or faubourgs of Nantes, nor in any place within three leagues around The houses of owners of fiefs excepted, according to the Edict of Nantes.
32d.—It is the will and pleasure of His Majesty, that his said Edict of Nantes be observed from this time forth, in all that concerns the exercise of the said religion, in all places where it was prohibited, until further orders, by the Edicts and grants given upon the submission of certain Princes, Nobles and Catholic cities And where the prohibition was for a limited number of years, the Edict must be observed after that time is over.
33d.—A place shall be given to those of said religion for the city and precincts of Paris, within five leagues at the utmost, where the public exercise of said religion may be allowed.
34th.—In all places where the public exercise of the said religion is permitted, the people may be called together, even by the ringing of bells, and they may perform all acts and functions appertaining to said religion or its discipline, such as holding Consistories, Conferences and Synods, Provincial and National, with the permission of His Majesty.
35th.—Ministers. Elders and Deacons of the said religion shall not be compelled to appear as witnesses in a Court of Justice, with regard to matters made known in Consistory as questions for church censure, except it be in a matter bearing upon the safety of the State or the person of the King.
36th.—Persons of said religion who reside in the country, may lawfully go to towns or other places for the exercise of said religion, where it is publicly established.
37th.—It shall not be lawful for persons of said religion to keep public schools any where but in places where the said religion is publicly established: the provision heretofore granted for the erection and maintenance of Colleges shall be made good when required, and shall go into full operation.
38th.—It shall be lawful for persons making profession of the said pretended Reformed religion, to appoint such preceptors as shall seem good to them for the education of their children, and to substitute one or several, by will or codicil, or declaration made before a notary, or written and signed with their own hands. For the rest, the laws and ordinances of the Kingdom, as usually received, will be of full force in the giving and providing of guardians and protectors.
39th.—With regard to the marriages of Priests and Nuns which have already been contracted, it is, for various good reasons, the will of His Majesty that they shall not be disturbed or sought after. and he imposes silence upon his Attorney-General and other Officers in this matter. Nevertheless, His said Majesty declares that children, the issue of such marriages, shall only inherit the household goods and the earnings or acquisitions of their parents, and in default of such children the nearest relations are to inherit: and the wills, donations and other dispositions, made and to be made, by persons of said description, of the said household goods and earnings, are declared valid. His said Majesty declares that the said professed Monks or Priests and Nuns shall not succeed to any family inheritance directly or collaterally, except, only, they may take possession of what is left or shall be left to them by will, excepting, always, those by direct and collateral succession: as for those who made profession before the age stipulated by the Ordinances of Orleans and Blois, the tenor of said Ordinances shall be obeyed, each for the time of its being binding.
40th.—His Majesty's will and pleasure is, that persons of the said religion, who have contracted marriages or shall contract them, who are within the third or fourth degree of consanguinity, shall not be disturbed, nor the validity of the marriages called in question: in like manner, there shall be no dispute about the right of succession to property of the children born, or who shall be born from such marriages : and as for such marriages as shall have been already contracted between those of the second, or of the second and third degree, making appeal to the King, they shall be furnished with such grant or patent as shall be all-sufficient to protect them from molestation, and their children from disputed succession.
4lst.—In order to judge of the validity of marriages made and contracted by those of the said religion, and to decide upon their legality, if the defendant be of the said religion, the Royal Judge shall have cognizance of the cause, and where the Catholic is defendant, the cognizance shall belong to the Ecclesiastical-Judge. If both parties be of the said religion, the cognizance shall belong to the Royal Judges. His said Majesty's will is, that with regard to said marriages and differences growing out of them, the Ecclesiastical and the Royal Judges, together with the Chambers established by the Edict, shall respectively have the cognizance.
42d.—Gifts and legacies made, or that shall be made, by the last will of the dying, or the disposition of the living, towards the maintenance of Ministers, Doctors, Scholars or poor persons of the said pretended Reformed religion, or for other pious purposes, shall be valid and take full effect, notwithstanding any Judgments or Decrees to the contrary, without any prejudice, always be it remembered, to the rights of His Majesty or others in cases where the said legacies and gifts fall in mortmain. All actions and prosecutions necessary for the recovery of said legacies and other rights, may be carried on by a Solicitor, in the name of the body and community of those of said religion who are interested therein, and if it shall be found that the said gifts and legacies have been otherwise disposed of, such restitution as is practicable may be claimed.
43d.—His said Majesty permits those of the said religion to assemble before the Royal Judge, and by his authority to assess a tax upon themselves and collect the same in sufficient sum to pay the expenses of their Synods, and provide for the support of those who are charged with the exercise of their said religion, of which they will render an account to the Royal Judge : the copy of which shall be sent every six months to His Majesty or to his Chancellor. The said taxes and fines shall be levied, in spite of opposition or appeal.
44th.—Ministers of the said religion shall be exempt from guard and patrol, or lodging soldiers or other assessments and imposts, together with the guardianship of property seized under judicial authority.
45th.—With regard to interments heretofore made in Cemeteries belonging to the said Catholics, it is the will of His Majesty that no inquiry whatever shall be made, and this he enjoins upon his officers to observe. "With regard to the City of Paris, in addition to the two Cemeteries which those of the said religion now have there, that is to say, that of Trinity, and that of Saint Germain, a third shall be given to them in a place convenient for the said interments, either in the faubourg St. Honoré or St. Denis.
46th.—The Catholic Presidents and Councillors, who shall serve in the Chamber ordered by the Parliament of Paris, shall be chosen by His Majesty from the list of officers of the Parliament.
47th.—The Councillors of the said pretended Reformed religion, who shall serve in said Chamber, shall be present, if it seem good to them, at the causes which are decided by Commissioners, and they may have a deliberative voice, without having any part of the funds deposited, although they have the privilege of being present.
48th.—The oldest President of the Mixed Chambers shall preside in the meeting, and in his absence the second; and the distribution of the causes shall be made by the two Presidents conjointly, or alternately, by the month or by the week. 49th.—In case of vacancy in the offices to be filled, by those of said religion, by the Chambers of the Edict, the parties applying shall bring a certificate from the Synod or Conference to which they belong, attesting that they are of said religion, and persons of probity.
50th.—The indemnity granted to those of the said pretended Reformed religion by the 74th article of the Edict, shall extend to the seizing of all Royal funds, whether by breaking into the chests or otherwise, even including those which were taken on the river Charante, now, that they had been appropriated to private individuals.
51st.—The 44th article of the secret articles, given in the year 1577, touching the city and Archbishopric of Avignon, and earldom of Venise, together with the Treaty concluded at Nimes, shall be observed according to their form and tenor: no Letters of Marque shall be given in virtue of said Articles and Treaty, but by the King himself, sealed with his great seal. Nevertheless, those who desire to obtain them, may, in virtue of this present article, appear before the Royal Judges, who shall inform themselves fully of the facts of the injustice complained of by those who desire said letters, and then send the information sealed to His Majesty, who will take such action as he pleases thereupon.
52d.—It is the will and pleasure of His Majesty, that Master Nicolas Grimoult shall be restored to the title and possession of the offices of Senior Lieutenant-General, both Civil and Criminal, in the Bailiwick of Alençon, notwithstanding the resignation made by him to Master John Marguerit, the reception of it, and the appointment obtained by Master William Bernard of the office of Lieutenant-General, Civil and Criminal, at the sitting of Exmes; and the decrees given against the said Marguerit, to whom it was resigned during the troubles in the Privy Council, in the years 1586, 1587 and 1588, by which Master Nicolas Barbier is maintained in the rights and privileges of Senior Lieutenant-General in the said Bailiwick; and the said Bernard in the said office at Exmes, the which His Majesty has reversed, and all else contrary to this. Besides this, His Majesty, for certain good and sufficient reasons, commands that the said Grimoult shall repay, within three months, the said Barbier, the sums that he has escheated for the office of Lieutenant-General, Civil and Criminal, in the Vicomté of Alençon, and fifty crowns for the expense; empowering for that purpose the Bailiff of Perche or Ms Lieutenant at Mortaigne. And the repayment made or offered, though the said Barbier may refuse or delay to receive it, it is His Majesty's will and pleasure that the said Barbier and the said Bernard shall not intermeddle any more with the duties of the said offices, under pain of the punishment for perjury; the said Grimoult shall be placed in full possession of these offices, with the rights and privileges appertaining to them ; and, by this article, the suit pending before the Privy Council, between the said Grimoult, Barbier and Bernard shall be terminated. His Majesty forbids his Parliament to take any further cognizance, and also forbids the parties themselves to agitate it again. Besides, His said Majesty has taken upon himself to repay the said Bernard a thousand crowns escheated for his office, and sixty crowns for the marc d'or and [4] expenses; having for this purpose now ordered good and sufficient appropriations to be made, the collecting of which is intrusted to the diligence of the said Grimoult.
53d.—His Majesty will write to his Ambassadors to solicit for all his subjects, even for those of the said pretended Reformed religion, that they may not be forced to do any thing against conscience, nor be subject to the Inquisition, going, coming, travelling and trading in foreign countries, the allies and confederates of this Crown, provided, always, that they do not offend against the laws of the country in which they may be.
54th.—It is the will and pleasure of His Majesty, that no inquiries be made about the collection of the taxes levied at Royan, in virtue of the contract made with the Sieur de Candelay, and others made in continuation of it. The said contract is declared valid in all its items, until the eighteenth day of next May.
55th.—The outrages committed on the person of Armand Courtines, in the town of Millaut, in the year 1587, and of John Reines and Peter Seigneuret, together with the prosecutions of the suits in consequence, by the Magistrates of the said Millaut, shall be quashed and consigned to oblivion, in virtue of the Edict, without its being lawful for their widows or heirs, the Attorneys-General of His Majesty, or their Substitutes, or any other person whatever, to bring forward the case; notwithstanding, and without paying attention to the Decree made in the Chamber of Castres on the tenth of last March, which shall be null and void, together with all proceedings begun on either side. 56th.—All prosecutions, suits, sentences, judgments and decrees given, as well against the deceased Sieur de la Nouë, as against the Sieur Odet de la Nouë, his son, since their imprisonment in Flanders, which occurred in the month of May, 1580, and the month of November, 1584, and during their constant occupation in the wars and service of His Majesty, shall be broken and annulled, and all else consequent upon them, and the defence of the said de la Nouë shall be received, and they shall be restored to the same state they were in before the judgments and decrees; without being obliged to defray any expenses, or deposit any fines, if any have been decreed, nor shall any non-suit, or proscription made during the time, be brought up against them.
Executed by the King, in Council at Nantes, the second day of May, one thousand five hundred and ninety-eight.
- Signed,HENRI.
And below, Forget.
Sealed with the great seal with yellow wax.
Henry, by the grace of God, King of France and Navarre, to our right entirely and well-beloved people, holding our Court of Parliament in Paris, greeting. We executed, in the month of April last, our Edict, for the establishment of peace and good order amongst our Catholic subjects, and those of the pretended Reformed religion. And in addition, we have granted, to those of the said religion, certain secret and private articles, which we wish to have equal force and virtue, and to be observed and accomplished equally with our Edict. For this cause, we wish, desire, and most expressly command, by these presents, that the said articles, signed by our own hand, and attached hereto, under the counter seal of our Chancellor, be registered in the registers of our said Court; and that what is herein contained be maintained and observed in every point, the same as our Edict: ceasing, and causing to cease, all troubles and hindrances. For such is our pleasure.
Given at Nantes, the second day of May, year of grace one thousand five hundred and ninety-eight; and of our reign the ninth.
Signed for the King.
And sealed on a simple label with yellow wax.
Writ of grant from Henry the Great, to his subjects of the pretended
Reformed religion, the
30th April, 1598.
This day being the third of April, 1598, the King being at Nantes, wishing to gratify his subjects of the pretended Reformed religion, and to help them to meet various great expenses which they have incurred, has ordered and does order, that for the future, to commence on the first day of the present month, there shall be put into the hands of Monsieur de Vierse, appointed by His Majesty, by his Treasurers, each in his year, assignments for the sum of forty-five thousand crowns, to be employed in certain secret affairs which concern them, but which His Majesty does not choose to specify or declare; which sum shall be assigned from the general Receipts as follows: that is to say, Paris, six thousand crowns; Caen, three thousand crowns; Orleans, four thousand crowns; Poitiers, eight thousand crowns; Limoges, six thousand crowns; Bordeaux, eight thousand crowns. The whole amounting to the said sum of forty-five thousand crowns; payable quarterly every year, out of the first and most available of the general receipts, and no deduction shall be made for any falling short, or any other cause. Which sum of forty-five thousand crowns shall be furnished in ready money, which shall be put in the hands of the King's Treasurer, which shall serve to pay the whole of the assignments. And whereas, for the convenience of the above-named, it may be required to have some payments made from certain particular receipts; the Treasurers and Receivers-General, shall be ordered to make it, taking it from the assignments of the said Royal Treasurers; which shall afterwards be delivered by the said Sieur de Vierse to those persons who shall have been named to him, by those of said religion, at the beginning of the year as the parties to receive and dispense the funds received in virtue of this; of which they shall return a true account at the end of the year to the Sieur de Vierse, with the receipts of the parties taking it, for the information of His Majesty as to the employment of the money. Neither the Sieur de Vierse, nor those appointed to receive, by the authorities of said religion, shall be called to any account in any Chamber. His said Majesty has commanded all necessary letters and instructions to be given, and to him the account is to be rendered, in virtue of this present writing, which he has signed with his own hand, and had it countersigned by our Chancellor, in the Council of State and Secretary for his commands.
- SignedHENRY.
and below, De Neufville.
This day, the last of April, 1598, the King being at Nantes, wishing to content his subjects of the pretended Reformed religion as much as possible, and to grant all their requests to him, for such things as they considered to be essential for the safety of their persons, property, and estates. And for the confidence that His Majesty reposes in their fidelity, and their sincere affection, with some other important considerations affecting the tranquility of the state; His said Majesty, in addition to what is contained in the Edict he has lately resolved upon, and which ought to be published, for the regulation of what concerns them, has granted, and promised to them that all places, cities, and castles, of which they had possession until the end of the month of August last, in which they shall have garrisons, the list shall be drawn up and signed by His Majesty, and shall remain in their keeping, under the authority of His Majesty, for the space of eight years, to count from the day of publication of the Edict. For other places which they hold, where they shall have no garrison, there shall be no change or innovation. His said Majesty does not mean it to be understood, that the towns and castles of Vendome and Pontorson be included in the number of said places, left in the keeping of those of said religion. He does not mean to include within the said "number, the City, Castle and Citadel of Aubenas, of which he wishes to have the free disposal, without its being of any consequence, that if now in the hands of one of the said religion, it shall afterwards be appropriated to another of said religion as in other cities granted to them. And as for Chauvigny, it shall be restored to the Bishop of Poitiers, Lord of the said place, and the new fortifications shall be razed and demolished. And for the support of the said garrisons, which are to be maintained in the said cities, places and castles. His said Majesty has granted the sum of one hundred and eighty thousand crowns, without including those in the Province of Dauphiny, for which there shall otherwise be provided the sum of one hundred and eighty thousand crowns annually: promising and assuring, that appropriations shall be made of the most available and undoubted nature, where the said garrisons are established. And if these shall not be sufficient, the said sum shall be made up from other sources, and shall be completely paid. His Majesty likewise promises that when he makes up the list, or establishment for the said garrisons, he will call around him those of the said religion, to take their opinion, and listen to their complaints, before he gives his orders, which he will always do in a manner to be as satisfactory to them as he possibly can. And if during the eight years, it shall be necessary to make any changes in the said establishment, whether proceeding from His Majesty's judgment, or in answer to petition, he will observe the same plan as at first, in deciding upon it. And as for the garrisons of Dauphiny, His Majesty, in drawing out the establishments for them, will take the opinion of the Sieur de Lesdignieres. And in case of the occurrence of any vacancies, amongst the Governors and Captains of the said places. His said Majesty promises and agrees to appoint none, but such as are of the pretended Reformed religion, and shall bring proof of being so from the Conference of the place where they live, and also the attestation to the fact of their being respectable men. He will content himself with requiring that he, for whom the writ has been made out, shall bring the certificate of the Conference, before the appointment is concluded, and the Conference shall be required to make their report without unnecessary delay, or if there be any delay, they must give their reasons for the same to His Majesty. And this term of eight years expired, although His Majesty's promise will be redeemed, and the places restored to him, yet he promises, that if garrisons shall be continued there, and Governors remain to command them, he will not dispossess those who shall be in office there, to appoint any others. He likewise declares that it is his intention, as well during the said eight years, as after them, to gratify those of the said religion, and to give them a share of the offices, governments and other honors that he will have to bestow; and to distribute them without favor or partiality, according to the rank and merit of the persons, as to his other Catholic subjects; without however, the places and cities which may be hereafter intrusted to their command, besides those they now have, being considered, in consequence of that, to be more particularly appropriated to those of the said religion. Also his said Majesty has granted to them, that those who are in charge of the magazines, munitions, powder and cannon of these cities, appointed by those of said religion, shall remain in charge of the same, upon receiving a commission from the Grand Master of the Artillery, and the Commissary General. Which letters shall be executed gratuitously, putting into their hands the list signed in due form, of the magazines, munitions, powder and cannon; without however allowing them, by virtue of these commissions, to lay claim to any immunity or privilege. Their salaries shall be paid out of the sums already appropriated for the support of the garrisons, without being chargeable to his Majesty for any other funds. And, inasmuch as those of the said religion have applied to his Majesty, to know what he has been pleased to order, with regard to the exercise of said religion, in the town of Metz, inasmuch as it is not clearly expressed in the Edict or Secret Articles; his Majesty declares that he has dispatched Letters Patent, by which it is directed, that the Temple, formerly erected in the said town by its inhabitants, shall be restored to them, to take away the materials, or dispose of in any way they shall see fit; without its being lawful however, for them to preach or have any religious exercises; nevertheless, they shall be furnished with a convenient place, within the walls of the said town, where they may have public exercise of said religion, without it being necessary to name it in the Edict. His Majesty also grants, that notwithstanding the exercise of the said religion is forbidden within his court and suite, yet the Dukes, Peers of France, Officers of the Crown, Marquises, Counts, Governors and Lieutenants-General, Marshals of the Camp, and Captains of the Guards of his said Majesty, who shall be of his suite, need not fear any examination into what they do in their own homes, provided that it be only in their own private family, with closed doors and without singing Psalms aloud, or doing any thing to make it known that there is a public exercise of the said religion; and if his said Majesty shall remain over three days in any city or place, where the exercise is permitted, the said exercise may be resumed after that time, and continued just as it was before his arrival. His Majesty declares that in the present posture of his affairs, he has been unable to include his territories beyond the Alps, Bresse, and Barcellone, in the permission given for the exercise of the said pretended Reformed religion. His Majesty, nevertheless, promises that when these territories shall be reduced to obedience, he will treat his subjects there, just as he treats those here, in all points granted by the Edict to those of said religion, notwithstanding any thing to the contrary in the Edict, and in the mean time they shall remain as they are. His Majesty grants, that those of the said pretended Reformed religion, who should be installed in the offices of Presidents and Councillors, to serve in the newly created Chambers ordered by the Edict, shall be installed gratuitously, and without payment for the first time, upon the list which shall be presented to his Majesty by the Deputies of the Assembly of Châtellerault: as also the Attorneys and Solicitors-General, appointed by the same Edict, in the Chamber of Bourdeaux: and in case of the incorporation of the said Chamber of Bourdeaux and that of Toulouse, in the said Parliaments, the said substitutes shall be provided with the offices of Councillor in those, also gratuitously. His said Majesty will also cause Messire François Pitou to be appointed to the office of Substitute to the Attorney-General, in the Court of Parliament of Paris; and for this end there shall be a new office created, and after the decease of the said Pitou, he shall be succeeded by a person of the said pretended Reformed religion. And in case of any vacancy occurring from the death of the Master of Requests, in the Hotel of the King, he will fill the first vacancies with persons of the pretended Reformed religion, whom his Majesty will see to be proper and suitable for the service: and also that they be persons responsible for the value of the tax of the escheats. And, in the meantime, it shall be ordered that there be two Masters of Requests appointed in each quarter, to report upon the petitions of those of said religion. His Majesty also permits the Deputies of the said religion, assembled in the said city of Châtellerault, to remain together, to the number of ten, in the city of Saumur, for the purpose of urging the execution of his Edict, until his said Edict shall be verified in the Court of Parliament of Paris, notwithstanding that the said Edict requires them to disperse immediately: without their being allowed however to make any fresh demands, nor to intermeddle in any way other than urging the said execution, and completion by the Commissioners who shall be ordered for this purpose. And for all that is herein given, his Majesty pledges his word and faith by this present writing, which he will sign with his own hand, and have countersigned by the Secretaries of State, wishing it to have equal force and value with what is contained in an Edict, verified in his Courts of Parliament; hoping those of the said religion will be contented, and accommodate themselves to existing circumstances, doing their best for the service of the king, by not pressing to have this ordinance put in any more authentic form, having such confidence, in the word and the kindness of his Majesty, as to believe that he will cause them to enjoy the full benefit of it. Having for this purpose commanded that all the expedition and dispatch shall be made which is necessary for the execution of the above.
It having been represented to the King, in Council, that his having regulated the number of persons of the pretended Reformed religion who may attend at the funerals of those of said religion, they have made it a pretext for doing the same at marriages and baptisms, marching through the streets, pretending to be a numerous body going to their temples, contrary to all former usage, and which it is proper to provide against. The King, in Council, therefore decrees that in future not more than twelve persons, including the parents, shall be present at the marriages and baptisms of those of the said pretended Reformed religion, and no more shall walk through the streets, going to the said ceremonies, under penalty of forfeiting their privileges, &c., &c., &c.
Given in Council, at St. Germain en Laye, the ninth day of November, 1670.
(Signed), PHELYPEAUX.
It has been represented to us, by the King's Attorney-General, that an abusive practice prevails, without any authority but the having been established by the Ancient Princes, who were of the pretended Reformed religion. Butchers, as well Catholic as of the pretended Reformed religion, undertake to keep open the public butchers' shambles, and to expose and sell meat publicly, during Lent, and other days of fasting and abstinence ordered by the Church, which proceeding causes scandalous disorders to religion, and is forbidden by the laws of the land, and is contrary to public decorum; for, as the said shambles are in the Grand Square, and have two large and two small doors, one large one opening upon the said Grand Square, on the road between the two streets leading from one gate of the city to the other, and forming the main entrance and exit to and from the Kingdom, the other large door of the said public shambles being exactly opposite to the Church of the R. P. Jesuits, strangers passing through the city on their first arrival in the Kingdom, or their departure from it, may well doubt if it be a Catholic place at all, perceiving indications like these of its being the contrary, which causes shame to decent people, and by which Catholics, French and foreign, are struck with horror, and the zeal and piety of a whole community is extremely scandalized, since it is the only city in the Kingdom where such an abuse is tolerated. Besides this, the inhabitants being part of them of the one religion and part of the other, having grown up together, lived and traded with one another, Catholics are to be found whose habits and manners partake of the same intermingling as their interests and their commerce, and they actually go, in the most unscrupulous manner, to the public shambles, they buy and they eat animal food during Lent and upon other prohibited days. The same scandal spreads to the Pork butchers. Poulterers, Pastry Cooks, Tavern-keepers, and others, who all sell meat, poultry and game, freely, openly and with impunity, in their shops or their houses at all times and to all sorts of persons, without distinction: which disorders having been provided against by Proclamations and Decrees of the Council of State which supersede the general laws throughout the Kingdom, and, in consequence, the said Attorney-General has applied to us to have them kept, observed, and executed within our jurisdiction: We, therefore, in conformity with this requisition, expressly forbid all Butchers, Pastry Cooks, Pork butchers. Poulterers, &c., alike Catholics or of the pretended Reformed religion, to expose, retail or sell meat or game of any kind whatever, either in the said public shambles or in their private shops during Lent, or on any other days when the use of meat is forbidden by the Church, making a reservation, only, for the sale of it privately to persons of the pretended Reformed religion, with the express understanding that they shall not be permitted to furnish or give tie same to any Catholic, under any circumstances or for any pretext whatsoever. Nevertheless, it may be furnished, in the same private way to sick Catholics, who shall be obliged to send a note from the Sieur Curé of this city, every time they make a purchase, and the said Butchers, Pastry Cooks, Pork Butchers and others are forbidden to sell meat, pastry, poultry or game in any other way; and we command that they keep the Curé's notes very carefully during the week, and send them to us every Monday, under pain of forfeiting their stock and paying a fine of two hundred livres, one-third of which shall be the perquisite of the informer. Under pain of the above-named punishment, we forbid all Tavern or Hotel keepers to sell or furnish in any way whatever, any meat, poultry or game to persons who on the forbidden days shall eat, drink or lodge at their houses, be they Catholics or of the said pretended Reformed religion, residents, strangers or foreigners. We enjoin it upon all persons who shall know of any infraction of our present Ordinance, to give information within twenty-four hours, under pain of a fine of twenty livres, one-third to be the perquisite of the informer. This proclamation shall be read, published and posted up in public and frequented situations, in this city and faubourgs, also upon the four doors of the public shambles, &c., &c.,, &c. Given by the Honorable Joseph de Guillet de la Minardiere, Councillor of the King, Lieutenant-General and President, on the part of His Majesty, in the Sovereign Court of St. Manges.
ADAM
24th February, 1672.
Copy of Memorandum sent by Mr. Pelisson to 'carious Bishops in
Languedoc, dated 12th June, 1677.
Many conversions have been made in the valleys of Pragelas, through the instrumentality of Mr. de Grénoble, a company for the Propagation of the Faith aud some Jesuit Missionaries, so that without the distribution of a larger sum than 2000 crowns in all, sent at various times, a certified list has been sent in, with the names of from 700 to 800 persons restored to the church. Several Bishops have done me the honor to write to me, and have said that they also could see the way to many conversions within their dioceses, if the money could only be sent to them. I replied, by order of the king, that it would be impossible to send funds to so many places; but that each one in his own sphere should work as best he could, and that they might furnish information when conversions were likely to be made in families of consideration, in order that his Majesty might think it over, and make the requisite provision. At the same time they should by no means neglect the opportunity of making conversions amongst the families of the people, for which very little would be required, as we have seen in these valleys, where for two, three, four or five pistoles, numerous families have been gained. I have even signified to them that they may go as high as 100 francs, though I have received no fresh order from his Majesty to pay the bills of exchange drawn upon me. This has been attended to most religiously in that respect by those to whom I had written of it. I said the same thing to Mr. Potel, Secretary to the Duke of Verneuil, who was going to the States of Languedoc, in order that he might be prepared with information to give the Bishops assembled there, and I have confirmed to him by letter what I had already said, and that, the more cheerfully, because the King, animated by the great success, has just made a fresh appropriation for the purpose, of one-third of the funds derived from the revenues of vacant Bishoprics, collected or to be collected from the month of December last, which funds are to be regularly laid aside for this use. It will only begin to be productive next year, but we may hope from that time to draw a regular supply for the future. Things remain yet in the state they were; even though he funds are not now available, means will be forthcoming to pay bills drawn upon me. But the following conditions must be strictly observed:—
- That on no occasion must it be unknown, or little know persons, or persons without character, who draw upon me.
- That each draft be accompanied by an abjuration, certifier by the Bishop of the Diocese, the Intendant, or some other important official personage, and also a receipt to be given to the Ecclesiastic appointed by his Majesty to receive the temporalities of the Abbeys of Cluny and St. Germain des Prez, together with the third appropriated for the new conversions.
Still the sum of 100 francs may be given, though it is not intended to give as much on all occasions, economy being most essential, first, in order to let this dew water as large a surface as possible, and also for the consideration that if 100 francs be given to insignificant individuals, without families, how much larger would be the sums expected by persons in a higher position, and able to draw large families after them.
Prelates and others who are disposed to devote themselves to this charitable work, may rest assured that in no way can they better recommend themselves to the favor of the King, who sees all the lists, than by imitating what has been done in Grenoble, where the sum of 100 francs was scarcely ever paid, generally very much less.
Nevertheless, there is no objection to giving large sums to attain great objects, but the said large sums cannot be sent without submitting the case for his Majesty to decide upon himself.
Proclamation of the King forbidding those of the pretended
Reformed Religion to act as Accoucheurs or Nurses.
Louis, by the grace of God, King of France and Navarre, to all who shall see these presents, greeting.
We have been informed that great abuses have arisen, in this our kingdom, from permitting the attendance of persons of the pretended Reformed religion upon women in childbirth, because, according to the principles of their religion, baptism is not absolutely necessary, and besides they not having the liberty to baptize, the administration of baptism being reserved to their ministers and to take place in their Temples, it happens that when children are dangerously ill, the absence of the minister, or distance from the Temple, makes it impossible to have them baptized before death. Likewise, when persons of said pretended Reformed religion are employed about Catholic women they do not give timely notice when they see life in danger, because they do not believe in the Sacraments of the Church, and death takes place without the administration of said sacraments. We wish to remedy this abuse, and also to provide against illegitimate children of Roman Catholic parents, whose birth is concealed, being brought up in the pretended Reformed religion, as they often are from the nurture and education being confided to those who attend upon the mothers. For these and other causes, by the advice of our Council and of our own free will, fall power and royal authority, we say and declare that it is our royal will and pleasure, that henceforth no person of either sex, making profession of the pretended Reformed religion, shall be allowed to have any thing to do with the care of either Catholic women or those of the pretended Reformed religion in childbirth, under penalty of being fined to the amount of three thousand livres, &c., &c., &c.
Given at St. Germain en Laye, the Twentieth day of February, year of grace 1680, and the thirty-seventh of our reign.
Signed,Louis.
[It would appear that the employment forbidden to Protestants by the above proclamation was one that had been followed by them with remarkable success, and even Roman Catholic women of high rank had more confidence in them than in those of their own faith, and were most anxious still to employ them, offering great and unusual remuneration for the risk to induce them still to attend. It is well known that the mind has much influence on the body at such times, and it was believed that the above proclamation caused the loss of many lives, not so much from want of skill in those assisting as in fright and want of confidence on the part of the patients.]
Declaration of the King to the effect, that children of the age of
seven years may he concerted from the Pretended Reformed
Religion, &c.
Louis, by the grace of God, King of France and Navarre, to all who see these letters, greeting.
The great success which it has pleased God to give to the spiritual stirring up, and other reasonable means, we have employed for the conversion of our subjects of the said pretended Reformed religion, making it expedient for us to second the movement that God has commenced amongst our subjects, discovering to them the errors in which they were born, we ought to have resolved to annul our Declaration, of the first day of February, of the year 1669, by which children of said religion were in some sort excluded from conversion to the Catholic, Apostolical Roman Church, at the age of seven, when they are competent to exercise their reason, and make a choice upon a subject of so much importance as their own salvation, until the ages respectively of fourteen for males, and twelve for females, although the Edict of Nantes contained no such provision, which should have been required. Moved by these and other influential considerations, we have said and declared, and we do say and declare, by these presents, signed with our own hand, that henceforth, it is our will and pleasure that our said subjects of the pretended Reformed religion, as well male as female, having attained the age of seven years, may lawfully be received to abjure the said pretended Reformed religion, without permitting their fathers, mothers, or any other relation to put any impediment in the way, under any pretext whatsoever, annulling, for this purpose, as much as may be necessary of our said Declaration of the first day of February, 1669. It is our will also, that the newly converted children, of the age of seven years, shall have the full benefit of our Declaration of the fourteenth day of October, 1665, and, in conformity with that, they shall have free choice, after their conversion, either to return to their parents, and be maintained at home, or to go elsewhere, and require from them an allowance for support, proportioned to their condition and means, which allowance the said fathers and mothers shall be obliged to pay, quarterly, to their children, and in case of refusal, they shall be forced to do it, by all suitable and reasonable means. Whereas we have been informed, that several of our subjects, of the said pretended Reformed religion, have sent their children for education to foreign countries, where they may imbibe sentiments contrary to the fidelity due to us and to the State from their birth; we enjoin it upon them expressly to send for their children home without delay. And for those who are possessed of real property, they shall forfeit the whole income the first year, and half of it, every year afterwards, until they recall their children. Those who have not real property, shall be fined in proportion to their means, and the said penalties of income and fine shall be in force year after year, until the children return home. "We prohibit henceforth any of our subjects of said pretended Reformed religion, from sending their children to foreign countries, for education, under sixteen years of age, without our express permission, under pain of the punishments above-named.
- This command is given to our trusty and well-beloved Councillors, &c., &c., &c.
- Given at Versailles, this 17th day of June, and year of grace, 1681, and of our reign the 39th.
Sealed with the great seal with yellow wax.
Decree of the Council of State, forbidding private Individuals to receive
the sick of the pretended Reformed religion into their houses.
The King being notified, that various private individuals, as well in the good City of Paris, as in other parts of his kingdom, have taken upon themselves, under the pretext of charity, to receive sick persons of the pretended Reformed religion into their houses, and that in some places such accommodations for the sick have been provided by the Consistories, and the intention of his Majesty being that the said persons of the said religion shall be taken to the Hospitals, and there treated like the Catholics, and that these willing to be converted, may avoid the danger of being hindered by being in the said private houses, in the hands of persons of the said religion. His Majesty in Council expressly forbids all private individuals, of whatsoever rank or condition, from receiving, under pretext of charity, the sick of the said religion into their houses, but commands that they be taken to the Hospitals, to be there treated like the sick Catholics. Under penalty to a private individual, who infringes this law, of paying a fine of 500 livres, and forfeiting, to the Hospital in the place, all the furniture and other articles used about the sick persons; and to the Consistories who infringe the law, the penalty will be a prohibition of all religious exercises in the places where they have houses to receive sick persons of the pretended Reformed religion.
His Majesty enjoins the publication of this Decree upon the Intendants. Commissioners, &c., &c.
Given in the Council of State of the King, His Majesty being present, held at Versailles, the 4th September, 1684.
- Signed, Colbert.
upon it, and forbids all public exercise of the pretended Reformed
religion in the Kingdom.
Louis, by the grace of God King of France and Navarre: to all that are and shall be, greeting.
The King Henry the Great, our Grandsire of glorious memory, desirous that the peace he had obtained for his subjects, after the sufferings they had endured through a long period of domestic and foreign wars, should not be disturbed on account of the pretended Reformed religion, as it had happened during the reigns of the Kings his predecessors, endeavored by his Edict given at Nantes in the month of April, 1598, to make regulations with respect to those of said religion, the places where the exercise of said religion might be allowed; He also appointed Judges Extraordinary to administer justice on their behalf, and at length he even provided secret articles containing all that he deemed necessary for the maintenance of tranquillity in his Kingdom and lessening the hatred existing between those of the two religions, in order to place himself in a more advantageous position for laboring, as he had resolved he would, to re-unite to the Church those who had been so easily detached from it. And, as the intention of the King our Grandsire could not be carried out effectually on account of his untimely death, and that even during the minority of the deceased King, our much honored Lord and Father, of glorious memory, the execution of the Edict was interrupted by new enterprises of those of the pretended Reformed religion, which gave occasion to deprive them of various privileges which had been granted by the said Edict: nevertheless, the King, our said deceased Lord and Father, displaying his accustomed clemency, granted them yet another Edict at Nimes, in the month of July, 1629, by means of which, tranquillity having been re-established once more, the said King, animated by the same spirit and zeal for religion that had filled the breast of the King, our said Grandsire, resolved to profit by this repose and try to put his pious design in execution, but foreign war broke out a few years later, so that from the year 1635 until the conclusion of the treaty, in the year 1684, with the Princes of Europe, the Kingdom being almost always in a state of agitation, it was impossible for him to do any thing for the benefit of religion but to lessen the number of exercises of those of the pretended Reformed religion, by forbidding whatever he found established contrary to the orders of the Edicts, and by dissolving the Mixed Chambers, whose establishment had only been provisional. God having at last permitted our people to enjoy perfect peace, and relieved us from the care of protecting them against foreign enemies, profiting by this treaty, we are enabled to give our entire attention to finding the best mode of carrying out successfully the intention of the Kings, our said Sire and Grandsire, which subject has occupied our thoughts, from the time of our succeeding to the Crown. We now behold, with due gratitude to God for it, that our exertions have accomplished what we proposed, since the greater part of our subjects of the said pretended Reformed religion have embraced the Catholic, and inasmuch as on this account the execution of the Edict of Nantes, and every thing else ordered in favor of the pretended Reformed religion becomes useless, we have resolved that we can do nothing better, with the view of destroying all memory of the past troubles, confusion and evils caused by the progress of this false religion in our Kingdom, which gave rise to this, and so many other preceding and subsequent Edicts and Proclamations, than to revoke entirely the said Edict of Nantes, and the secret articles granted after it, and all done since in favor of said religion.
1. Be it known, that for these causes, and others by which we are influenced, of our own certain knowledge, full power and Royal authority, we have by this perpetual and irrevocable decree repealed and revoked and we do repeal and revoke the Edict of the King our said Grandsire, given at Nantes in the month of April, 1598, to its full extent, together with the private articles issued on the 2d May following, and the Letters Patent executed upon them, and the Edict given at Nimes, in the month of July, 1629. We declare them all null and void, together with all other concessions proceeding from these or other Edicts, Proclamations and Decrees to the people of the pretended Reformed religion, of any kind whatsoever, which shall all be as though they never had any existence, and consequently, it is our will and pleasure, that all places of worship belonging to those of the said pretended Reformed religion, situated within our Kingdom, Countries, Lands and Manors under our government, be demolished forthwith.
2. We forbid our said subjects of the pretended Reformed religion to assemble themselves together for religious exercises in any place or private house, under any pretext whatsoever, the same in bailiwicks and otherwise, even if the said exercises may have been sustained by decrees of our Council.
3. We likewise forbid all Lords of the Manor, of whatever rank they may be, to hold religious exercises in their houses or within their fiefs, be the fiefs what kind they may, under penalty to all our said subjects who take part in said exercises, of confiscation and imprisonment.
4. We enjoin all Ministers of the said pretended Reformed religion, who are not willing to be converted and to embrace the Apostolical Roman Catholic religion, to depart from our Kingdom and Territories within fifteen days after the publication of our present Edict, without being permitted to remain beyond that time, nor during the said fifteen days can they be allowed to preach, exhort or perform other functions, under penalty of the galleys.
5. We wish those of said Ministers who shall be converted, to continue in the enjoyment for life, and their widows after them, so long as they remain in the state of widowhood, of the same exemption from tax and the quartering upon them of soldiers that they enjoyed while performing the functions of the Ministry; and besides this, we shall order pensions to be paid to the said Ministers for life, amounting to one-third more than the sum they received as Ministers; the half of which pension shall be continued to their widows after their death, so long as they remain widows.
6. If any of the said Ministers desire to become Advocates or to take the degree of Doctor of Laws, we would have it understood that the three years of study prescribed by our Proclamations, shall be dispensed with in their case, and after having been submitted to examination in the usual way, and being judged competent, they may be received as Doctors upon paying only half the fees that are usually collected on such occasions in each University.
7. We prohibit private schools for the instruction of children of the pretended Reformed religion, and generally, every thing whatever that could be construed as a concession, in any sort of way, in favor of the said religion.
8. With regard to the children of those of the said pretended Reformed religion, we desire that henceforth they be baptised by the Cure of the Parish. We enjoin the fathers and mothers to send the children to Church for the purpose, under penalty of the payment of a fine of 500 livres, or more if it lapses; and afterwards, the children shall be brought up in the Apostolic Roman Catholic religion. We desire the Magistrates of the place to pay particular attention to this point.
9. And to evince our clemency towards those of said pretended Reformed religion who have gone out of our Kingdom and Territories before the publication of this, our Edict, we wish to have it understood that in case they come back within four months from the date of the said publication, they may, and it is quite open to them to resume possession of their property, and enjoy it as entirely as if they had always remained in the country. On the contrary, with respect to those who do not return within the four months to our Kingdom, their property shall all be confiscated, in conformity with our Proclamation of the twentieth of last August.
10. We make express and reiterated declarations, that none of our subjects of the said pretended Reformed religion, they, their wives or children, shall be permitted to take away with them from our Kingdom and Territories any of their property or possessions under penalty of the galleys for men, and confiscation and imprisonment for women.
We wish it understood that proclamations issued against those who have relapsed shall be executed according to their form and tenor.
The remainder of those of the said pretended Reformed religion while waiting until it pleases God to enlighten them as he has done others, may remain in the cities and places within our kingdom and territories, and continue to follow commercial pursuits there, and enjoy their property in peace without being disturbed or hindered under pretext of the said pretended Reformed religion on condition as before said, that they have no religious exercises, no assembling for prayer or worship of any kind according to said religion, under the above-named penalty of confiscation and imprisonment.
Therefore we command our right trusty and entirely beloved people who compose our Courts of Parliament, Court of Exchequer, and Courts of Aids, Bailiffs, Seneschals, Provosts and other Magistrates and Officers, whose duty it may be, as well as their Lieutenants, to cause our present Edict to be read, published, and registered within their courts and jurisdiction, even in the time of vacation; and they must maintain it and cause it to be maintained, kept and observed in every point without contravention, and they must not permit it to be contravened in any way whatever. For such is our will and pleasure, and in order that 'the thing may be established and inviolable for ever, we have affixed our seal to these presents.
Given at Fontainebleau, in the month of October, year of grace 1685, and forty-third of our reign.
Signed, LOUIS,
And on the fold visa, Le Tellier.
And sealed with the Great Seal with green wax, upon red and green silk cords.
I, A. B., believe with steadfast faith, and acknowledge all and every one of the articles contained in this Creed used in the holy Roman Church, that is to say— * * * *
[Here follows the Nicene Creed.]
I believe and embrace steadfastly the Traditions of the Apostles and of the Holy Church, with all its constitutions and observances.
I admit and receive the Holy Scriptures according to and in the sense that the Holy Mother holds and has held, to whom belongs the right understanding and interpretation of the said Scriptures, and never will I receive or expound them otherwise than according to the common agreement and unanimous consent of the Fathers.
I confess that there are seven Sacraments truly and properly so called in the new Law, instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ, and necessary, but not all to every individual, for the salvation of mankind, which are Baptism, Confirmation, the Holy Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Ordination, and Marriage, and through these the grace of God is given to us; and that of them Baptism, Confirmation and Ordination cannot be repeated without sacrilege.
I believe also and admit the ceremonies adopted by the Catholic Church, and made use of in the solemn administrations of the said Sacraments.
I believe also and embrace every thing defined and determined by the Holy Council of Trent on the subject of original sin and justification.
I acknowledge that in the Holy Mass a true, fitting, and propitiatory sacrifice for the dead and the living is offered to God, and that the body and blood with the spirit of the Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ is truly, really, and substantially in the very Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist, and that a conversion of the entire substance of the entire bread into the body, and the entire substance of the wine into the blood, takes place in it, which conversion is called Transubstantiation by the Catholic Church.
I confess also that we take and receive Jesus Christ whole and entire in one only of the two kinds in a true Sacrament.
I confess that there is a Purgatory in which the souls that are detained may be benefited by the good works and prayers of the faithful.
I avow that we ought to honor and invoke the blessed Saints, male and female, who are reigning with Jesus Christ and offering their prayers for us, and that we ought to venerate their holy relics.
As also that we ought to have and to retain images of Jesus Christ and of his blessed and always Virgin Mother, and the other Saints, male and female, rendering to them the honor and reverence that is their due.
I confess that Jesus Christ bequeathed to his Church the power of granting Indulgences, and that its use is very beneficial to Christian people.
I recognize the Holy Apostolic Roman Catholic Church as the Mother and Head of all Churches.
I promise and swear true obedience to the Pope and Holy Father of Rome, Successor of St. Peter, Chief and Prince of the Apostles, and Vicar of Jesus Christ.
I approve without any doubt, and I make profession of all that has been decided, determined and declared by the Holy Canons and General Councils, and especially by the Holy Council of Trent, and I reject, condemn, and anathematize all that is contrary to them, and all heresies condemned, rejected, and anathematized by the Church.
I, A. B., promise, vow, and swear, upon the Holy Evangelists, to persevere entirely and inviolably until I draw my latest breath, by the aid of God's grace, in maintaining this Catholic Faith, out of which there is no salvation and no one can be saved, and which now I make profession of without any constraint, and, as far as may be possible, I will cause to be held, kept, observed, and professed by all those over whom I have charge in my house and my station of life.
Therefore, God and the Holy Evangelists, on whom I swear and make oath, helping me, giving my hand to N., and in the presence of the undersigned witnesses, &c., &c., &c.
THE END
- ↑ Haute Justice. The jurisdiction of manorial courts where the judge takes cognizance of both civil and criminal suits, not affecting the Crown.
- ↑ Fief de Haubert A tenure by Knight's service whose owner was bound to serve on horseback in complete armor. This tenure existed longer in Normandy, than any other part of France.
- ↑ It mast be a misprint, and intended for Article LX— Translator's Note.
- ↑ A sort of entrance fee paid to the King before being installed in an office.—Trans.