King

Francis I of France Francis I (french: François Ier; frm, Francoys; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin on ...

issued the Edict of Coucy on July 16, 1535, ending the persecution of Protestants on the ground that heresy no longer existed in France. It also released religious prisoners and offered amnesty to exiles, providing they abjure heresy. The edict, which came with a period of leniency or what some refer to as a turn toward appeasement, followed the Nicolas Cop's speech on November 1, 1533 calling for reform in the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. It also followed the provocative placards that were posted almost a year later in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

and elsewhere attacking the

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...

as a blasphemy. The placards affair, which was instigated by Antoine Marcourt, was directed at the Catholic doctrine of

transubstantiation Transubstantiation (Latin: ''transubstantiatio''; Greek: μετουσίωσις '' metousiosis'') is, according to the teaching of the Catholic Church, "the change of the whole substance of bread into the substance of the Body of Christ and of ...

and accused priests of being the antichrist and that while Cop's speech was deemed humanist, the placards were considered heretical. Conservatives used the offensive nature of the demonstration to pressure the king to adopt a harder line towards heresy. Backed by the king, some dissenters were jailed, twenty-four were executed, and over seventy fled, including Cop and his friend John Calvin. The edict was introduced as part of Francis I's effort to forge an alliance with the

Schmalkaldic League The Schmalkaldic League (; ; or ) was a military alliance of Lutheran princes within the Holy Roman Empire during the mid-16th century. Although created for religious motives soon after the start of the Reformation, its members later came to ...

, particularly since figures such as

Philip of Hesse Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse (13 November 1504 – 31 March 1567), nicknamed (in English: "the Magnanimous"), was a German nobleman and champion of the Protestant Reformation, notable for being one of the most important of the early Protesta ...

did not approve of the religious persecution. It was also partly aimed at addressing the threat of the depopulation of France by raising the issue of the "fugitive religionaries". The edict freed all of the jailed, and offered amnesty to the exiles. The "Sacramentarians", who held to

Zwingli Huldrych or Ulrich Zwingli (1 January 1484 – 11 October 1531) was a leader of the Reformation in Switzerland, born during a time of emerging Swiss patriotism and increasing criticism of the Swiss mercenary system. He attended the Univ ...

's view of the

Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...

(which had appeared on the placards), were included only if they would repudiate their anti-Romanist views. Francis sought by the edict to assuage the anger of some German Protestant princes with whom he was attempting to form an alliance, which ultimately failed. Even so, he extended pardon to the Sacramentarians in 1536. The edict continued until it was revoked in December 1538 and, after hostilities resumed, it was replaced by the

Edict of Fontainebleau The Edict of Fontainebleau (22 October 1685) was an edict issued by French King Louis XIV and is also known as the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The Edict of Nantes (1598) had granted Huguenots the right to practice their religion without s ...

in 1540.

References

Further reading