The Edict of Fontainebleau was issued June 1, 1540 by French King Francis I at his Palace of Fontainebleau. It occurred after the " Affair of the Placards" turned Francis I's policy from one of tolerance to persecution of

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

. The edict stated that the Protestant heresy was "high treason against God and mankind" and so deserved the appropriate punishments of torture, loss of property,

public humiliation Public humiliation or public shaming is a form of punishment whose main feature is dishonoring or disgracing a person, usually an offender or a prisoner, especially in a public place. It was regularly used as a form of judicially sanctioned puni ...

and death. Thus, the Edict of Fontainebleau codified the persecution of the French Protestants, also called

Huguenots The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

, and was the first of many edicts in France to persecute them. The next major edict was the Edict of Châteaubriant, which was issued by the next king, Henry II.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Edict Of Fontainebleau (1540) 1540 in Europe 1540 in law Fontainebleau 1540 1540 in France Huguenot history in France Francis I of France