The Treaty of Loudun was signed on 3 May 1616 in

Loudun Loudun (; ; Poitevin: ''Loudin'') is a commune in the Vienne department and the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, western France. It is located south of the town of Chinon and 25 km to the east of the town Thouars. The area south of Loudun i ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, and ended the war that originally began as a

power struggle In political science and political history, the term power vacuum, also known as a power void, is an analogy between a physical vacuum to the political condition "when someone in a place of power, has lost control of something and no one has repla ...

between queen mother

Marie de Medici Marie de' Medici (french: link=no, Marie de Médicis, it, link=no, Maria de' Medici; 26 April 1575 – 3 July 1642) was Queen of France and Navarre as the second wife of King Henry IV of France of the House of Bourbon, and Regent of the Kingdom ...

's favorite Concino Concini (recently made Marquis d'Ancre) and Henry II de Condé, the next in line for

Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crow ...

's throne. The war gained religious undertones when rebellious

Huguenot 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 ...

princes joined Condé's revolt.

Negotiations and terms

Negotiations between the court and Condé took place at Loudun between February and May and were conducted by the secretary of state, Nicolas de Neufville, Marquis de Villeroy..

Père Joseph A name suffix, in the Western English-language naming tradition, follows a person's full name and provides additional information about the person. Post-nominal letters indicate that the individual holds a position, educational degree, accredit ...

, a confidant of Armand-Jean du Plessis (at the time Bishop of Luçon and Queen Anne's

grand almoner An almoner (} ' (alms), via the popular Latin '. History Christians have historically been encouraged to donate one-tenth of their income as a tithe to their church and additional offerings as needed for the poor. The first deacons, mentioned ...

, later to become

Cardinal Richelieu Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu (; 9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a French clergyman and statesman. He was also known as ''l'Éminence rouge'', or "the Red Eminence", a term derived from the ...

and first minister), also took part. The treaty was signed by Marie and Condé on 3 May 1616 and officially ended the revolts by many nobles in France at the cost of royal concessions and reparations to Condé and others. Based on the terms of the treaty, the

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 B ...

were allowed to unite their churches in

with those in

Béarn The Béarn (; ; oc, Bearn or ''Biarn''; eu, Bearno or ''Biarno''; or ''Bearnia'') is one of the traditional provinces of France, located in the Pyrenees mountains and in the plain at their feet, in southwest France. Along with the three B ...

. Moreover, the treaty granted amnesty to Condé along with others and made Condé head of the council of state. Concini was removed as lieutenant-general of

Picardy Picardy (; Picard and french: Picardie, , ) is a historical territory and a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region of Hauts-de-France. It is located in the northern part of France. Hist ...

and governor of

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...

, while Condé received one and a half million

livres The (; ; abbreviation: ₶.) was one of numerous currencies used in medieval France, and a unit of account (i.e., a monetary unit used in accounting) used in Early Modern France. The 1262 monetary reform established the as 20 , or 80.88 g ...

Aftermath

Concini remained with quite a bit of power as the favorite of Marie, who eventually made Condé also give his support. Du Plessis, a supporter of Concini, was made ''conseiller d'état'' late in May, and Concini got Villeroy removed from his post as councillor in June (although this did not take full effect until 9 August). Concini was also made lieutenant-general in

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

and governor of

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000, Condé's followers then fled from

Paris Paris () is the capital and 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), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

. Thus, the peace was broken and war broke out again between the supporters of Concini and Condé's followers. The war ended with Louis XIII's

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

of 24 April 1617, when Concini was arrested, but reportedly resisted and was killed. Marie and her entourage, including du Plessis, were exiled to the

Château de Blois A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. Nowaday ...

on 3 May.; .

References

Citations

Sources

* * * *{{cite journal, last=Parker, first=David, title=The Social Foundation of French Absolutism 1610-1630, journal=Past & Present, volume=53, issue=53, pages=67–89, year=1971, jstor=650281, doi=10.1093/past/53.1.67

External links

History Bookshop: Timelines

"Mémoires touchant la négociation, conférances et paix conclue à Loudun, 1616"
at Gallica, vol. VII of the ''Recueil relatif aux Protestants pendant les XVIe et XVIIe siècles'' 1616 in France 1616 treaties