Editing Louis XIV (section)

==Edict of Fontainebleau==
{{Main|Edict of Fontainebleau}}
[[File:S21c.jpg|thumb|left|Louis XIV in 1685, the year he revoked the [[Edict of Nantes]]]]

Louis decided to persecute Protestants and revoke the 1598 [[Edict of Nantes]], which awarded Huguenots political and religious freedom. He saw the persistence of Protestantism as a disgraceful reminder of royal powerlessness. After all, the Edict was the pragmatic concession of his grandfather [[Henry IV of France|Henry&nbsp;IV]] to end the longstanding [[French Wars of Religion]]. An additional factor in Louis's thinking was the prevailing contemporary European principle to assure socio-political stability, ''[[cuius regio, eius religio]]'' ("whose realm, his religion"), the idea that the religion of the ruler should be the religion of the realm (as originally confirmed in central Europe in the [[Peace of Augsburg]] of 1555).{{Sfn|Sturdy|1998|pp=89–99}}

Responding to petitions, Louis initially excluded Protestants from office, constrained the meeting of [[synods]], closed churches outside of Edict-stipulated areas, banned Protestant outdoor preachers, and prohibited domestic Protestant migration. He also disallowed Protestant-Catholic intermarriages to which third parties objected, encouraged missions to the Protestants, and rewarded converts to Catholicism.{{Sfn|Sturdy|1998|pp=92–93}} This discrimination did not encounter much Protestant resistance, and a steady conversion of Protestants occurred, especially among the noble elites.

In 1681, Louis dramatically increased his persecution of Protestants. The principle of ''cuius regio, eius religio'' generally also meant that subjects who refused to convert could emigrate, but Louis banned emigration and effectively insisted that all Protestants must be converted. Secondly, following the proposal of René de Marillac and the Marquis of Louvois, he began quartering [[dragoon]]s in Protestant homes. Although this was within his legal rights, the ''dragonnades'' inflicted severe financial strain on Protestants and atrocious abuse. Between 300,000 and 400,000 Huguenots converted, as this entailed financial rewards and exemption from the ''[[dragonnades]]''.<ref>{{Harvnb|Sturdy|1998|p=96}}, citing {{Cite book |last1=Pillorget |first1=Suzanne |title=France Baroque, France Classique |last2=Pillorget |first2=René |publisher=Bouquins |date=1996 |isbn=978-2-2210-4868-9 |volume=I |page=935 |language=fr}}</ref>

[[File:Le Dragon missionnaire.jpg|thumb|[[Camisard|Protestant peasants]] rebelled against the officially sanctioned ''[[dragonnades]]'' (conversions enforced by [[dragoon]]s, labeled "missionaries in boots") that followed the Edict of Fontainebleau.]]

On 15 October 1685, Louis issued the [[Edict of Fontainebleau]], which cited the redundancy of privileges for Protestants given their scarcity after the extensive conversions. The Edict of Fontainebleau revoked the Edict of Nantes and repealed all the privileges that arose therefrom.<ref name=CatEn/> By his edict, Louis no longer tolerated the existence of Protestant groups, pastors, or churches in France. No further churches were to be constructed, and those already existing were to be demolished. Pastors could choose either exile or secular life. Those Protestants who had resisted conversion were now to be [[forced conversion|baptised forcibly]] into the established church.{{Sfn|Nolan|2008|p=132}}

Historians have debated Louis's reasons for issuing the Edict of Fontainebleau. He may have been seeking to placate [[Pope Innocent XI]], with whom relations were tense and whose aid was necessary to determine the outcome of a succession crisis in the [[Electorate of Cologne]]. He may also have acted to upstage [[Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Leopold&nbsp;I]] and regain international prestige after the latter defeated the Turks without Louis's help. Otherwise, he may simply have desired to end the remaining divisions in French society dating to the Wars of Religion by fulfilling his [[Coronation of the French monarch|coronation]] oath to eradicate heresy.{{Sfn|Sturdy|1998|pp=96–97}}{{Sfn|Bluche|1986|pp=20–21}}

Many historians have condemned the Edict of Fontainebleau as gravely harmful to France.<ref name="bartleby">{{Cite encyclopedia |date=2007 |title=Louis XIV, king of France |encyclopedia=The Columbia Encyclopedia |url=http://www.bartleby.com/65/lo/Louis14Fr.html |access-date=19 January 2008 |edition=6th |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080107232540/http://www.bartleby.com/65/lo/Louis14Fr.html |archive-date=7 January 2008}}</ref> In support, they cite the emigration of about 200,000 highly skilled Huguenots (roughly one quarter of the Protestant population, or 1% of the French population) who defied royal decrees and fled France for various Protestant states, weakening the French economy and enriching that of Protestant states. On the other hand, some historians view this as an exaggeration. They argue that most of France's preeminent Protestant businessmen and industrialists converted to Catholicism and remained.<ref>{{Harvnb|Sturdy|1998|p=98}}, citing {{Cite book |last=Scoville |first=Warren C. |title=The Persecution of Huguenots and French Economic Development, 1680–1720 |publisher=University of California Press |date=1960 |oclc=707588406}}</ref>

What is certain is that the reaction to the Edict was mixed. Even while French Catholic leaders exulted, Pope Innocent{{Nbsp}}XI still argued with Louis over Gallicanism and criticized the use of violence. Protestants across Europe were horrified at the treatment of their co-religionists, but most Catholics in France applauded the move. Nonetheless, it is indisputable that Louis's public image in most of Europe, especially in Protestant regions, was dealt a severe blow.

In the end, however, despite renewed tensions with the [[Camisard]]s of south-central France at the end of his reign, Louis may have helped ensure that his successor would experience fewer instances of the religion-based disturbances that had plagued his forebears. French society would sufficiently change by the time of his descendant, [[Louis XVI of France|Louis&nbsp;XVI]], to welcome tolerance in the form of the 1787 [[Edict of Versailles]], also known as the [[Edict of Tolerance]]. This restored to non-Catholics their civil rights and the freedom to worship openly.{{Sfn|Edwards|2007|pp=212–213}} With the advent of the [[French Revolution]] in 1789, Protestants were granted equal rights with their Roman Catholic counterparts.