Editing Edict of Nantes (section)

==Revocation==
{{main|Edict of Fontainebleau}}
[[Image:Louis XIV of France.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Louis XIV, by [[Hyacinthe Rigaud]]]]
The Edict remained unaltered in effect, registered by the ''parlements'' as "fundamental and irrevocable law", with the exception of the ''brevets,'' which had been granted for a period of eight years, and were renewed by Henry in 1606 and in 1611 by [[Marie de' Medici|Marie de Médecis]], who confirmed the Edict within a week of the assassination of Henry, stilling Protestant fears of another [[St. Bartholomew's Day massacre]]. The subsidies had been reduced by degrees, as Henry gained more control of the nation.<ref>A point made in Rothrock 1960:19.</ref> By the [[Treaty of Montpellier|Peace of Montpellier]] in 1622, concluding a Huguenot revolt in Languedoc, the fortified Protestant towns were reduced to two, [[La Rochelle]] and [[Montauban]]. The ''brevets'' were entirely withdrawn in 1629, by [[Louis XIII of France|Louis XIII]], following the [[Siege of La Rochelle]], in which [[Cardinal Richelieu]] blockaded the city for fourteen months.

During the remainder of Louis XIII's reign, and especially during the minority of Louis XIV, the implementation of the Edict varied year by year, voiced in declarations and orders, and in case decisions in the Council, fluctuating according to the tides of domestic politics and the relations of France with powers abroad.<ref>Ruth Kleinman, "Changing Interpretations of the Edict of Nantes: The Administrative Aspect, 1643–1661" ''French Historical Studies'' '''10'''.4 (Autumn 1978:541–71.</ref>

In October 1685, [[Louis XIV of France|Louis XIV]], the grandson of Henry IV, renounced the Edict and declared Protestantism illegal with the [[Edict of Fontainebleau]]. This act, commonly called the '''revocation of the Edict of Nantes'',' had very damaging results for France. While the wars of religion did not re-ignite, intense persecution of Protestants took place.  All Protestant ministers were given two weeks to leave the country unless they converted to Catholicism and all other Protestants were prohibited from leaving the country.  In spite of the prohibition, the renewed persecution – including many examples of torture – caused as many as 400,000 to flee France at risk of their lives.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1685revocation.asp|title=Internet History Sourcebooks|website=www.fordham.edu}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last = Morison |first = Samuel Eliot |author-link = Samuel Eliot Morison |title = The Oxford History of the American People |publisher = [[Mentor]] |year = 1972 |location = New York City |pages =[https://archive.org/details/oxfordhistoryoft02samu/page/220 220] |url =https://archive.org/details/oxfordhistoryoft02samu|url-access = registration |isbn = 0-451-62600-1 }}</ref> Most moved to [[Great Britain]], [[Prussia]], the [[Dutch Republic]], [[Switzerland]], [[Huguenots in South Africa|South Africa]] and the [[New France|new French colonies]] and the [[Thirteen Colonies]] in North America.<ref>See [[History of the French in Louisville]].</ref> Some moved to Denmark, where the city of [[Fredericia]], laid waste after the Swedish conquest in 1656, needed new settlers and a specific clause in the city ordinance allowed Protestants other than Lutheran to live in the city.<ref>City ordinance of 1682-03-11</ref> This exodus deprived France of many of its most skilled and industrious individuals,{{cn|date=July 2024}} some of whom thereafter aided France's rivals in the Netherlands and in England. The revocation of the Edict of Nantes also further damaged the perception of Louis XIV abroad, making the Protestant nations bordering France more hostile to his regime. Upon the revocation of the edict, [[Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg]] issued the [[Edict of Potsdam]], which encouraged Protestants to come to [[Brandenburg-Prussia]].

Freedom to worship and civil rights for non-Catholics in France were not restored until the signing of the [[Edict of Versailles]], also known as the [[Edict of Tolerance]], by [[Louis XVI of France|Louis XVI]] 102 years later, on 7 November 1787. This edict was enacted by [[parlement]] two months later, less than two years before the end of the [[Ancien Régime]] and the [[Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen of 1789]] would fully eliminate religious discrimination in France.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20120714094231/http://booking-help.org/book_338_glava_314_Edict_of_Versailles_(1787).html Encyclopedia of the Age of Political Ideals, ''Edict of Versailles (1787)'']}}, downloaded 29 January 2012</ref>