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Perplexity and Suspicion in Europe Perplexity and Suspicion in Europe
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Charles IX and the Control of Information Charles IX and the Control of Information
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The Irresistible Nostalgia for Lost Unity The Irresistible Nostalgia for Lost Unity
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Notes Notes
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6 The King’s Truth, Reason of the State
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Published:May 2015
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Abstract
News of the massacres spread quickly, forcing the French monarchy to defend and explain what had happened. Charles IX publicly assumed full responsibility for punishing the leading Huguenots, but as disobedient subjects rather than as religious heretics. He did not take responsibility for the popular massacres that followed, indeed they were condemned as the kind of disorder that only firm royal authority could control. And he insisted that he considered the peace of 1570 to be still intact. At stake was his authority and the peace of his kingdom, but also France’s relations with foreign powers, some of them much-needed allies. In an attempt to counteract rumour and to control information circulating around Europe about the Massacre, French ambassadors were briefed on how to defend what had happened – and why – but the emphasis (and arguments) varied from one state to another, especially whether they were Catholic or Protestant. Not many were convinced – England rejected outright the French ‘reason of state’ defence. Catholic states felt the massacres were necessary, but not on reason of state grounds. In practice, Charles IX soon had to backtrack from his stance of defending internal concord from a neutral position above religion, which cut no ice with most Catholics. Moreover, the Massacre restored Catholic determination to rid France of Protestantism. It soon became clear that a neutral ‘reason of state’ stance won Charles no friends, which in turn led – or forced – him gradually to move closer to the Catholic position. Civil war resumed by 1573.
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