The French Wars of Religion 
The French Wars of Religion, being a central part of Europe’s Protestant Reformation, adopted its immensely violent nature and pointed this aggression towards a multitude of spiritual and political concerns. As Calvinism established roots and spread throughout the nation, animalistic savagery was displayed by both sides of any conflict, from the rivalry for the French throne between the Bourbon and Guise factions to the slaughter of thousands of Huguenots during the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre. Bands of militias and vigilantes were formed, comprised of Frenchmen from all estates, who fought desperately for change in their governance as well as for autonomy from the Gallican Church. Ultimately, the Bourbon chieftain, Henry of Navarre, was crowned as King Henry IV, issuing the Edict of Nantes to give official freedoms to the French Calvinists and to rebuild the shattered society that the French kingdom had become.
Nearly forty years of conflict in France during the 16th century stemmed from political and religious uncertainty, although all events and decisions made had a theological basis. The growth of Calvinism in the largely Catholic state challenged the existing conditions established by the 1438 Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges, which allotted superior authority to the French king and his council rather than to the Pope, and led peasants, nobles, and even clergymen to revolt. Members of the higher estates especially wanted to achieve their own sovereignty, as was being done in the Holy Roman Empire through the Treaty of Augsburg, turning to brutality and bloodshed to do so. Peasants occupying the third estate, on the other hand, were branded Huguenots, and were subjected to the worst of this era’s cruelty through their persecution and mass killings by Catholic extremists. Even the civil wars between several French factions for the throne, left empty by the death of King Henri II, had an underbelly of religion and theology. The Guise proved themselves to be
Nearly forty years of conflict in France during the 16th century stemmed from political and religious uncertainty, although all events and decisions made had a theological basis. The growth of Calvinism in the largely Catholic state challenged the existing conditions established by the 1438 Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges, which allotted superior authority to the French king and his council rather than to the Pope, and led peasants, nobles, and even clergymen to revolt. Members of the higher estates especially wanted to achieve their own sovereignty, as was being done in the Holy Roman Empire through the Treaty of Augsburg, turning to brutality and bloodshed to do so. Peasants occupying the third estate, on the other hand, were branded Huguenots, and were subjected to the worst of this era’s cruelty through their persecution and mass killings by Catholic extremists. Even the civil wars between several French factions for the throne, left empty by the death of King Henri II, had an underbelly of religion and theology. The Guise proved themselves to be