The Edict of Nantes was issued in April 1598 by King Henry IV of France to end the religious civil wars that had torn France since 1562. Henry himself had been a Protestant leader, and had converted to Catholicism in 1593 in order to be accepted as king. The edict kept Catholicism as the state religion but granted the Huguenots, the French Protestants, freedom of conscience, the right to worship publicly in specified places, access to public office, and a number of fortified towns for their security. It brought a period of relative peace and was an early step towards religious toleration in Europe. In 1685 Louis XIV revoked it with the Edict of Fontainebleau, and many thousands of Huguenots then left France.
Before and after
- 31 March 1596Birth of René Descartes
- from June 1597 to August 1597Islands Voyage
- from 18 October 1597 to 15 November 1597Third Spanish Armada
- from 1598 to 1613Time of Troubles
- 13 April 1598Edict of Nantes
- 7 November 1598Birth of Francisco de Zurbarán
- 7 December 1598Birth of Gian Lorenzo Bernini
- 1599Birth of Diego Velázquez
- 22 March 1599Birth of Anthony van Dyck
More in Wars, politics & history
- from 1568 to 1918Russo-Turkish Wars
- 1 July 1569Union of Lublin
- 1689Bill of Rights 1689
- 26 January 1699Treaty of Karlowitz
- 22 February 1732Birth of George Washington
- from 10 October 1733 to 3 October 1735War of the Polish Succession
The era
This moment belongs to the Early modern world (1500 CE to 1760 CE), voyages, printing and new ideas. You can also browse everything in the 16th century.