Religious Zeal and Political Expediency on the the Eve of the French Wars of Religion

Costas Gaganakis, University of Athens

In September 1561, the Colloquy of Poissy, organized by Catherine de Medicis and the royal chancellor Michel de l’Hospital, sought to bridge the doctrinal differences between French Calvinists and the Catholic Church, largely on the grounds of a lutheran form of religious confession. Both religious camps were represented at a particularly high level. Yet, despite the conciliatory rhetoric, both sides ultimately sought conversion of the other, not religious convergence. This paper discusses various aspects of the complex interplay between political expediency and evangelical zeal in the French protestant camp in a period of rapid escalation towards the religious wars.

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