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The Cardinal of Lorraine and the Colloque of Poissy, 1561: A Reassessment1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 March 2011

N. M. Sutherland
Affiliation:
Lecturer in History, Bedford College, University of London

Extract

The colloque of Poissy, September–October 1561, was an important incident in the history of the Reformation, and a dramatic incident in the career of the cardinal of Lorraine. This subject was first studied in detail by H. O. Evennett in his book The Cardinal of Lorraine and the Council of Trent, published in 1930. More recently, Evennett provided the inspiration for Donald Nugent in his study Ecumenism in the Age of the Reformation: The Colloque of Poissy. It is upon these two important works that any reassessment must necessarily be based. In a concluding chapter on ‘the case of the cardinal of Lorraine’, Nugent wrote: ‘while the sources would seem to argue for a better view of Lorraine and his conduct at Poissy, an element of ambiguity remains’. This cautious comment refers to the introduction by Lorraine of the confession of Augsburg and a Lutheran formula on the eucharist. For Nugent, the ‘critical role of the enigmatic cardinal of Lorraine has never been resolved’. In order to concentrate on his subject, the colloque itself, Nugent skipped briefly over its historical background. This he believed to have been fully treated by others—doubtless Evennett in particular. It is, however, still necessary to study this historical background more precisely in order to clarify how and why the colloque arose. Only then does it become possible to interpret the all-important role of Lorraine.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1977

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References

page 265 note 2 Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1974.

page 265 note 3 Nugent, 219.

page 265 note 4 Nugent, 12.

page 265 note 5 Nugent, 14.

page 266 note 1 Evennett, 94–6, 235, 240–1; Nugent, 66, 209.

page 266 note 2 Nugent, 17.

page 266 note 3 Evennett, 241.

page 267 note 1 This, however, was quickly in doubt again.

page 267 note 2 Evennett, 235.

page 267 note 3 Elsewhere Evennett asserts that Lorraine lacked a single, directing motive (74).

page 267 note 4 Evennett, 235.

page 267 note 5 Evennett, 12.

page 268 note 1 Léonard, Frédéric, Recueil des traitez de paix, Paris 1693, ii, 536Google Scholar.

page 268 note 2 Ribier, G., Lettres et mémoires d'Estat, 1666, ii. 806–11Google Scholar: 9 July 1559, Tournon to Henry 11.

page 268 note 3 Ribier, ii. 819: 20 December 1559, Lorraine to the bishop of Angouleme, ambassador in Rome.

page 268 note 4 This was probably more from gallican than pro-protestant sentiment. Ribier, ii. 817–18: 10 August 1559, Francis to the avocat and procureurs généraux of the parlement of Paris.

page 268 note 5 Fontanon, A., Les Edits et ordonnances des rois de France, Paris 1911, iv. 259–60Google Scholar.

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page 268 note 7 Calendar of Stale Papers Foreign, 1559–60, 267: 6 January 1560, Killigrew and Jones to Elizabeth.

page 268 note 8 Evennett, 93–4.

page 269 note 1 Nugent, 17.

page 269 note 2 Evennett, 93.

page 269 note 3 Evennett, 99.

page 269 note 4 Fontanon, iv. 261. The edicts of persecution had begun with that of Chateaubriant, 27 June 1551: ibid., 252–7.

page 270 note 1 Fontanon, iv. 261–3.

page 270 note 2 The edict of Fontainebleau, 1 June 1540, had proclaimed heresy to be a crime: Fontanon, iv. 246–8.

page 270 note 3 Planche, Regnier de la, ‘Hisloire de l'Estat de France sous le règne de François II, ed. Buchon, , Paris 1836, 247–8Google Scholar. Evennett rejected La Planche as being hostile to Lorraine. He is, in fact, a remarkably reliable source.

page 270 note 4 Evennett, 100.

page 270 note 5 Evennett, 99.

page 270 note 6 La Planche, 300.

page 270 note 7 Condé, Louis Ier prince de, Mémoires, ed. London 1743, i. 342Google Scholar, n.i.

page 271 note 1 Fontanon, iv. 262–3. The date of this pardon is variously given as 16, 17, 18 March. The king himself had announced it by 16 March. Hérelle, G., La Réforme et la Ligue en Champagne, Paris 1888, i. 30–2Google Scholar: 16 March 1560, Francis to the bailly of Vermandois.

page 271 note 2 Condé, 342–6, 17 March 1560. This commission is printed in a number of places.

page 271 note 3 Evennett is exaggeratedly anti-Bourbon. His rendering of their role in 1560 is demonstrably false.

page 271 note 4 This was probably late in April, or the first week in May, when Catherine was at Chenonceaux. This could be the undated remonstrance printed in Condé, i. 405–10; La Planche, 300–3.

page 271 note 5 La Planche, 262, gives 22 March 1560; see also, 270. Throckmorton had reported this by 6 April. CSPF., 1559–60, 505: Throckmorton to Elizabeth; ibid., 534: 12 April 1560, same to same.

page 271 note 6 Condé, i. 539, May 1560.

page 271 note 7 Fontanon, iv. 229–30.

page 271 note 8 It was not registered until 16 July.

page 271 note 9 Forbes, Patrick, A Full View of the Public Transactions in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, London 1760–1, i. 465Google Scholar: 22 May 1560, Throckmorton to Elizabeth.

page 272 note 1 La Planche, 299–302.

page 272 note 2 Calendar of State Papers Venetian, 1558–80, 189: 20 April 1560, Michiel to the doge; Evennett, 113–14. A month later Throckmorton reported an attempt to murder the due de Guise, out hunting, Forbes, i. 464: 22 May 1560, Throckmorton to Elizabeth.

page 272 note 3 Evennett, 96–7, gives 21 March 1560, but prints the document as appendix i, and there gives 22 March.

page 272 note 4 Paillard, C., ‘Additions critiques a l'histoire de la conjuration d'Amboise’, Revue hislorique, xiv (1880), 344Google Scholar: 28 March 1560, Chantonnay to Margaret of Parma.

page 273 note 1 Philibert Babou de la Bourdaisière, bishop of Angoulême reached Rome on 12 April with the requests for a general council and a legate to preside over a national one: Evennett, 102.

page 273 note 2 Abel Desjardins, Négotiations diplomatique! de la France avec la Toscane, Paris 1859–86, iii. 411: 25 March 1560, Tornabuoni to Cosme 1.

page 273 note 3 Evennett, 116.

page 273 note 4 Lorenzo Lenzi, bishop of Fermo.

page 273 note 5 Evennett, 97.

page 273 note 6 Condé, i. 347–52: 31 March 1560, Francis to the parlement of Paris.

page 274 note 1 Evennett, 102–3.

page 274 note 2 Sebastian Gualtieri, bishop of Viterbo. Evennett, 106–7.

page 274 note 3 Evennett, 110–112.

page 274 note 4 Evennett, 119.

page 274 note 5 CSPVen. 1558–80, 226–7: 21 June 1560, Michiel to the doge.

page 274 note 6 Evennett, 127, and appendix iii.

page 275 note 1 Lalourcé et Duval, Recueil des pièces originates et authentiques concemarU la tenue des états généraux, 1789, i. 68–9; Condé, iii, supplement, 645–8.

page 275 note 2 Lalourcé et Duval, i. 111–12.

page 275 note 3 Lalourcé et Duval, i. 76–99.

page 275 note 4 Lalourcé et Duval, i. 73–5.

page 275 note 5 Condé, i. 551, July 1560; Dupuy, P., Instructions et lettres des rois très chrétiens et de lews ambassadeurs et autres actes concemant le contile de Trente, ed. Paris 1654, 445Google Scholar, 25 July 1560.

page 276 note 1 Evennett, 208–10, is quite vague about this. Lorraine's opposition must, however, be inferred.

page 276 note 2 Paris, Négociations, 486–9c, 31 August 1560.

page 277 note 1 Condé, i. 578–80, 10 September 1560.

page 277 note 2 ‘… oyasoient tous ceulxqui auront à remonstrer’: Paris, Négotiations, 489.

page 277 note 3 Henry et Loriquet, Correipondan.ee de Philibert Babou de la Bourdaisière, évéque d'Angoulême (Travaux de l'Académie de Reims, xxvii. 1857–8), 31–5: 30 September 1560, La Bourdaisière to the king.

page 277 note 4 Evennett, 170–1.

page 277 note 5 Evennett, 178–9; appendix v, 31 October 1560: Lorraine to cardinal Ferrara, italian; also in Ehses, S., Concilium Tridenlinum: Diariorum, actorum, epistularum, tractatuum, nova collectio, Freiburg-im-Breisgau, 1901–19, viii. 91–2Google Scholar.

page 277 note 6 Evennett, 180–1; Ehses, 91–2: 31 October 1560, Francis to Ferrara.

page 277 note 7 Evennett, 194–5.

page 278 note 1 Evennett, 201–2.

page 278 note 2 Condé, ii. 649–55.

page 278 note 3 Ehses, 122–3: 4 January 1561, Charles to his bishops.

page 279 note 1 Evennett, 203–4; Picot, Georges, Histoire des états généraux, Paris 1872, ii. 28Google Scholarf.; Baum, G. et Cunitz, E. (eds.), Histoire ecdésiastique des églises réformées au royaume de France, Paris 1883–9, i. 456fGoogle Scholar.

page 279 note 2 Michaud et Poujoulat, Nouvelle collection des mémoires pour servir à l'histoire de France, série i, vol. vi, Mémoires du prince de Condé, 570–1.

page 279 note 3 Picot, ii. 87.

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page 280 note 2 Evennett, 208–9.

page 280 note 3 Evennett, 212.

page 280 note 4 Evennett, 210.

page 280 note 5 Evennett, 240.

page 280 note 6 Evennett does not make it clear how he thinks Lorraine ‘deflected’ this vessel.

page 280 note 7 Evennett, 236, 240–1.

page 281 note 1 Sutherland, N. M., ‘Antoine de Bourbon King of Navarre and the French Crisis of Audiority, 1559–1562’, in French Government and Society, 1500–1800, ed. Bosher, J. F., London 1973, 1213Google Scholar; The French Secretaries of State in the Age of Catherine de Medici, London 1962, 114–16Google Scholar.

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page 281 note 3 Aymon, Jean, Tous les Synodes nationaux des églises réformees de France, The Hague 1710, i. 1323Google Scholar.

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page 281 note 5 Conde, ii. 281–4, 25 March 1561.

page 282 note 1 This opinion is unexplained. It appears to have derived from a letter of 22 April 1561. It is, however, clearly not what the letter means. Ferrière, H. de la, Lettres de Catherine de Médicis, Paris 1880–95, i. 191–2Google Scholar: Cadierine to the bishop of Rennes, ambassador in the empire.

page 282 note 2 Bibliothèque nationale, Paris, fonds français, 6614, fol. 230 [March 1561], draft by de Laubespine for Catherine to Limoges. This letter was private and confidential.

page 282 note 3 Bulletin de la Société de l'histoire du protestantism français, xiv (1865), 319Google Scholar: 24 May 1561, Calvin to Bullinger.

page 282 note 4 Condé, ii. 334–5, 19 April 1561.

page 282 note 5 This repealed a clause of die edict of Chateaubriant, June 1551.

page 282 note 6 Baum et Cunitz, i. 507; Condé, ii. 352–7.

page 282 note 7 Condé, ii. 7: 22 April 1561, Chantonnay to Catherine.

page 283 note 1 Evennett, 236.

page 283 note 2 La Ferrière, Lettres, i. 189: 21 April 1561, Catherine to Limoges.

page 283 note 3 Evennett, 240.

page 283 note 4 Evennett, 253.

page 283 note 5 Evennett, 241–2, 261–4.

page 283 note 6 Condé, ii. 364–5, 16 May 1561.

page 284 note 1 Place, Pierre de la, Commentaires de l'estat de la religion et république sous les roys Henry et François seconds et Charles neufuiesme, ed. Paris 1836, 127–8Google Scholar. A similar version appears in Baum et Cunitz, i. 509, 516.

page 284 note 2 Condé, ii. 370–2, 11 June 1561.

page 284 note 3 Plat, J. Le, Monumentorum ad Historiam Concilii Tridentini, Louvain 1781–7, iv. 704–5Google Scholar, 12 June 1561.

page 285 note 1 Evennett, 224, 254.

page 285 note 2 Evennett, 281; Šusta, J., Die Römische Kurie und das Konzil von Trient unter Pius IV, Vienna 1904–14, i. 200–1, 14 June 1561Google Scholar: Viterbo to Borromeo; ibid., 207–9: 20 June 1561, same to same; Joannis Calvird Opera, Corpus Reformatorum, xxix–lxxxvii, eds. Baum, G., Cunitz, E., Reuss, E., Brunswick & Berlin 1863–97, xviii. 547–9Google Scholar: 11 July 1561, Marlorat to Calvin.

page 285 note 3 Condé, ii. 396–400, 18 June 1561.

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page 286 note 2 De Ruble, iii. 103–4; L'Hospital, Michel de, Oeuvres complètes, ed. Dufey, P. J. S., Paris 1824–5, 449–50Google Scholar. This is a corrupt text.

page 286 note 3 ‘Tous ceux qui auront … aucunes Remonstrances, ou qui voudront estre ouis …’: Condé, i. 41–2, 25 July 1561.

page 286 note 4 Condé, ii. 12, 1 July 1561.

page 286 note 5 Evennett, 256; Nugent, 63–4; Susta, i. 210–11; 23 June 1561, Viterbo to Borromeo.

page 287 note 1 Evennett, 264 f.; appendix viii.

page 288 note 1 Evennet, 286.

page 288 note 2 Ruble, De, Le Colloque de Poissy (Mémoires de la société de l'histoire de Paris, xvi. 1889), Paris 1890, 19Google Scholar.

page 288 note 3 Baum et Cunitz, i. 543–4.

page 288 note 4 Baum et Cunitz, i. 555; de Ruble, Le Colloque de Poissy, 26.

page 288 note 5 Baum et Cunitz, i. 553–4.

page 288 note 6 Ferrara was appointed legate a latere on 2 June and left Rome with Diego Lainez on 2 July 1561. They arrived at Poissy on 19 July. Evennett, 259–60; de Ruble, Le Colloque de Poissy, 33; Nugent, 118.

page 288 note 7 Evennett, 351 f.; Nugent 142–3. Nugent prints various formulae which were discussed, 233–40.

page 289 note 1 Evennett, 382, Nugent, 172.

page 289 note 2 Evennett, 2.