Edict of Nantes
A decree passed by King Henri IV in 1598
that granted full religious liberty to the
Huguenots (Protestants) of France. The
decree allowed the Huguenots freedom to
worship in private and public as they
chose; it also granted them control of cer-
tain towns in France and set up courts of
Catholic and Protestant judges that would
hear cases involving Protestants. The edict
was an attempt to end the decades of reli-
gious conflict in France that had resulted
in thousands of deaths and decline in or-
der throughout the kingdom. After the
death of Henri IV, however, his successor
King Louis XIV sought to consolidate royal
control over the Protestant towns, includ-
ing the strategic port of La Rochelle on
the western coast. The armies of the king
attacked and defeated La Rochelle in 1628,
and by the Peace of Alais the Protestant
towns lost their independence. In later de-
cades Louis gradually ended the privileges
granted to the Huguenots and in 1685 re-
voked the Edict of Nantes. This action re-
sulted in the flight of thousands of Hu-
guenot families to the Low Countries and
to French colonies in North America,
which drained France of a population vital
to its growing manufacturing economy.
The revocation also increased political ten-
sions with France’s Protestant neighbors.
education .........................................
Education in the medieval era was gener-
ally reserved for the wealthy and young
members of ruling families. Most school-
ing took place in monastic and cathedral
schools, or at the desk of a private tutor.
In the fourteenth century, education be-
came more widely available to an expand-
ing urban middle class. Literacy increased,
a few years of schooling were available to
the young, and new universities were es-
tablished to train scholars for religious, le-
gal, or teaching professions. By the fif-
teenth century, a thorough education in
grammar, rhetoric, history, and philosophy
was considered essential for the well-
rounded individual.
TheInstitutio Oratoriaof the ancient
Roman author Quintilian, discovered in
the fourteenth century by the Italian poet
Petrarch, was a guide to the training of a
Roman orator. This book inspired a new,
humanistic outlook on education. In his
book Quintilian advocates a broad educa-
tional training suited to the abilities of the
individual student. It encourages students
to analyze the function and components
of rhetoric in order to provide a sound
basis for one’s skill as a speaker and writer.
This guidebook for the education of the
young was a foundation of Renaissance
learning.
Cicero’s speeches, uncovered by Pe-
trarch and others, also provided an impor-
tant text for Renaissance-era students. Pi-
etro Paolo Vergerio wrote On Noble
Customs, a book that advocates training in
the seven liberal arts of grammar, dialec-
tic, rhetoric, music, arithmetic, geometry,
and astronomy. Vergerio presents a de-
tailed program for the teacher, emphasiz-