The Estates General of 1576 was a national meeting of the three orders of France; the clergy (First Estate), nobility (Second Estate) and common people (Third Estate). It was called as one of the many concessions made by the crown to the Protestant/moderate Catholic rebels to bring the Fifth War of Religion to a close. The generous terms of the peace made with the rebels provoked a strong backlash from militant Catholics who established the first Catholic Ligue (League) in opposition to the terms. Henri at first sought to suppress the ligue before attempting to co-opt it. Both king Henri III and the ligue looked to the upcoming Estates General to secure advantage. For the first time in the history of the Estates General, a fierce election campaign would follow between Protestant, royalist and ligueur candidates, in the end very few Protestants would be represented in the Estates.
The Estates opened on 6 December, and in the first few days, Henri was confronted by a coalition of the First and Second Estate that attempted a constitutional revolution which would have seen the unanimous decision of the Estates take on a legislative power he could not overrule. He declined to endorse this proposal and the Estates did not feel able to push it. Matters then turned to the unity of religion, with all three Estates declaring their support for the re-establishment of religious unity in France. However, the Second Estate had several objectors, and the Third Estate was riven with divisions between the pro and anti-war factions with only a narrow majority for a war against heresy in December. By January as the problems of the royal finances became apparent, and the Protestants in the south of France began seizing towns in response to the Estates General, anti-war attitudes continued to grow until by mid January the Third Estate no longer supported the use of force to establish religious unity. Meanwhile, embassies were sent out to the chief Protestant princes to ensure any conflict was handled properly. Henri, keen to seize on the earlier calls of the Estates for war looked to the Estates to provide him financial assistance to do so. He was able to coax the First Estate to provide him 450,000 livres, but the Second Estate refused to provide any money as did the Third, which also shot down alternate tax proposals. Frustrated Henri attempted to alienate the royal domain to support a war effort, and while the First and Second Estate approved of this, Jean Bodin ensured the Third Estate did not allow it. By the end of February the Estates wrapped up with Henri resigning himself to the fact he could not prosecute a war without funds. Yet the conflict had already begun in the provinces and as such a brief campaign would be required to hopefully overturn the humiliation of the Fifth War of Religion.
The new war would last until September, and be brought to an end with a minor royal victory in the Edict of Poitiers which provoked far less opposition than the earlier Edict of Beaulieu, its terms being significantly more moderate. The cahiers (books of grievances compiled by the Estates) would go on to form the basis for the landmark Great Ordinance of Blois which was published in 1579. This Ordinance altered royal justice, eligibility for church careers, the rules of finance, the structure and funding of the army and royal household, the laws as concerned royal governors and more over 363 articles. It would remain an important part of French law until the end of the ancien régime.
Unsatisfactory peace Peace of Monsieur
By early 1576 the fifth war of religion had decidedly turned against the crown. the Protestant king of Navarre was established in Saumur from where he dominated Anjou, Guyenne, Poitou and Béarn; the duc d'Alençon (rebellious brother of the king) controlled much of Berry, the Bourbonnais and the Nivernais; the seigneur de Coligny (son of the late Protestant Admiral) held Dauphiné; the politique baron de Damville, brother of the duc de Montmorency controlled Languedoc, Provence and Auvergne; finally the prince de Condé menaced Picardie. The rebel forces totalled around 30,000 men which was a far greater number than king Henri III had capacity to muster against them.
Henri lacked money for troops (those he had were predominately mercenary in composition) and had only limited territory under his control (largely confined to the Île de France, Bourgogne and Champagne). Only support from Spain had the potential to salvage the royal war effort.
Faced with an unfavourable war situation, Henri decided to seek peace with the Protestant and their allied politique (Catholics who felt persecution was counter-productive) forces. On 5 May 1576 Henri established the Edict of Beaulieu, known to history as the peace of Monsieur (Monsieur being the honorary name given to the king's brother the duc d'Alençon. The name of the peace reflect the commonly held assumption that it had been Alençon's participation alongside the rebels that forced Henri to the table. The treaty would largely be the work of his mother (Catherine), who was keen to see her two eldest surviving sons reconciled.
Generous terms The peace was the most generous of the civil war peaces to the Protestants. Across the country the free practice of Protestantism was permitted. This was with the exception of the area surrounding Paris (within four leagues) and that about the court wherever it might be (two leagues). The Protestants were allowed to build churches and hold synods. Cross-confessional chambers were to be established in each Parlement of France with equal numbers of Protestant and Catholic judges. These were to hear any case about violations of the terms of the peace, or cases which involved plaintiffs of both faiths. Eight places de sûreté (fortified towns the Protestants could hold as security for the execution of the terms of the peace) were granted. These were Aigues-Mortes, Beaucaire, Périgueux, Le Mas de Verdun, La Rochelle, Issoire, Nyons and Serres.
For the noble backers of the Protestant cause there were also great benefits, the baron de Damville was formally reinstated in his charge as governor of Languedoc (which he had never been extricated from despite being deposed during the civil war). The prince de Condé was re-established as the governor of Picardie. At first Condé demanded Boulogne as a city for himself in his restored governate. This was unacceptable, and thus Amiens was proposed a counter-offer before Condé settled at last on Péronne which Henri agreed to (despite preferring to cede Saint-Quentin to the prince). Alençon was made duc d'Anjou, Berry and Touraine, substantially increasingly his appanage. He also received the cities of La Charité and Saumur as a compromise after the Protestants demanded them be added to the places de sûreté. In total the lands he received were worth around 300,000 livres in annual incomes. The king of Navarre secured the addition of Poitou and the Angoumois into his expansive governate of Guyenne and payment of his extensive debts (600,000 livres). Navarre further demanded for his part a pension of 40,000 livres and French assistance in the reconquest of his kingdom, which had largely fallen to the Spanish in 1515.
The Catholic politiques who had backed the Protestant cause were promised by the king that within six months of the peace they would receive an Estates General at which the administration of the kingdom could be reconfigured to their desires. It was also hoped that the Estates would bring back order to the kingdom after the chaos of the civil wars. This Estates General was to take place at Blois. The convoking of an Estates General had been a topic both Alençon (in his Dreux manifesto) and the Protestants had expounded upon the importance of for several years. The wording of the treaty itself was actually somewhat ambiguous on this point. Henri committed according to the terms to 'listen to the remonstrances of his subjects' so that the kingdom might enjoy tranquillity. Le Roux therefore argues, it was a royal decision for this to take the form of an Estates General. Heller argues, that even had it not been a component of the Edict of Beaulieu, the ruinous state of royal finances would have necessitated it be called regardless. In total the crown's debts were around 100,000,000 livres by 1576 and the royal creditors were beginning to get restless.
Reaction
Henri was humiliated by the peace, with the consequence for violating his authority being reward, his treasury empty, and his brother enriched at the head of an alliance of Protestants and politique Catholics. Henri disgraced the bishop of Limoges for his role in negotiating the terms. For two months he refused to meet with his mother Catherine, who had been the architect of the peace as a whole. The peace was, however, undertaken cynically; Catherine, who was its prime architect, boasted to Nevers in early 1577 that neither she nor Henri cared to see it enforced, and that the goal of the generous terms was to win over Alençon from the rebel cause. Once the level of opposition became apparent to Henri he no longer resigned himself to acceding to the terms.
As regards Henri's attitude to the peace, he wrote to Damville on 21 December to let it be known that it was his intention to restore religious unity in the kingdom, meanwhile to the governor of Péronne on 22 December he announced that it would be necessary to tolerate the presence of multiple faiths in France. His message adapted to the target of his discussion.
Upon presenting the edict of Beaulieu to the Parlement of Paris, Henri had to force through its registration. For this the personal presence of both Henri and the princes du sang (princes of the blood - those princes descended from the royal family through the male line) was required. When he attempted to hear a Te Deum in celebration of the peace at the Notre Dame his entry was blocked by the clergy and people of Paris, much to his frustration.
There was much opposition to the peace for the components which allowed those who had pillaged and ruined France in the last years to go without punishment.
First Catholic ligue This peace was also unacceptable to many Catholics. In opposition to its execution some formed defensive Catholic Ligues (Leagues). In Paris the perfumer La Bruyère played an important role in the cities ligueur (leaguer) movement, passing around membership lists in an attempt to drive recruitment. The traditional Te Deum, fireworks, and bonfire to celebrate the recently established Edict of Beaulieu was poorly received in the city, with many boycotting the event. According to De Thou it was only the active suppression undertaken by his father in the Paris Parlement that stopped the Parisian ligue from growing.