Jeanne d'Albret, queen of Navarre, had embraced Protestantism in 1560. With the death of her husband, Antoine de Bourbon in 1562, her hands were freed to pursue a Protestant policy in her vast land holdings (chiefly concentrated in southern France, with sovereign territories on the border with Spain). In addition to facilitating the adoption of Protestantism in her lands, she also made the practice of Catholicism more legally restrictive, before outright banning the practice of the religion in her territories in 1566.
In and around her lands in the south, there were many Catholic nobles who opposed Jeanne's policies. They were able to look to Philip II of Spain and Pope Pius IV for support in their campaign against her. In 1563, the Pope attempted to excommunicate the queen of Navarre, though he would ultimately back down, after the French crown rallied to the support of Jeanne. Meanwhile, the Spanish sovereign formed connections with Catholic nobles in France, chief among whom the seigneur de Monluc, lieutenant-general of Guyenne. In 1564, a meeting would take place at Grenade-sur-Garonne bringing together the leadership of the southern Catholic nobility who opposed Jeanne. After word of this meeting leaked, the queen of Navarre would accuse the assembled nobles of having made plots to hand over French territory to the Spanish, as well as to ruin her.
Parallel to this, the queen of Navarre fell into dispute with her uncle, :fr:Pierre d'Albret, the Catholic bishop of Comminges. Alienated by her actions, the bishop entered Spanish service and attended the meeting at Grenade-sur-Garonne. Ultimately, he would lose the support of Philip, and he would die in exile in 1567.
In the queen of Navarre's lands, several rebellions would erupt in 1567, after the outlawing of Catholicism, in Foix, Béarn and lower-Navarre. Jeanne and her allies would succeed in besting these revolts, but at the expense of making concessions to the Catholic religion.
Queen of Navarre Family affairs
The queen of Navarre, Jeanne d'Albret was a great feudatory of the French crown. She was a haut justicier (one who enjoys the right of high justice), and held more than twenty fiefs from the French crown among which were the duchés (duchies) d'Albret, de Vendôme, de Beaumont; the comtés de Foix, de Bigorre, d'Armagnac, de Rodez, de Marle, and de Périgord; and the vicomtés de Limoges, de Quercy and Marsan. Outside of these, she was entirely sovereign in the territories of Béarn, Navarre, and Soule.
Jeanne was pleasantly surprised to see, that her son, the prince de Béarn (future king of France Henri IV), was permitted to receive Protestant tutors (Beauvoir and La Gaucherie) again by the Queen Mother Catherine de' Medici. This had been the subject of complaint from her in letter of March 1563.
In Babelon's estimation, the queen of Navarre was increasingly the soul of the Protestant cause in France. In her hôtel (a grand townhouse) in Paris a meeting was held between Jeanne and the prince de Condé, admiral de Coligny and prince de Porcien as to the future of the Protestant cause. The latter figures keen to seek her advice.
Early Religious policy In the lands of the queen of Navarre, in particular Béarn, a nominal toleration of both Protestantism and Catholicism existed. This was not the reality on the ground however, as Protestantism was ascendant everywhere.
On 30 May 1563, Jeanne abolished the Corpus Christi procession in her lands. This came in for rebuke from the parlement of Bordeaux (parlement, most senior class of courts in France, also responsible for registering royal edicts). The Estates of Béarn which met in June were likewise frustrated. A small majority of the Second Estate (the nobility), and a large majority of the Third Estate (the commons) made protest to her. The queen of Navarre dismissed the protest on the grounds of a technical error in its submission. She was always thinking of the welfare of her subjects, but her resolution would stand.
The establishment of Protestantism in Jeanne's lands, turning them into a new Geneva, was overseen by the pastor Pierre Viret, an esteemed reformer.
Itinerant preachers were to spread Protestantism as they travelled, financially supported by the villages they passed through. The funds of benefices to be redirected towards Protestants or support for the poor.
This blow against Catholicism was followed by the removal of images from the churches of Lescar and Pau. Her pastor Merlin would write about how he drove the queen of Navarre further, to fully prohibit Mass, or other 'Papal superstitions' in the churches of Lescar in July.
Merlin was responsible for establishing a system of ecclesiastical discipline in the mould of Geneva (the centre of the Calvinist branch of Protestantism) in her lands. On 1 June, John Calvin was able to inform the queen of Navarre that they had found a dozen men to serve as ministers, as she had requested. Once she had succeeded in instilling order in her lands, she was to release Merlin from her service back to Geneva.
In July 1563, Jeanne resolved to purge Catholic paraphernalia from the churches of her territories.
The Catholics looked to move the fight to the Estates of Béarn. Meeting in August, their remonstrances were drawn up under the leadership of the seigneur de Saint-Colomme to present to the royal council at Pau on behalf of the Catholics of Béarn and Navarre. This appeal was rejected by the procureur général on the grounds that it was contrary to the will of the queen of Navarre, and Jeanne herself chastised the Estates for their presumption, ordering Saint-Colomme to retire in disgrace.
On 20 September 1563, at the Protestant synod of Pau, presided over by the pastor Merlin, a tax was imposed on the Catholic clergy for the benefit of the Protestant ministers, and Protestant colleges were established at Lescar and Orthez. It was voted to request of Geneva that Merlin be leant to them for another year (it having been the plan that he would return to Geneva).
Desire for accelerated progress Merlin was despondent about the state of the religion in the queen of Navarre's lands. He did not blame Jeanne for the troubles and wanted Calvin to continually reinforce this feeling in his letters with the Queen. He bemoaned that her advisors were opposed to the measures she was undertaking, and that the people were agitated by propaganda. He dismissed the fears of the people as groundless, as it was not their intention to overthrow the magistrate, or elevate new popes. Even more problematic than the enemies of Protestantism were its friends. These Protestants tried to stall out the progress towards the establishment of their faith with reference to the dangers of the seigneur de Monluc (co-lieutenant-general of the crown for the province of Guyenne, second in command to the governor), the Spanish, and the French crown. They claimed to lack the means to act, and proposed delay until the counsel of the Protestant leaders, the prince de Condé and admiral de Coligny might be sought.
Nobles mourned the loss of their control over benefices, and either wished for monetary compensation, or the right to choose Protestant ministers. The queen of Navarre was inexperienced, lacked a trustworthy man in her household, and was in poor financial straits. In his July letter to Calvin, Merlin mentioned that the queen of Navarre had resisted his proposal to inventory the ecclesiastical wealth of her territories, as a prelude to its confiscation. Jeanne had also not permitted Merlin to pursue a public disputation with Catholic priests.
Come his December letter to Calvin, Merlin's opinion on the queen of Navarre had cooled somewhat. Though she continued to show zeal for the cause, the full abolition of 'idolatry' in her lands had not come to pass, and he did believe the prospects of its happening were good. Her hatred of the Papacy was not as fierce as it once was, thanks to the presence of Spanish soldiers on the frontier. The pastor complained of Jeanne's advisors who thought him too extreme for trying to overthrow the Papacy. He explained how the queen of Navarre had challenged him as being out of touch with the conditions on the ground, noting that Calvin and de Beza (Calvin's second-in-command) would agree with her. If Catholicism was fully abolished, as Merlin proposed, the people would rather take no religion than Protestantism.
A Protestant college was established in Lescar in 1563 under Jeanne's direction. In 1566 it would become an academy and would move to Orthez. Roelker describes the move to Orthez as coming in response to protests in Lescar, with a Jacobin order of Orthez being ordered to vacate from a premises in Orthez to accommodate the Protestant college.
Spifame In the first months of 1564, the former Catholic bishop and now Protestant pastor, Spifame became Jeanne's chancellor. The queen of Navarre had requested his services from Geneva in January, noting his excellent qualities. The two fell out badly within a year, with Jeanne dismissing him for 'betraying her interests'. Spifame returned to Geneva, from where he denounced the queen of Navarre's court as being under the domination of Merlin, Jeanne sent a representative to Geneva to complain about him. Bitter quarrel followed, with Spifame charging that Jeanne was in a relationship with Merlin, and that the prince de Béarn was illegitimate. The queen of Navarre shot back that Spifame's marriage was perhaps not legal. Further, that he was undertaking negotiations with senior persons in France to convert to Catholicism in return for the bishopric of Toul. A few weeks after the queen of Navarre made the matter a criminal one, Spifame was charged with treason against the city of Geneva, as well as adultery, and put to death.
Before her departure for court, the queen of Navarre reorganised her sovereign council and established a new council for ecclesiastical affairs. The comte de Gramont presided over the 20 March first meeting of the council and wrote warmly on it to Catherine on 21 March. Jeanne's territories were proceeding well in her absence, with all her subjects in a state of satisfaction. He complimented the influence of Spifame on affairs, Spifame favouring moderation and slow policy in contrast with Merlin.
A synod met on 14 March 1564 under the presidency of Merlin. This synod afforded responsibilities to Spifame, such as the urging of the queen of Navarre to establish the Protestant college of Orthez, and draw up oaths for the teachers to swear to.
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