ABSTRACT
In January 1565 Blaise de Monluc, the king's lieutenant general in the province of Guyenne, forwarded a list of complaints to Charles IX that he had received from the Catholic population of Montauban. 1 In his report Monluc accused the town's consuls and royal officials of a dereliction of duty in administering the law. The Catholic remnant within the town had no recourse to justice since those of the Reformed religion dominated the courts. Their continuing and open support for the Protestant cause had made the town a refuge for those seeking asylum on religious grounds. Monluc mentioned the apostasy of many of the priests and religious of the town, most of whom had now married, and depicted a town intent upon redrawing its identity. Now, even on days of abstinence, he remarked with disgust, meat was being sold openly by the town's butchers. The traditional feast days and holidays had been disregarded with all the artisans working at their trade, shops open and merchants setting up stalls to sell their wares. Furthermore, Monluc made clear that this was far from being a benign development. The influx of Protestant refugees in the town was a potential source of trouble for the entire region as the town's arsenal was being steadily restocked and arms remained in general circulation; indeed, one captain was continuing his vigilante activities against the Catholic population.
