ABSTRACT
The 'United Provinces' of the Midi has largely been a historiographical invention. The vast geographical expanse of southern France and its complex confessional complexion together with the internal contradictions of the Huguenot movement and the syncopated nature of the wars impeded Protestant claims to power. The myth of a Huguenot Republic was recognized by Henry of Navarre as such, but the opportunity to exercise more traditional leadership was tangible. This was, after all, a region of traditional family influence, and to these customary bonds of lordship and landownership was now added the bond of common religious affinity. Yet how was this leadership to be exercised? This is not an aspect of Navarre's path to kingship that has attracted much attention. Nor, indeed, has the relationship ever been investigated systematically from the point of view of the Huguenot towns. Barbara Diefendorf remarks that there has been 'little serious inquiry into the relationship between Henry of Navarre and the southern Huguenots' and Nicola Sutherland points out that the years following Navarre's return to the Midi in the years 1576-84 are 'possibly among the least familiar of the ancien regime'. 1 Clearly Navarre did use the political assemblies where he could in order to promote his strategies and raise funds for the war. Navarre, however, was astute enough to recognize that if he was to make the most headway with the Huguenot movement, he had to tap into the resources of the individual towns. This chapter explores the ways in which Henry of Navarre sought to develop relationships with the towns and how he sought to employ the authority of the towns to extend his influence across the regions.
