ABSTRACT
In July 1562, the Royal Governor of Brittany, Jean de Brosse, Duke d'Étampes, called a conference at the chateau of Nantes. The historian of Protestantism in the Nantais, Roger Joxe, called the colloquy held in the city 'a private meeting, of little significance'. In Nantes, toleration of Protestantism and a policy of religious moderation were political acts not expressions of cultural values. In Nantes, there was certainly much day-to-day coexistence. Catholic and Protestant lived cheek by jowl, each knowing who the other was. After the first war ended, Nantes' municipal authorities followed a consistent policy until 1585: Protestantism was tolerated if it was a private creed. Fulton argues that the Holy Roman Emperors permitted the legal coexistence of Protestants and Catholics to ensure their authority over all sections of the Austrian nobility.
