A Century of Saints? The Catholic Reformation in Seventeenth-Century France

In France, the Catholic Reformation was largely a seventeenth-century process, with levels of creativity and intensity that were unmatched in any other region. This chapter investigates the nature and impact of the Catholic reform movement in France over the course of the century. It identifies its key features, explains how and why it grew, and gauges the consequences of this historical phenomenon. It focuses on five critical issues: the context for the development of Catholic reform, the emergence of the dévots, institutional reform in the Catholic Church, the expansion of Catholic missionary activity, and the relationship between the French Crown and Catholic reform.