ABSTRACT
The fierce antagonism between Catholic and Protestant, the horrific collective violence associated with the religious warfare, and individual acts of brutality remain the popular image of the Protestant Reformation and the confessional turbulence that accompanied it. Less well-known are the various efforts to promote reconciliation among opposing religious groups and to safeguard the basic rights of various religious minorities. While the legislation did not grant French Reformed Protestants, often known as Huguenots, full equality with Catholics, it created an intelligible and logical structure in which followers of the two faiths might live together without violence and bloodshed. The Edict of Nantes organized chambers of the Edict for the parlements of Bordeaux, Grenoble, Toulouse and, in more limited fashion, for the high court at Paris. The royal legislation reiterated in much the same language as the earlier Edict of Beaulieu the judicial guarantees accorded the Protestants.
