ABSTRACT
This chapter provides some historical background to the reign of Elizabeth I in the context of discussions about English sovereignty, and discusses England’s policies towards Huguenot refugees during the French Wars of Religion. England’s policy of assisting the French Huguenots should be of interest to international relations scholars because it not only signaled the emergence of a new norm of providing assistance to refugees, but it created a precedent which would be followed in the centuries to come. There were two sources of assistance to the Huguenot refugees: the official policy of the English Crown towards them and the support given to them by individuals and groups. The chapter focuses on some parallels between early modern religious obligation and contemporary humanitarianism. It considers the relationship between collective identity formation and moral obligations across Europe during this period, there is reason to believe that similar processes may have operated in different spaces.
