9
September 1561 A.D. Huguenots in France: Poissy Conference
Couldn’t Cure France
Graves, Dan. “Poissy Conference Couldn’t
Cure France.” Christianity.com. Jul 2007.
http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1501-1600/poissy-conference-couldnt-cure-france-11630003.html. Accessed 20 May 2014.
As such conferences go, Poissy
was a flop. By the middle of the sixteenth century, France seemed ready to tear
itself apart over religion. A large minority
of Frenchmen had converted to Reformation views. And while the majority
remained Catholic, there were divisions among them, too, some wanting to stick
firmly to the headship of Rome, others arguing for a semi-independent French
Catholic church.
While Charles IX was a minor, his mother, Catherine de' Medici ruled
France as regent. In a desperate effort to preserve order in her nation, the
queen summoned Catholic and Protestant theologians to work out a religious
agreement under which both sides could live. Although this conference was
stoutly resisted by France's leading Catholics, Catherine brought it about.
On this day, September 9, 1561, the Colloquy of Poissy met in the dining room of a local convent.
Representing the Catholics were six cardinals, 38 archbishops and bishops, and
many other clergymen. The two most famous of the Protestants in attendance were
Theodore Beza from Switzerland and the Italian-born humanist and scholar Peter
Martyr Vermigli.
Chancellor L'Hôpital opened the
proceedings with a speech assuring the delegates that it was appropriate for
the monarchy to hold such a conference for the sake of the church. There might
be doubts in the minds of the Catholics, he thought, because the Council of
Trent was in session and they might ask themselves if they did not belong there
instead.
Beza stated the Protestant
position and aroused cries of blasphemy when he said that the body and blood of
Christ were as far from the bread and wine, as the highest heaven is from the
earth. Catholics believe that the bread and wine literally become the body and
blood of Christ. In the end, differences over the Eucharist (Lord's Supper) and
the authority of the pope proved to be walls the negotiators were not nimble
enough to leap over.
Not that they didn't try. Realizing
that nothing could be accomplished by the large convention, a much smaller
committee was delegated to look for solutions. Twelve men from each side sat
together. However, the pope's men did everything they could to sabotage the
talks. They simply had no intention of reaching an agreement with ideas they
defined as heresy.
Still, royal pressure was great
to come up with some kind of reconciliation so that France might not destroy
itself in useless strife. Therefore an even smaller committee of five from each
side talked and came up with a vague formula of agreement. But when they
presented this wording to the whole group at Poissy, neither side would accept
it.
The next year, the Catholics and
Huguenots went to war. Battles and atrocities raged off and on for thirty
years.
Bibliography:
1. Grant, A. J. The Huguenots. Archon, 1969.
2. Rothrock, G. A. The Huguenots; a biography of a minority. Chicago:
Nelson-Hall, 1979.
3. "Poissy, Colloquy of." Encyclopedia Britannica. Britannica,
1911.
4. "Religious Discussions." The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York:
Robert Appleton, 1914.
5. Various internet articles.
Last updated July,
2007
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