A City in Conflict: Troyes During the French Wars of Religion

by Penny Roberts

This text explores in depth the impact of the French wars of religion on the inhabitants of one French city, Troyes, in Champagne. Drawing on previously neglected sources, the author examines the individual and collective experience of the religious conflict in Troyes. She considers how the religious divisions created such brutal conflict between neighbours. The book deals with the attempt and ultimate failure to establish the Reformed Church in the city, the composition of its congregation, and the difficulties faced by the ministers appointed to serve it. Particular emphasis is given to the role of the local authorities - ecclesiastical, municipal and royal - in nurturing or obstructing the progress of the Reform in Troyes, and to the reconstruction of events in the city during the crucial years of 1562 and 1572. Finally, the book focuses on the Catholic inhabitants, the effect the wars had on their traditional devotions, and their receptiveness to the Catholic League and its period of domination in the city.

228 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1996