The Beginning of Religious Division

The Protestant Reformation's arrival in France during Francis I's reign initiated the religious divisions that would dominate the next half-century. Lutheran ideas penetrated France by the 1520s, finding receptive audiences among humanists, artisans, and some nobles. The "Affair of the Placards" (1534), when Protestant broadsheets attacking the Mass appeared throughout Paris and even on the king's bedroom door, shocked Francis into repression after initial tolerance.

Royal policy toward religious dissent fluctuated between persecution and moderation. Francis's sister, Marguerite of Navarre, protected Protestant sympathizers while remaining technically Catholic. The king himself distinguished between acceptable humanistic reform and unacceptable sacramental heresy. This nuanced approach satisfied neither Catholic hardliners demanding systematic persecution nor Protestants seeking toleration. The Edict of Fontainebleau (1540) strengthened persecution, but enforcement varied by region and circumstance.

The Parlement of Paris emerged as a center of anti-Protestant activity, often exceeding royal wishes in persecution severity. The creation of the Chambre Ardente (1547) to try heresy cases demonstrated institutional commitment to religious uniformity. Yet Protestant communities survived and grew, particularly in southern France where distance from Paris and memories of medieval Catharism provided some protection. By Francis's death, religious division had become entrenched despite repression.