West European Studies

Whereas Catholicism was the mainstay of Christian religion and much of Western Europe, the advent of protestant movement and its growth in parts of Western Europe interfered with the prevailing political and religious order of the time and initiated widespread confrontations among the religious and the political elite.  The king was a close confidante of the Pope in Rome and he was alternatively regarded as Gods appointee on earth and One King, One Faith, One Law became the general prescription of the entire Western Europe with the society increasingly dependent upon monarchial, ecclesiastical and civil authority for its survival (The royal state of the seventeen century, 364). The idea of divine origin of the monarchy was further was uncontroversial, and it was espoused not only by the kings. Consequently, the protestant movement was considered as a religious affront to Christianity. Thus, the antagonism between the Catholicism and Protestants initiated religious wars.

In 1614, the French Estates General concurred that the king was the sovereign authority and he held his crown only from God. The sentiments echoed the ordinary views of French political theorists and later the King was refereed as Gods image on earth (The royal state of the seventeen century, 365). Accordingly, King Henry IV was compelled to convert from his native Protestant religion to Catholicism since the vast majority of his subjects were Roman Catholics. Despite his conversion, his proclamation in 1598, the edic of the Nantes successfully initiated religious tolerance in Paris (The royal state of the seventeen century, 375). Nantes conferred absolute religious rights to Catholics while guaranteeing tremendous civil and religious rights to Protestants as well. However, the reign of Louis XIV, revoked the Edic of the Nantes in 1685 (The royal state of the seventeen century, 381). Hence the religious war took a new direction and Religious toleration became difficult throughout the 16th century by virtue of the fact that religious beliefs were profoundly held. Religious controversy became more than a matter of life and death it became the struggle between everlasting life and eternal damnation (The royal state of the seventeen century, 382). Consequently, Catholics and Protestants viewed each other with heightened elements of distrust, hate and loathing.  Since the Protestants were the minority religion in Paris, the English sent royal forces to reinforce the Protestants to fight against the French government after Richelieu and Louis XIII restricted their freedom of worship (The royal state of the seventeen century, 373).

Louis HIVs persecution of the Protestants was a badly informed decision. As he entrenched absolutism in France he regarded Protestants, with their separate communities and distinctive forms of worship, as an affront to his authority. Thus, after he revoked the Edic of the Nantes, his supporters celebrated extensively as an act of piety (The royal state of the seventeen century, 382). But the persecution of the Protestants did not only become a social and political disaster in France but also led the Protestants to loathe the monarchy. Consequently, Protestants who fled France to other Protestant friendly states spread stories of atrocities that stiffened European revolt against Louis.

Despite the fact that Protestants was outlawed and its ministers hunted down and others forced into exile. The official sanctions against them did not deter them from holding firm to their ideologies. Since there were more than one million French Protestants undoubtedly the largest minority religion in any state. They went underground and practiced their religion secretly and gradually replaced their numbers. No absolutism however succeeded in eradicating religious beliefs. Since absolutism depended on the unity of the state and toleration of religious and political minorities (The royal state of the seventeen century, 377).

The toleration act of (1689) granted religious freedom to nearly all groups of Protestants (The royal state of the seventeen century, 377).  Though the threats of revolution and of anarchy proved potential in 1685 when James II (1685-1688) came to the throne and massively appointed Catholics to leading posts both in the military and in the central government and extensively campaigned for his supporters in parliamentary positions. This offended the ruling elite and forced them to push for a revolution against him. Consequently, he was ousted by the Glorious Revolution in 1688 (The royal state of the seventeen century, 377).

The concept of One King, One Faith, One Law, was imminently reflected in significant parts of Western Europe that Christianity, in particular Catholicism had no room for other religious doctrines since religion was equated to statehood. This same principle was used by the Vatican when spreading awareness about misconceptions that the protestant movement held and which lured Catholics. This environment of distrust and religious fervor made acceptance of other religions impossible and hence toleration levels were extremely low and the significance of religion in matters of the state and the religious fervor of the time pointed to low levels of acceptance.

In conclusion, the idea of the state as the guarantor and bringing about compromise among various religions so that they can co-exist peacefully represents the fundamental principle by which peaceful co-existence should be maintained. The reason behind the persistence principle of spreading religious tolerance through campaigns of compromise is the essence that has propelled the society from its reliance on some institutional authority to a more individualistic approach with religion becoming a matter of choice. Accordingly, religion as an institution with abundant influence had dissipated while at the same time the universal guarantee of equal treatment with respect to social and economic development implying that there is reduced friction between different religions and thus less cause for religious intolerance.