NANTES, EDICT OF, the law promulgated in April 1598 by the French king, Henry IV., which secured a large measure of religious liberty to his Protestant subjects, the Huguenots. Its main provisions may be summarized as follows : (r) It gave liberty of conscience , to the Protestants throughout the whole of France. (2) It gave them the right of holding public worship in those places where they had held it in 1576 and the earlier part of 1577; also in places where this freedom had been granted by the edict of Poitiers (1577) and the treaties of Nerac (1579) and of Fleix (1580). The Protestants could also worship in two towns in each bailliage and senechaussee. The greater nobles could hold Protestant services in their houses ; the lesser nobles could do the same, but only for gatherings of not more than 3o people. Regarding Paris, the Protestants could conduct worship within five leagues of the city instead of ten leagues as previ ously. (3) Full civil rights were granted them. They could trade freely, inherit property and enter the universities, colleges and schools. All official positions were open to them. (4) To deal with disputes arising out of the edict, a chamber was estab lished in the parlement of Paris (le chambre de l'edit). This group was to be composed of ten Roman Catholic and six Prot estant members. Chambers for the same purpose, but consisting of Protestants and Roman Catholics in equal numbers, were es tablished in connexion with the provincial parlements. (5) The Protestant pastors were to be paid by the State and to be freed from certain burdens, their position being made practically equal to that of the Roman Catholic clergy. (6) A hundred
places of safety were given to the Protestants for eight years, the expenses of garrisoning them being undertaken by the king.
The edict was greatly disliked by the Roman Catholic clergy, and a few changes were made to conciliate them. The parlement of Paris shared this dislike, but was forced by the king to regis ter the edict on Feb. 25 1599. After similar trouble it was also registered by the provincial parlements, the last being the parle ment of Rouen, which delayed the registration until 1609.
That the strong political position thus secured to the French Protestants was a danger to the State was proved by the troubles which arose during the minority of Louis XIII. After Richelieu had succeeded in crushing the quasi-independent power of the Huguenot lords and cities, however, the French Protestants ceased to be a political danger. With the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, on Oct. 18 1685, the French Protestants were de prived of all civil and religious liberty.