Introduction Criminal Justice in Sixteenth-Century France Heresy Trials in Reformation Europe Parlementary Initiatives and Public Scandals, 1523-1539 Royal Escalation and the Crisis of Nicodemism, 1540-1548 The Limits of Prosecution and the Challenge of Geneva, 1549-1554 From Confessionalization to Decriminalization, 1555-1560 Martyrology and Jurisprudence From Heresy to Sedition: The Eclipse of Parlements, 1560-1590 Retrospective Appendix: Heresy Executions Ordered in Frnace, 1523-1560 Abbreviations Notes Index TABLES Burnings for "enormous" crimes at Rouen, 1550s-1590s Heresy executions in Europe, 1525-1564 Heresy cases at Paris Parlement, 1540-1544 Paris and Toulouse heresy cases, 1545-1554 Crespin and French heresy executions, 1540-1559 MAP Locations of French heresy executions, 1523-1560
Superb. One of Monter's greatest contributions is simply the amount of fresh information he provides, based on intensive research in a number of different French archives in which the manuscripts of French parlements are kept. This fresh information makes possible Monter's greatest single discovery: that the peak of prosecutions for heresy came in the reign of Francis I in the late 1540s, not during the reign of Henri II in the 1550s, thus before the organization and rapid spread of Calvinist Protestantism in France--a conclusion that is counterintuitive. Monter's presentation is excellent. He has organized his material clearly and logically, presented it with appropriate use of dramatic detail, and written it fluently. -- Robert M. Kingdon, University of Wisconsin-Madison Retells the story of the French Reformation and the wars of religion from a novel and arresting point of view. The great strength of the work is Monter's reading of the actual court records in order to determine what really happened to heretics at trial. This gives him some numbers, definitive to a point, certainly far more so than what the martyrologists tell us. In addition, and more important than the numbers I think, these parliamentary court records allow him to recreate the actual proceedings and events, from first interrogation to execution, one of the most fascinating parts of the book. Monter's critical juxtaposition of judges and martyrologists is illuminating and convincing. -- Steven Ozment, Harvard University
William Monter is Professor of History, Northwestern University. He is the author of numerous works on Calvin's Geneva, witchcraft, and the Spanish Inquisition, including Frontiers of Heresy: The Spanish Inquisition from the Basque Lands to Sicily.
Superb. One of Monter's greatest contributions is simply the amount
of fresh information he provides, based on intensive research in a
number of different French archives in which the manuscripts of
French parlements are kept. This fresh information makes possible
Monter's greatest single discovery: that the peak of prosecutions
for heresy came in the reign of Francis I in the late 1540s, not
during the reign of Henri II in the 1550s, thus before the
organization and rapid spread of Calvinist Protestantism in
France--a conclusion that is counterintuitive. Monter's
presentation is excellent. He has organized his material clearly
and logically, presented it with appropriate use of dramatic
detail, and written it fluently. -- Robert M. Kingdon, University
of Wisconsin-Madison
Offering fascinating detailed analyses of individual cases, Monter
convincingly shows that contrary to the opinions of Protestant
martyrologists and generations of historians, the most intense
prosecution of Protestants occurred not in the 1550s but in the
1540s...This superb book is a must for anyone interested in the
French Reformation. -- Jeffrey R. Watt * Religious Studies Review
*
Retells the story of the French Reformation and the wars of
religion from a novel and arresting point of view. The great
strength of the work is Monter's reading of the actual court
records in order to determine what really happened to heretics at
trial. This gives him some numbers, definitive to a point,
certainly far more so than what the martyrologists tell us. In
addition, and more important than the numbers I think, these
parliamentary court records allow him to recreate the actual
proceedings and events, from first interrogation to execution, one
of the most fascinating parts of the book. Monter's critical
juxtaposition of judges and martyrologists is illuminating and
convincing. -- Steven Ozment, Harvard University
Monter's task is locating and examining the records of heresy
trials was formidable, given the lack of indexing and the
difficulty of deciphering handwritten documents. Thanks to his
decade-long effort, he is able to present a chronological account
of the actions of the tribunals and the punishments which were
regularly handed down Judging the French Reformation is
successful in examining the clash between the French judiciary and
the Protestant Reformation. -- Alice J. Strange * French Review
*
William Monter's Judging the French Reformation thoroughly
revises our understanding of the persecution of Protestants in
sixteenth-century France The task, he was told, was impossible. The
eight to ten Parlements operating in this period had left too many
records, and they were too poorly organized and too poorly
catalogued for a single scholar to work through in a single
lifetime. Happily, Monter proved the naysayers wrong. With his
usual diligence, a gift for getting quickly to the heart of the
matter, and a real talent for synthesis, he dove into the archives,
recovered the relevant cases, and reemerged with a powerfully
convincing story - a story that turns the traditional view on its
head. -- Barbra B. Diefendorf * The Catholic Historical Review
*
Monter explores the ways in which Protestants resisted the French
judicial system prior to the religious wars, setting their story
within the context of heresy prosecutions elsewhere in Reformation
Europe and within the long-term history of the French criminal
system. * Law and Social Inquiry *
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