Politique

2025-09-03T18:09:11Z

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{{short description|Member of a moderate group during the French Wars of Religion}}
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During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, '''''politiques''''' ({{IPA|fr|pɔlitik}}) were Western European statesmen who prioritized the strength of the state above all other organs of society, including religion. During the [[French Wars of Religion]], this included moderates of both religious faiths ([[Huguenot]]s and [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholics]]) who held that the country could only be saved by the restoration of a strong monarchy which rose above religious differences. The term ''politique'' often had a pejorative connotation of moral or religious indifference, especially after 1576 in contrast with the radical [[Catholic League (French)|Catholic League]] calling for the eradication of Protestantism in France. By 1588, the ''politiques'' were seen by pious detractors as a faction more pernicious than heretics. Similar clashes emerged during the same period in the Netherlands and England.

==History==
In early critical writings, the ''politiques'' (largely jurists and intellectuals) were sometimes confused with another group, the "[[Malcontents (France)|malcontents]]" (nobles who opposed the political influence of the [[House of Guise|Guise]] family). Many moderate ''politique'' Catholics defended the idea of [[Gallicanism]], of making a distinction between the State and Religion, of a unitary and undivided royal sovereignty (against exterior influence or internal divisions), and of privileging national security and peace.

It can be argued that anyone who believed in the necessity of a strong monarchy to national security was a ''politique''. For example, the ''politique'' policies of [[Henry IV of France]], such as the [[Edict of Nantes]] (a document granting political and religious liberties to the minority [[Huguenot|French Protestants]]), directly contributed to the centralized administrative system of seventeenth century [[France]] and the absolutism embodied by [[Louis XIV of France]], which included an eventual [[Edict of Fontainebleau|revocation of the Edict]]. Another example of a politique was [[Elizabeth I of England]], who was (or claimed to be) a Catholic during the time of her sister [[Mary I]] but moved to Protestantism when attaining the throne. The later monarch [[Charles II of England|Charles II]] - long flirting with Catholicism and holding out a promise to convert to it as a means of getting support from [[Louis XIV]] of France, but only actually converting on his deathbed - could also be considered to have acted as a Politique, though by his time the term was less often used.

[[Jonathan I. Israel]] emphasizes the important role played by various "Politiques" in the [[Dutch Revolt]] of the 16th Century and the 17th Century [[Dutch Republic]] created by that revolt. Specifically, he notes as the most important of them [[William the Silent]], who moved from the Catholic Church to the Calvinist one - the opposite direction to that taken by his contemporary [[Henry IV of France]], but taken out of similar motives. In Jonathan Israel's view, the long-term influence of such Dutch Politiques was positive, helping to mitigate the more intransigent forms of Calvinism and to create in the Netherlands a climate of (relative) religious toleration, greater than in other European countries at the time.<ref>[[Jonathan I. Israel]]. "The Dutch Republic", Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1995.</ref> Likewise, [[Blair Worden]] makes the point that during the [[Commonwealth of England]], while the Lord Protector [[Oliver Cromwell]] was broadly Calvinist, his circle contained non-sectarian ‘merciful men’ or politiques who were more tolerant of other doctrines.<ref>Worden, Blair (2012). [https://books.google.com/books?id=evIKK1WdYdcC&pg=PA85 ''God's Instruments: Political Conduct in the England of Oliver Cromwell'']. OUP. p.85-86. {{ISBN|9780199570492}}</ref>

==See also==

* [[Realpolitik]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|30em}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Editing Politique}}
[[Category:Political history of the Ancien Régime]]
[[Category:History of Christianity in France]]
[[Category:Historiography of France]]
[[Category:Religion in the Ancien Régime]]
[[Category:French Wars of Religion]]

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Politique