Trial and execution of Anne du Bourg

Royal policy Beginning in the reign of François I, Protestantism would be subject to organised persecution in France. This would continue into the reign of his son Henri II, notably in the Edict of Compiègne (1557) and the Edict of Ecouen (1559). Despite these efforts, Protestantism would continue to grow stronger, from two churches in 1555, to a national synod in 1559 with around 1.5 million adherents. Heretic hunting by the Paris Parlement had slackened by the mid-1550s, with no one executed for heresy in 1555, with an attempt on the King's life in 1557, new legislation to push the Parlement's to action was introduced. However, Henry II remained unsatisfied with their progress, and their reticence to register the Edict of Ecouen into law, but was not able to push them into more aggressive action, until the conclusion of peace with the Habsburgs and English in the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis. Popular action Hostility in the city of Paris to the Huguenots exploded after the royal loss at the Battle of St. Quentin (1557), for which they were blamed by popular preachers. Shortly thereafter an angry crowd surrounded a secret Protestant site of worship on the rue St Jacques, threatening and throwing stones at those who tried to leave. It was into this volatile environment that Henri would attend a mercurial session of Parlement. The judiciary While the judiciary largely resisted the Protestant reformation, and remained overwhelmingly Catholic, the Paris judiciary was largely of the moderate Erasmian Catholic variety, which disapproved of burning people solely for privately held views and who were hostile to what they felt was Papal interference in France's religious affairs. This wing of the court was led by Presidents Seguier, de Hurley and de Thou. There was regardless an ultra Catholic wing of the court, led by Presidents Le Maistre, and Minard. == The visit of the King ==

Prelude Matters between the ultras and the moderates in Parlement came to a head in March 1559, when three prisoners appealed their death sentences in the Tournelles having been accused of heresy. The court began to reach a consensus in favour of the moderate faction in its first few sessions, favouring leaving heresy as a problem for a church council. Alongside his grievances at the failure to register his edict, he had also been passed a list of suspect Huguenot judges by the informers among the judiciary. Le Maistre and only 14 other judges rose to advocate for the death sentence. Le Maistre went furthest, praising Philip II for his extermination of the Cathars, with the implicit comparison that Henry should do likewise for Protestants. The King still enraged by the words of du Bourg and du Faur demanded the Parlement register be surrendered to him before storming out. He was a serial adulterer himself, and thus interpreted du Bourg's comments as an indirect attack, and thus Lèse-majesté. He would be arrested, alongside du Faur, Fumée, de Foix and de la Porte, whilst Viole, du Ferrier and du Val would escape arrest by hiding with sympathetic colleagues until the crisis had passed. == Trial and bargaining ==

Trial of the others Du Bourg and the other judges would be housed in the Bastille, with a special commission established to try them on 19 June. Du Faur's crime was the second most serious, and as such he would be given the strictest non death sentence of the defendants, a fine and a 5-year suspension, as the Parlement was not enthusiastic to put any of its own to death. None of the other defendants wanted to fight on religious grounds, and they chose to challenge the authority of their judges to try them legally. De la Porte would be punished only in having to retract his comments about the severity of the Grand Chambre. Fumée appealed to Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine for clemency. Trial of du Bourg The trial of Anne du Bourg gripped Paris, as he alone broke against outward conformity, in admitting to attending services and denying the miracle of mass when pressed by his judges. == The assassination of President Minard ==

Whilst du Bourg languished in prison, his coreligionists were active in achieving revenge on the outside. In both October and December there would be failed attempts to jail break du Bourg. The gates to Paris were quickly closed, while house to house searches could be conducted. Robert Stuart was determined as a suspect, and he was charged with the assassination of Minard, a plot to free du Bourg from prison and a plot to burn down Paris, though he confessed nothing under torture. == Execution ==

To avoid any escape on the day of the execution, guards would be added around du Bourg, as he was transferred to the Place de Greve on December 23. However they would end up being used more to keep the Catholic crowd back from seizing him themselves, than they would be blocking any such attempts. The Cardinal of Lorraine wrote to the French ambassador in Rome of his hope that this execution would act as a deterrent against Protestantism, yet for the Protestants he would be a prime martyr justifying resistance. == Aftermath ==

Sectarian violence in Paris, that first exploded as a result of du Bourg's execution in a major way with the Saint Medard riot, would only increase over the following years in Paris as the situation deteriorated. This would culminate in the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in which over 3000 Protestants would be killed. == References ==