Michel de L’Hôpital

Sixteenth Century Essays & Studies, vol. 36

This is the first critical political biography in more than one hundred years of Michel de L’Hôpital, who served as chancellor of France from 1560 to 1568 during the Wars of Religion under the reigns of Francis II and Charles IX and the regency of Catherine de Médicis. He pursued a policy of coexistence for Catholics and Protestants, not so much as a philosophic advocate of religious toleration, but rather as a pragmatic statesman who sought to separate political and religious concerns and insisted on dealing with the troubles of the time in political terms.

Kim’s monograph, based on solid research into printed and manuscript sources, is both timely and welcome.

—Anthony M. Messina, American Historical Review

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Exile’s Son
A Judge Turned Etatiste Minister
L’Hôpital à Outrance
The Chancellor’s Mass
The Chancellor versus the Judges
A Solon of France
Si J’estois Personne Privée
L’Hôpital’s Legacy

Bibliography

Index