French Catholic League

(noun)

A major participant in the French Wars of Religion. Formed by Henry I, Duke of Guise, in 1576. It intended the eradication of Protestants—also known as Calvinists or Huguenots—out of Catholic France during the Protestant Reformation, as well as the replacement of King Henry III. Pope Sixtus V, Philip II of Spain, and the Jesuits were all supporters of this Catholic party.

Related Terms

Examples of French Catholic League in the following topics:

  • Elizabeth I and English Patriotism

    • In 1558, Elizabeth succeeded her Roman Catholic half-sister Mary.
    • She and her advisers recognized the threat of a Catholic crusade against England.
    • In December 1584, an alliance between Philip II and the French Catholic League undermined the ability of Henry III of France to counter Spanish domination of the Netherlands.
    • It also extended Spanish influence along the channel coast of France, where the Catholic League was strong, and exposed England to invasion.
    • In 1583, Humphrey Gilbert sailed to Newfoundland, taking possession of the harbor of St John's together with all land within two hundred leagues to the north and south of it.

  • Philip II and the Spanish Armada

    • Philip financed the Catholic League during the French Wars of Religion (primarily fought between French Catholics and Protestants known as Huguenots).
    • His interventions in the fighting – sending the Duke of Parma to end Henry IV's siege of Paris in 1590 – and the siege of Rouen in 1592 contributed in saving the French Catholic Leagues's cause against a Protestant monarchy.
    • Weary of war, most French Catholics switched to his side against the hardline core of the Catholic League, who were portrayed by Henry's propagandists as puppets of a foreign monarch, Philip.
    • By the end of 1594 certain League members were still working against Henry across the country, but all relied on the support of Spain.
    • The military interventions in France thus ended in an ironic fashion for Philip: they had failed to oust Henry from the throne or suppress Protestantism in France and yet they had played a decisive part in helping the French Catholic cause gain the conversion of Henry, ensuring that Catholicism would remain France's official and majority faith – matters of paramount importance for the devoutly Catholic Spanish king.

  • The French Wars of Religion

    • The French Wars of Religion (1562–98) is the name of a period of fighting between French Catholics and Protestants (Huguenots).
    • The French Wars of Religion (1562–98) is the name of a period of civil infighting and military operations, primarily fought between French Catholics and Protestants (Huguenots).
    • The Catholic League had put its preachers to good use.
    • Open war erupted between the royalists and the Catholic League.
    • Fighting continued between Henry IV and the Catholic League for almost a decade.

  • The League of Nations

    • The league was the brainchild of U.S.
    • Representation at the league was often a problem.
    • Among the American public, Irish-Catholics and German-Americans were intensely opposed to the treaty, claiming it favored the British.
    • Harding, continued American opposition to the League of Nations.
    • The league cannot be labeled a failure, however, as it laid the groundwork for the United Nations, which replaced the League of Nations after World War II and inherited a number of agencies and organizations founded by the league.

  • Catholicism

    • The Catholic Church in the United States is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, or the Christian Church that is in full communion with the Pope.
    • Catholic population is currently 77.7 million.
    • French colonization came in the early 18th century, with the French establishing missions in the Louisiana Territory districts - St.
    • By far, most Catholics in the U.S. belong to the Latin Church and the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church.
    • Eastern Catholic Churches are distinguished from Eastern Orthodox, identifiable by their usage of the term Catholic.

  • William of Orange and the Grand Alliance

    • The French conveniently ignored the Second Partition Treaty and claimed the entire Spanish inheritance.
    • This European coalition, consisting at various times of various European states, was originally founded in 1686 as the League of Augsburg.
    • Even after the formation of the Grand Alliance the French King continued to antagonize his European rivals.
    • Around the same time as the Alliance was formed, the Catholic James II of England (VII of Scotland) – exiled in Saint-Germain since the Glorious Revolution – died and Louis XIV recognized James II's Catholic son, James, as King James III of England.
    • A Protestant, William participated in several wars against the powerful Catholic king of France, Louis XIV, in coalition with Protestant and Catholic powers in Europe.

  • Cardinal Mazarin and the Fronde

    • During the negotiations of the Peace of Westphalia, which concluded the Thirty Years' War, Mazarin (together with the Queen)  represented France with policies that were French rather than Catholic.
    • This anticipated the formation of the 1658 League of the Rhine, leading to the further diminution of Imperial power.
    • The League was designed to check the House of Austria in central Germany.
    • In 1659, Mazarin made peace with Habsburg Spain in the Peace of the Pyrenees, which added to French territory Roussillon and northern Cerdanya—as French Cerdagne—in the far south as well as part of the Low Countries.
    • The French people suffered terribly in the Fronde, but it achieved no constitutional reform.

  • Fragmentation of the Holy Roman Empire

    • Charles V continued to battle the French and the Protestant princes in Germany for much of his reign.
    • In the west, the Rhineland increasingly fell under French influence.
    • He became afraid to act when the Catholic Church was forcibly reasserting control in Austria and Hungary.
    • Napoleon reorganized much of the Empire into the Confederation of the Rhine, a French satellite.
    • The treaty between Charles V and the forces of the Schmalkaldic League, an alliance of Lutheran princes, officially ended the religious struggle between the two groups and made the legal division of Christendom permanent within the Holy Roman Empire.

  • The Paris Peace Conference

    • While the conference should have been considered a victory for Wilson, whose envisioned League of Nations was established, the U.S.
    • Among the American public, Irish-Catholics and German-Americans were intensely opposed to the treaty, claiming it favored the British.
    • A poll of historians in 2006 cited Wilson's failure to compromise with the Republicans on U.S. entry into the league as one of the 10 biggest errors by an American president.
    • Harding, continued American opposition to the League of Nations.
    • After approximately 200 years of French rule, Alsace and the German-speaking part of Lorraine were ceded to Germany in 1871.

  • The Seven Years' War: 1754-1763

    • The French and Indian War (1754-1763) was the North American chapter of the Seven Years' War.
    • The English colonists also feared papal influence in North America, as New France was administered by French governors and Roman Catholic hierarchy.
    • Likewise, the French feared the anti-Catholicism prevalent among English holdings.
    • The French responded by explaining that France's claim to the region was superior to that of Britain since the French had explored the Ohio Country nearly a century earlier.
    • The French and Indian War was the last of four major colonial wars between the British, the French, and their Native American allies.