What is Edict of Nantes?
[[File:Edit de Nantes Avril 1598.jpg|thumb|The Edict of Nantes, April 1598.]] The '''Edict of Nantes''' was a law that allowed people to be [[Protestant]]s in [[France]] from 1598 to 1685. It was signed in [[Nantes]] by King [[Henry IV of France|Henry IV]] in April 1598, although some provinces blocked it until 1610. The purpose of the law was to make peace after the [[French Wars of Religion]]. Henry IV was a former [[Huguenot]] (French Protestant) who had changed his religion to being [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]] so that he could be the king of France. The edict was an early example of [[freedom of religion]] in Europe. However, it did not make Catholics and Protestants equal. It said that the Catholic Church was the national religion of France. It only allowed people to be Protestants in certain areas, where they were allowed to defend their own fortress towns. They also still had to pay money to the Catholic Church and have Catholic holidays. Many Catholics in France hated the idea of allowing people to be Protestant, while the Protestants thought that it did not go far enough. The Edict of Nantes was weakened during the reign of King [[Louis XIII]], with many of the fortress towns being captured by the government. In 1685, King [[Louis XIV]] replaced the Edict of Nantes with the [[Edict of Fontainebleau]], which banned people from being Protestant.<ref>{{cite book |last=Gay |first=Peter |author2= Time-Life Books |title=Age of Enlightenment |url=https://archive.org/details/ageofenlightenme00gayp |year=1966 |publisher=Time |page=[https://archive.org/details/ageofenlightenme00gayp/page/12 12] |chapter=The Practical Philosophers}}</ref> This made many Huguenots leave the country, and a hundred years later there were not many left. In 1787, King [[Louis XVI]] made it legal for people to be Protestant again. During the [[French Revolution]] a few years later, France gave people full freedom of religion. ==Opposition== Louis XIV did not like the Edict of Nantes.<ref name=cor>{{cite book |last= Koontz |firs