heretics, and denouncing their atrocities, he had distrusted edicts of tion and believed that Protestantism had to be repelled by force. In this work, the Politiques too are dangerous, claiming that the state matters more than religion, and failing to see the Catholic faith as the very foundation of the state. Yet the writer had not been on the fanatical wing of the Ligue: he had been reticent, even evasive, about Spanish intentions. It is clear that he had not wanted national integrity to be jeopardised: the only few lines of poetry in the whole text ’s carry the message that no invaders, be they Spanish, English or German, would have been welcome. Nor was he a republican. The writer had believed in monarchy, reconciling respect for the king with support for the by reminding his readers that Henri III had Ligue supported the movement before being misled by poor advisers. The writer had not supported leaders iscriminately: the duc de Nemours had served the cause, but the Ligue duc de Mayenne had ruined it. In all, we have a work single-mindedly devoted to restoring the reputation of the Catholic This purity of purpose was emphasised by the Ligue. writer’s refusal to be drawn into topical allusions relevant to 1620. The Histoire, wrote Valois, was no de and he brought this part of the Introduction to a close by ‘œuvre circonstance’, reiterating the rare nature of the text: des manuscrits que nous publions est ‘L’intérêt de ces vaincus [Ligueurs] dont la parmi les cris de d’émaner d’un voix s’était perdue triomphe des royaux revenus au would rehabilitate the Ligue. pouvoir’. Publication Valois was well-read. In addition to being versed in the works of the early royalist writers – especially Matthieu, de Thou, and Goulart he was L’Estoile, Palma-Cayet, d’Aubigné – familiar both with lesser-known early writings and with well-known later histories by Dupleix, Maimbourg, Voltaire, Michelet, Poirson and others. He read monographs about the Oratoire as well as the unpublished records. He was equally at home in the vast school’s
heretics, and denouncing their atrocities, he had distrusted edicts of tion and believed that Protestantism had to be repelled by force. In this work, the Politiques too are dangerous, claiming that the state matters more than religion, and failing to see the Catholic faith as the very foundation of the state. Yet the writer had not been on the fanatical wing of the Ligue: he had been reticent, even evasive, about Spanish intentions. It is clear that he had not wanted ’s national integrity to be jeopardised: the only few lines of poetry in the whole text carry the message that no invaders, be they Spanish, English or German, would have been welcome. Nor was he a republican. The writer had believed in monarchy, reconciling respect for the king with support for the Ligue by reminding his readers that Henri III had supported the movement before being misled by poor advisers. The writer had not supported Ligue leaders iscriminately: the duc de Nemours had served the cause, but the duc de Mayenne had ruined it. In all, we have a work single-mindedly devoted to restoring the reputation of the Catholic Ligue. This purity of purpose was emphasised by the writer’s refusal to be drawn into topical allusions relevant to 1620. The Histoire, wrote Valois, was no ‘œuvre de circonstance’, and he brought this part of the Introduction to a close by reiterating the rare nature of the text: ‘L’intérêt des manuscrits que nous publions est d’émaner d’un de ces vaincus [Ligueurs] dont la voix s’était perdue parmi les cris de triomphe des royaux revenus au pouvoir’. Publication would rehabilitate the Ligue. Valois was well-read. In addition to being versed in the works of the early royalist writers – especially Matthieu, de Thou, L’Estoile, Palma-Cayet, d’Aubigné and Goulart – he was familiar both with lesser-known early writings and with well-known later histories by Dupleix, Maimbourg, Voltaire, Michelet, Poirson and others. He read monographs about the Oratoire as well as the school’s unpublished records. He was equally at home in the vast