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The Difficulties of Disarmament during the French Wars of Religion; The Role of Antoine de Crussol, the Duc d'Uzès

29 Jan 2024
Happening On 01/02/2024

Dr David Nicoll (History, TCD & UCD)

School of History, UCC

Dr David Nicoll (History, TCD & UCD

Thursday 1 February 2024, 16:00 (4 PM)

The paper is delivered through MS Teams (new version). For a Teams link, please, contact Dr Jérôme aan de Wiel, School of History, UCC: j.aandewiel@ucc.ie Or see Teams link below.

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Paper Reconciliation following conflict is difficult, and the peace edicts that ended the civil wars in sixteenth-century France took time to be enforced. Disarmament was a lengthy process. My research provides an original insight into the drawn-out disarmament processes following the First War of Religion (1562–1563), through the figure of Antoine de Crussol, the duc d’Uzès. This study outlines Crussol’s important role in disarmament across the provinces of Languedoc, Dauphiné, Provence and Comtat-Venaissin. Crussol played a critical part in disarmament, and while he obeyed the royal commands to disarm and enforce the peace, stressing his loyalty to the crown, he did so on his own terms, stipulating certain conditions that delayed disarmament. This study also demonstrates the crown’s critical role in bringing peace and the capacity of the provincial nobles for peace-making. Dr David Nicoll completed a PhD at the University of Warwick in 2020, writing his thesis on the figure of Antoine de Crussol, the duc d’Uzès. His primary research considers Protestant noble identity during the French Wars of Religion, while he is also interested in early modern Irish history. He is currently teaching at Trinity College Dublin and University College Dublin. Having finished up a project on an Anglo-Irish landed estate in the northwest of Ireland, he is now focusing on the publication of his thesis and the completion of other articles on Crussol’s role in the Wars of Religion. He recently published a book chapter entitled ‘Reforming France: The Protestant political assemblies during the First War of Religion, 1562-1563’ in the volume Reading the Reformations: Theologies, Cultures and Beliefs in an Age of Change, ed. Anna French (Brill: Leiden, 2023).

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