France in the Sixteenth Century

Both the golden age of the Renaissance state and the catastrophic era of the Wars of Religion, this fascinating period in French history has been oddly neglected by English-language historians. Professor Baumgartner's book fills a major gap in the textbook market: an accessible, fully current account which covers the principal political, economic and cultural themes from Francois I's successful centralization of the state, through France's near prostration under the Catholic-Huguenot civil war, and ending with the accession of Henri IV.

Introduction - The Monarchy Ascending 1484-1547 - The Church Unchallenged - A Contented Nobility - A Prosperous Third Estate - The Springtime of the French Renaissance - The Monarchy Under Attack 1547-1589 - The Church Challenged - The Nobility in Disarray - A Rebellious Third Estate - The Renaissance in Maturity - The Monarchy Restroed 1589-1614 - The Church Victorious - The Nobility Tamed - The Third Estate in Retreat - The End of the Renaissance - Conclusions