Abstract
This book provides a synthesis devoted to the French experience of religious change during the period after the wars of religion up to the early Enlightenment. It provides an up-to-date and thorough account of the religious history of France in the context of social, institutional, and cultural developments during the so-called long seventeenth century. The book argues that the French version of the Catholic Reformation showed a dynamism unrivaled elsewhere in Europe. The traumatic experiences of the wars of religion, the continuing search within France for heresy, and the challenge of Augusti ... More This book provides a synthesis devoted to the French experience of religious change during the period after the wars of religion up to the early Enlightenment. It provides an up-to-date and thorough account of the religious history of France in the context of social, institutional, and cultural developments during the so-called long seventeenth century. The book argues that the French version of the Catholic Reformation showed a dynamism unrivaled elsewhere in Europe. The traumatic experiences of the wars of religion, the continuing search within France for heresy, and the challenge of Augustinian thought successively energized its attempts at religious change. The book highlights the continuing interaction of church and society and shows that while the French experience was clearly allied to its European context, its path was a distinctive one.