France

In France, the situation developed in still another way. Francis I was threatened by the challenge to his authority that Protestant reform presented. He tried to drive its advocates out of the kingdom and, in 1535, Protestantism was made illegal. One of these French Protestants was Jean Cauvin - who is probably better known as John Calvin.

In France, the Huguenot (Protestant) minority developed into a political movement that resisted the supression by the monarchy. Civil war broke out in 1562 and, in 1572, an attempt was made to reconcile the two sides by a marriage of Henry of Navarre (a Protestant) into the royal family (Roman Catholic). This resulted in widespread sectarian violence and the warfare continued for decades.



Henry Navarre eventually returned to the Catholic camp and became King Henry IV of France. His Edict of Nantes (1598) granted limited tolerance to the Huguenots. Following Henry's assassination in 1610, the tolerance lessened and the Edict was finally revoked in 1685. French Protestants fled to other parts of Europe that were under Protestant control and some sailed to the Americas.

(Image of Henry Navarre from answers.com )