First Steps in French History, Literature, and Philology, etc

Front matter

FIRST STEPS IN- FRENCH HISTORY, LITERATURE AND PHILOLOGY FIRST STEPS IX FRENCH HISTORY LITERATURE AND PHILOLOGY FOE CANDIDATES TO THE SCOTCH LEAVING-CERTIFICATE EXAMINATION, TO THE VARIOUS UNIVERSITIES' LOCAL EXAMINATIONS, TO THE UNIVERSITY ENTRANCE EXAMINATIONS AND TO THE ARMY EXAMINATIONS BY F. F. ROGET GRADUATE OF GENEVA UNIVERSITY, EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY EXTENSION LECTURER, LECTURER IN THE FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND TRAINING COLLEGE, LECTURER ON FOREIGN LITERATURE AND TUTOR FOR COMPARATIVE PHILOLOGY, ST. GEORGE'S CLASSES, LECTURER IN THE ST. GEORGE'S TRAINING COLLEGE, SENIOR ASSISTANT-MASTER AT FETTES COLLEGE, E'J'C. WILLIAMS AND NORGATE 14 HENRIETTA ST., COVENT GARDEN, LONDON and 20 SOUTH FREDERICK ST., EDINBURGH

Preface

This compilation has been prepared in order to bring together, in one volume and in a small compass, as large a portion of the French subjects lying beyond the province of ordinary grammar as students, preparing for the Scotch Leaving Certificate, for the University Entrance Examinations, tor the University Local Examinations, and for the Army, can, in the light of our experience, be expected to acquire. It has also been our aim to provide a faithful intro duction to the easier and more generally known works of specialists in the field of advanced French studies. We trust that our Manual is so written that those who would master its contents may receive some valuable intellectual impressions ; for it is our desire that this book may help to alter the trivial spirit in which French is often taught.

AVe are sure that the application of the historical method to the study of French can alone raise it to its proper place iD the sphere of educative, mind-stimulating pursuits. F. F. E. July 1892. CONTENTS FRENCH LITERATURE PAGE Map. Preface, ....... vii

Chapter I

Introductory, ...... 1 I. Mental Exercise Offered, .... 2 II. The Light Thrown on Language in General, . . 6 III. The Contents of French Literature, ... 6

Chapter II

Summary Notes on French Historv, ... 10 Gaul, ........ 10 The Franks, ....... 10 The Capetian Kings, ...... 12 Valois Kings (1328-1589), ..... 13 The Bourbon Kings, . ..... 15 The Revolution (1789-1804), 19 The Empire (1804-1815), . .... 23 The Constitutional Monarchy, . . .25 The Second Empire (1852-1870), .... 27 The Third Republic, ...... 30 Contents X

Chapter III. Page

Chronological Table of the History of French Literature in the Middle Ages, ... 33 Oldest Epic and Lyric Poetry. In the South — Troubadours (langue d'oc) : canzones, tensons, plaints, sirventes, .... 33 In the North — Trouveres (langue d'oi'l) : Chansons de geste, romans, fableaux, lais, ..... 33 Carlovingian or Royal Cycle, ..... 33 Notes, ........ 33 Chanson de Roland, ...... 34 Breton Cycle of King Arthur's Table Round, . . 36 Notes, ........ 36 Romantic Poetry, ...... 43 Old French Lyrics properly so called, ... 43 Dramatic Poetry, ..... .43 Prose Chroniclers, ...... 43 Notes, ........ 44 Roman de la Rose, ...... 52 Roman de Renard, ...... 53

Chapter IV

Chronological Table of the Renaissance and Reformation Period, ..... 55 Epic and Lyric Poetry. Clement Marot, ...... 57 Ronsard and the Ph-jiade, ..... 59 Du Bartas, ....... 63 Agrippa d'Aubigne ...... 64 Mathurin Regnier, ...... Contents XI Dramatic Poetry page Larivey, ....... 67 Prose. Rabelais, ... ... 68 Marguerite de Valois, ...... 74 Calvin, . ...... 74 Amyot, ....... 77 La Boi^tie, ....... 79 Montaigne, ....... 79

Chapter V

First Period of the Seventeenth Century till the Majority of Louis xiv. in 1661, ... 84 Lyric Poetry. Malherbe, ....... 85 Maynard, ....... 87 Racan, ........ 87 Dramatic Poetry. Rotrou, ....... 88 Scarron, ....... 90 Corneille, ....... 91 Prose. Balzac, ........ 96 Voiture, ....... 97 Vaugelas, ....... 98 Descartes, ....... 99 Pascal, 102 Cyrano de Bergerac, ...... 107 Mile de Scudery, ...... 107 Academie Francaise, ...... 107 Hotel de Rambouillet, ..... Contents XII

Chapter VI. Page

Age of Louis xiv. (1661-1715), . . - .110 Miscellaneous Verse. La Fontaine, . . . . . . .111 Boileau, . '. . . '■ ■ .116 Dramatic Art. Moliere 119 Racine, ..<.... 121 Regnard, i ■ > 126 Didactic Writings, Philosophy. La Rochefoucauld, ...... 126 Bossuet, ....... 127 La Bruyere, ....... 130 Fenelon, . ... . . . .131 Epistolary Composition. Madame de Sevignd, ...... 134 Madame de Maintenon, ..... 135 Fiction. Madame de La Fayette, . . . 136

Chapter VII

A Chronological Table of the Eighteenth Century Writers, . . . . . . .138 Miscellaneous Verse, . .- . . . .138 Dramatic Art, . . . . . . ,139 History, Memoirs, . . . . . .139 Fiction, . . . .. . . .139 Oratory, ....... 140 Politics, Philosophy, Science, . 140 Due de Saint-Simon, ...... 140 Marivaux, ....... 142 Mile Delaunay, . . . . . .143 Le Sage, ....... Contents XIII PAGE Prevost, ....... 145 Vauvenargues, . . . . . .145 Gilbert, ....... 147 Buffon, 147 Diderot, ....... 149 L'Encyclopt5die, ...... 151 Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, . . . . .152 Beaumarchais, . . . . . . .154 Mirabeau, ....... 155 Andre Chenier, . . . . . .157 Montesquieu, . . . . . . .159 Voltaire, ....... 161 Rousseau, . . . . . . .166

Chapter VIII

Nineteenth Century, ..... 172 Miscellaneous Verse, ...... 172 Dramatic Art, ....... 172 History, Memoirs, . . . . .173 Fiction, ....... 174 Politics, Travels, Philosophy , Critique, Letters, . . 174 Chateaubriand, ...... 175 Madame de Stael, . . . . .179 Beranger, ....... 181 Alfred de Vigny, ...... 183 Alfred de Musset, . . . . .184 Lamartine, . . . . . . .185 Victor Hugo, ....... 187 Sainte-Beuve, . . . . • • .193 Villemain, . . . . • • .194 Paul Louis Courier, ...... 195 Augustin Thierry, . . ■ • • .196 Barante, ....... 197 Guizot, ....... 198 Michelet, Contents XIV PAGE Thiers, ........ 200 Dumas, ....... 200 George Sand, ....... 201 Balzac, ........ 203 Merimee, ....... 204 Flaubert, ....... 205 Conclusion, ....... 206

Chapter IX

The Relations between French and English Literature, ....... 207 French as the Official Language of England, . . 219 FRENCH LANGUAGE.

CHAPTER X. The Old French Language, Origin, Dialects, Early Documents, ...... 222

CHAPTER XL

The Lingua Romana in Gaul at the time of the Frankish Invasion, ..... 243

Chapter XII

Historical Grammar. The Noun, etc. , 251 The Alphabet, ....... 251 Accents, ....... 251 Sounds, ....... 252 The Article, ....... 252 The Substantive, ...... 253 The Plural, ....... Contents XV PAGE Gender, ... ... 256 Feminine of Substantives, ..... 258 The Feminine of Adjectives, ..... 259 Plural of Adjectives, ...... 263 Comparative and Superlative, .... 263 Numerals, ....... 264 Personal Pronouns, ...... 265 Forms of Synthetic Analogy, ..... 267 Forms of Analytic Analogy, ..... 267 Possessives, . . . . . ■ • • 269 Demonstratives, ...... 271 Relatives, ....... 272 Indefinites, ....... 273

Chapter XIII

Historical Grammar. The Verb, .... 275 Moods, . . . . . • ... 275 Tenses, ........ 276 Conjugations, .....•• 277 Auxiliary Verb Avoir, ..... 278 Auxiliary Verb Et re, ...... 279 Aimer, Ordinary Paradigm of the First Conjugation, . 281 The Working of Analogy in Verbs, . . . .287 Finir, Ordinary Paradigm of the Second Conjugation, . £88 Recevoir, Ordinary Paradigm of the Third Conjugation, . 290 Vendre, Ordinary Paradigm of the Fourth Conjugation, . 292 Some Interrogative Forms of Verbs, .... 292 The Diphthong oi or ai in the Imperfect, . . . 293 The Auxiliary Eire in the Conjugation of Intransitive Verbs, ....... 293 The Auxiliary Eire in the Conjugation of Reflective Verbs, . 294 Impersonal Verbs, ....-• -94 Verbs with e Mute in the Penultimate Syllable, . 294 Double Forms in Binir and Fleurir, .... 296 So-called Principal Parts and Derived Parts in Verbs . Contents XVI

Chapter XIV. Page

The So-called IrregularVerb, .... 298 Primary Verbs, ...... 299 First Class of Primary Verbs, .... 300 Second Class of Primary Verbs, .... 300 Third Class of Primary Verbs, . . . .301 Verbs with a Mixed Perfect, ..... 302 Remarks on some Single Verb Forms . . . 302 Classification of Irregular Verbs, .... 303

Chapter XV

Scholarly Influences, Gallicisms, . . . 309 Syntax, ....... 309 Gallicisms, ....... 312 Index, ........

Chapter I. Introductory

In Cambridge University, a very few years ago, when it was proposed that French should be raised to the circle of the ' artes humaniores,'' one of the weightiest objections was that French is of no use except to diplo matists, waiters, and couriers. In the mind of its propounders this pithy argument was sweeping enough to embrace all modern languages in a peremptory condemnation. Yet contempt showed itself powerless to impede reform. Modern languages are fast making good in Great Britain their claim to rank with Greek and Latin as instruments and vehicles of the highest culture. If a schoolmaster were freed in his appreciation of the comparative value of languages from all irrelevant but yet binding considerations, such as the future pro fession of his pupils, the state of public opinion, the demands of examining boards, he would place himself in succession at three different standpoints, in order to gauge in quality and quantity the profit accruing from A linguistic studies.

These points are : (1) the mental exercise offered, (2) the light thrown on language in general by the particular language under scrutiny, (3) the contents of the literature opened up by a knowledge of the language. On behalf of French the case would appear very much as follows : — 1. Mental Exercise Offered. An acquaintance with French formerly served super ficial purposes only. It was studied as an accomplish ment; it gave to the gentleman and the courtier credentials for polish, refinement, and wit. During the period of French literary supremacy in Europe, the aristocratic circles in every country represented almost the whole of society. Then French taste and French manners reigned supreme in strictly defined areas. This lasted till the national spirit, in Germany and in England especially, gave birth to an independent litera ture, and to a spontaneous culture, so overwhelming by their intensity, and by the numbers of their followers, that the Frenchified circles were thrown into the shade.

French, it is true, was never driven from high places. It remained also in good repute as an inter national tongue, and it gained what it had not before, the appreciation of those men to whom the development of their own national literature brought some culture and taste. Still, the company it kept was too fashionable ; the master of French and the master of deportment were Introductory 3 too closely allied not to bring some contempt upon the language, when under the stress of commercial necessities, in spite of national and political prejudices, it was generally recognised as an instrument of education in British secondary schools. A doubt lingered whether French had a right to any such position at all, and the rooted predilection of the universities for Latin and Greek stood out against it with might.

It must be said in excuse of its opponents that the way and the manner in which French had introduced itself were little to its credit. Its advocates, till the middle of this century, put it to uses and claimed for it capabilities that are not of the best kind in request among peda gogues. The French life, manners, tastes, and literary achievements of the seventeenth century used to be the grounds on which French studies recommended them selves, not only to foreigners, but also to the French educational world. Those grounds are insufficient, and British educationists who believe still that there are no better ones cannot be blamed for resisting them. By so doing they show much good sense, but also great ignorance. In this they are no worse than Voltaire, who, like them, knew not that the French language has growth, and that its literature has a history.

It is through its growth and through its history that French has its best claim to the student's attention. Thanks to them, it offers an excellent field for mental exercise. Without them it would still have distinctive merit, such as the vivacity of its style, the directness and precision of its expressions, the nicety and delicacy of its syntax, the elaborateness of its rhetoric, its logic, lucidity, penetration, and alertness ; but these qualities are not superlative, and they are better perceived and turned to more account by mature minds than by minds under training. History and growth, on the contrary, to the growing mind are picturesque and wonderful : they interest, develop, and enlarge it. When a teacher of botany wishes to give a first lesson on plant-life, he does not choose his examples in distant foreign parts, but he seeks out a kind familiar to the student's eye, and he takes care that the student has access to the soil in which it grows.

Then he seeks out the best specimen of that kind for anatomical and physiological study. So will a teacher of language, if he is wise, be at pains as great to choose a language whose life is traceable by descent and determinable by comparison, without assuming the student's acquaintance with lands unknown to him. Of all languages accessible to the ordinary student, French is the best to impart a sense of genesis in language, and by analogy and parallelism in almost every thing else. It is the best specimen of its kind, because the decomposed soil from which it springs — Latin — is school property ; because the successive states it has gone through are visibly marked on its material and in its significance ; because its line of development, diverted from Roman culture, lies across the richest historical ground.

Of other languages, two classical ones take their rise in periods lying beyond the compass of secon dary studies; two modern ones, German and English, Introductory 5 lead back, with Anglo-Saxon, Gothic, etc., to semi-savage regions, in obscure times. Though they may be more curious, they are less normal than French — hence their pedagogical inferiority. Mental training by means of languages is best served by the most perfect living speci men of language that is accessible. Next to the growth of the language, the history of its literature comes to be considered. French literature has proved itself of late to be a much more imposing affair than was dreamt of in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. To its progress, since the Renais sance, it owes the sort of credit which still colours visibly both the esteem and the disfavour in which it is generally held.

But its long development through the Middle Ages, now brought to light for the first time, will lead to a more liberal appreciation of Frencli literature. It used to be currently stated that French literature had its roots in the Ausnistan age of Latin culture, and that the Hellenism of the Renaissance was the air in which it grew. The mythological apparel of French poetry and the classical rhetoric do admittedly proceed from that source. But hearts beat and imagi nation wove its fancies in France ages before scholars imported the literary finery of Greece and Rome. Mediæval productions, enormous in bulk, genuine in subject and in treatment, influential beyond compare in Western Europe, are now revealing themselves as the natural trunk of Frencli literature, if not of French letters. Henceforth the competent learner will no longer turn French literature to account exclusively for the study of the formal art of writing.

He will avail himself of an unbroken literature of about one thousand years to inquire how a literature can closely reflect a nationality and yet be possessed of an interest more generally human than any other. English, German, Greek, and Latin show to smaller advantage the same spectacle. The latter have the misfortune of being dead, the former offer less historical continuity, and their vitality is more spasmodic. 2. The Light Thrown on Language in General. To explain the general laws of comparative philology by a reference to French and the Romance tongues, all living, is a task as pleasant as it is fruitful. French is an analytic tongue with many synthetic constructions, its phonetics are most regular and varied, its processes of word-formation are of the richest. Interest never flags.

Instead of consisting of words painfully raked together, like pebbles, from mysterious places out of reach, the material for illustration may at every turn be taken out of the student's mouth. French is typical for the laws of language, for the elements of speech, and for the joint elaboration of sound, sign, and significance into an instrument of high perfection. With students who know Latin, French philology is a pursuit as legitimate as Sanskrit philology at the Universities. 3. The Contents of French Literature. In a very well-conceived series of papers on language- Introductory 7 teaching in the Journal of Education (the best periodical by far in British pedagogical circles), a German scholar is quoted, who, when asked whether Homer was poetry to him, or whether it was all roots, replied, with a melancholy air of delight, ' It is all roots.' That man was clearly no better than the life he led.

We can see him from here, seated at his desk in his dressing-gown, smoking his long pipe, and hugging books — totally un fit to be a teacher. Every act of study must be an act of life, kindling in the mind a proportionate vital effort. The philological explanation of words must quicken the spirit of inquiry ; the merest grammatical remark must aim at the stimulation of energy and curiosity. The contents of speech, the network of intertwined ideas, sentiments, and reasoning running from word to word, as blood runs in our body, must not be ousted from con sideration. The highest life of the mind that can be communicated through language is deposited in literature and poetry. There it lies, as in a chest, accumu lated, ready by passing into the slowly maturing brain to profoundly affect psychological growth.

No doubt the cultivation of the mind by literature falls for the most part into a period to which specific teaching does not extend. Juvenile readers are omnivorous, not critical. It is rightly urged also that the study of literature in a foreign tongue is uninviting, because the language itself stands as a barrier to literary perception. Nevertheless, the practice of reducing humanities to grammatical and syntactical drill is absurd, and, little able as youth is to appreciate masterpieces, to give it a language without its literature would be like offering to a man in the dark a candlestick without a candle. To educate the mind by literature is to put the crown on mental training by language. The custom of teaching several languages, and of reaching finality in none, can not be too severely condemned.

If a choice is to be made among the foreign languages in order that one may be selected for the excellence of its literature, the British pedagogue cannot long remain in suspense. The literature that has influenced all others, and has hardly been influenced by any, whose development is unbroken and even, whose form is most artistic, and whose sub stance is most varied, rich in tone, deep in thought — the typical modern literature, in one word, is the French. Not that it is altogether free from drawbacks : its poetry, for instance, is weak. Owing to its lucidity, to its tendency to abstraction, to the rigidity of its syntax, to the poverty of its versification, and to a bad poetical faculty inherited from Latin, Frencli is rather unsuited to lyrical inspiration. The morbid strain by which the psychological analysis of many contemporary French novelists is marred is a bad disorder indeed.

However, these are mere specks upon an almost faultless picture. A reviewer is struck by the general manliness of French literature ; more than its rivals, it has art, substance, solidity, fecundity. It stands forth in an attitude of in tellectual and moral conquest ; it breathes the triumph of man over the conditions of life. It abhorred till re cently what is sickly, pessimistic, sentimental, and mysterious. It is the expression of society rather than Introductory 9 of nature. Its strength lies exactly wherein English literature is weak ; and what could be better than to seek in its liberal and idealistic tone the complement of a sterling British education in the things that go to make worth ?

Chapter II. Summary Notes On French History

1 Gaul. The Celts inhabiting the country now known as France came into contact with civilisation when a colony of Greeks from Asia -Minor was formed at Massilia (Marseille), 600 B.C. Then came the Romans, who extended their dominion over the southern part of the Valley of the Rhone, and called it Provincia (Pro vence). Julius Cæsar, in his conquest of the remaining parts of Gaul (58 B.C. to 51 B.C.), used Provence as a basis for his operations, which took him as far north as the present Belgium and across the English Channel. The conquered Gauls adopted the Lingua Romana (or spoken dialect) of their victors, and for several centuries kept acquiring Roman civilisation and increasing in prosperity. The Franks. These were a Teutonic tribe, occupying from the third century after Christ the eastern banks of the Rhine, approximately from Mainz to its mouth.

A large number of them passed into Gaul in the fifth century. These founded the Frankish kingdom, which 1 See, in the new edition of Chambers's Encyclopædia, under France, the article on this subject. was at first under the sway of the Merovingian kings. The Frankish kingdom under Clovis was greatly en larged by successful warfare, till under his successors it extended over both banks of the Rhine, so as to comprise the larger part of modern France, Thuringia and Bavaria ; but it was soon broken up into three divisions — the kingdoms of Austrasia, of Neustria, and of Burgundy. In 613 the three kingdoms were united again under one sceptre. From the seventh century the Masters of the Royal Household superseded by degrees the authority of the Merovingian kings, till three of them, Pepin d'Heristal, Charles Martel, and Pepin le Bref, having established by successful warfare and administrative capacity a title to the throne, the latter was called to it by the military class.

This was the beginning of the Carlovingian dynasty (752). Under them the Frankish kingdom became the greatest European power ; Charlemagne extended its boundaries to the Eider in the north, the Ebro in the south-west, Northern Italy in the south-east, the Saale in the east, and was anointed successor to the Roman Emperors by the Pope in 799. After his death this vast military monarchy was divided once for all by the Treaty signed at Verdun between three of his descendants (843). From that moment the history of the original Frankish kingdom ceases, and that of France on one side, and of Germany on another side, begins. Charles the Bald was the first king of France properly so called. He ruled over the lands to the west of the Rhone and Scheldt. Under his successors, France was exposed to the raids of the Norsemen in the north, and of the Saracens in the south.

Rollo, the leader of the former, became, in 911, Duke of Normandy. By degrees the feudal system developed itself in the land, and the power of the vassals was such as to reduce to a mere shadow the authority of the kings. By the accession to the throne of the House of Hugo Capet, Count of Paris and of Orleans, and Duke of Francia (lie de France), whose descendants were to continue as kings of France down to 1792, the foundation was established of an unbroken monarchical tradition, round which grew French nationality. The Capetian Kings. The conquest of England by the Normans was the first event of great magnitude under this dynasty. Louis vn. having repudiated his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, she married, in 1152, Henry Plantagenet, King of England and Duke of Normandy, and brought him as a dowry the whole of western France.

The French kings were brought thereby into great straits. However, Philippe Auguste succeeded in taking away from the English, Normandy, Brittany, Maine, Touraine, Anjou, and Poitou. Provence and Languedoc were added to the Realm by Louis ix., commonly known . as Saint Louis. He succeeded also in curbing the nobility, in protecting town ships aud the peasantry, in establishing a code of royal law, iu regulating the taxes, in forming a body of civil servants, and in laying the foundation of a Gal lican Church. In the next reigns, French nationality was so far constituted that it was able to challenge the power of the Popes. The Papal See was for many years transferred to Avignon in Provence. In 1302 deputies from the townships were, for the first time, added under the name of Third Estate (Tiers Etat) to the deputies from the nobility and the clergy, who already formed the national representative body known under the name of States General (Etats Giniraux).

Valois Kings (1328-1589). The direct heir to the throne being a woman, the Salic law came into opera tion, and the House of Valois, indirectly connected with the House of Capet, came to the throne in the person of Philippe vi. The prolonged wars with the kings of England, consequent upon their setting up a claim to the French Crown, began again under this prince. Edward in. of England obtained possession of Calais after the victory at Crecy (1346). Philippe vi.'s successor, Jean le Bon, was beaten and taken a prisoner at Maupertuis. By the Treaty signed at Bretigny (1360) he gave back to England the whole of Aquitaine, something like nineteen departments of modern France. On the other side, he took possession of Dauphine ; but the establishment of a side branch of the Valois House in the Dukedom of Burgundy threatened danger to the Crown in a manner hitherto unexpected.

Under Charles vi., who became insane, the question of the succession to the throne was in debate between the rival branches of the Valois family, and reached an acute stage. Henry v. of England took advantage of this civil war to invade France, and to enforce, if possible, his claim to the Crown of France over both branches of the Valois family. He conquered at Agin court (1415). He formed an alliance with the Duke of Burgundy, who conquered Paris (1417), and he was recognised by Charles vi. as his successor to the French throne. After the death of Henry v. of England, and of the insane Charles VI. of France, the son of Henry was, in his turn, crowned King of France. The eldest son of Charles vi., who bore the title of Dauphin, which, since the conquest of Dauphine, whose dukedom was conferred upon them, has belonged to the direct heirs to the French Crown, withdrew south of the river Loire, and sustained, first as Regent and then as legitimate king, a long war against the English.

The calamities and disgrace of this long conflict roused among the lower classes a passionate patriotism. The famous Jeanne D'Arc, springing from the people, with a heart full of national pride and appearing to obey higher powers, led the French armies to repeated victories, compelled the English to raise the siege of Orleans, led the Dauphin and Regent to be crowned at Reims as Charles vii., and gave her countrymen an advantage over the English which they never again lost. These, beaten at Castillon, saw their hold on France reduced to Calais alone. Louis XL, continuing the successes of his predecessor, was able to incorporate the dominions of the Burgundian Valois with his own realm. Charles Vin. won Brittany for the Crown, and opened a series of campaigns in Italy which were continued by Louis xii., Summary Azotes on French History 15 and which, under Francis I., led to the crushing defeat at Pavia (1525), in which the French were beaten by Charles v. of Spain, whose pretensions to Burgundy and Italy clashed with those of the French King.

At that time France was being moulded more and more into the shape of an absolute monarchy. The func tions belonging to the ancient parliaments were cut down, the clergy were made dependent on the Crown ; Henry 11. acquired Metz, Toul, and Verdun, and suc ceeded in turning the English out of Calais, their last foothold in France. Under his successor, the Catholic princes of the House of Lorraine (Due de Guise) formed a reactionary political and religious party, which was as much directed against the king as against the Protestants. The princes of the House of Bourbon, the leaders of the Protestants and of the progressive political party, took up a definite position against them. The strain put on the religious and political unity of the French kingdom became so great that under the reisrn of Catherine de Medici there broke out the Huguenot wars or wars of religion.

The frightful massacre of the Protestants on the famous night of St. Bartholomew in 1572, instead of bringing about the triumph of the House of Guise, resulted in the flight of the King, Henry ill., to the camp of Henry of Bourbon, who is better known in history as Henri de Navarre. The French King was murdered by a fanatical monk in 1589, and with him died out the House of Valois. The Bourbon Kings. Henri de Navarre having formally accepted the Roman Catholic faith, became king under the title of Henry iv. He passed the Edict of Nantes, whereby he granted to the Protestants suffi cient liberty in the exercise of their religion to make them peaceful citizens. With the assistance of Sully he restored the finances, and organised a standing army. Under the minority of his successor the royal authority was again so undermined that the Etats Giniraux, which used to be summoned to meet only when the Crown was in serious jeopardy, were called together in 1614; but Richelieu, having been put at the head of affairs by Louis xm. in 1624, resumed with unrelent ing energy the traditional policy of the French kings, namely, that of centralising all political and military power.