Journal du règne de Henri IV, II: 1592–1594 (transcription Ms. fr. 10299 et 25004 de la BnF) by Pierre de L’Estoile (review)

This second tome of Pierre de L’Estoile’s informative collection of historical facts, be they political, sociological, or anecdotal, provides a fascinating and revealing synthesis of events, mentalities, and social trends at a pivotal moment in the history of Paris and of France. Starting in 1592, it reveals the tensions prevailing before and after Henry IV’s conversion to Catholicism in July 1593, the reaction to his coronation in Chartres in February 1594, the movement that led to his subsequent entry into Paris in March, and it ends with the attempted assassination of the king by Châtel in late December of that same year. As in his Journal du règne de Henri III, L’Estoile transmits what he considers worthwhile snippets in a manner reminiscent of a ‘News in Brief’ column. This particular volume is important for our understanding of the political dynamics in a capital virtually cut off from the rest of France, operating between Ligueurs, Politiques, and the people. In an era of denunciation, accusation, and false information — L’Estoile records frequent examples of rumours being proved wrong — instability and feverish confusion were rife. Many of the clergy, faithful to the Ligue, continued to use methods they had employed in their campaign against Henri’s predecessor, which is to say, accusations of sexual misconduct, of hypocrisy, of heresy, and so on. Jean Boucher, who had railed against Henri III with such vituperative violence, proclaimed unequivocally his opposition to the king whereas, on the same day, another priest preached the necessity to ‘recevoir et embrasser l’Heretique revenant à l’Eglise et se convertissant’ (p. 123). The presence of the Duke of Feria, and the proposition that the Infanta should marry the Duke of Guise, increased the danger of Spanish intervention. The Parisian priests were convinced that Henri’s conversion had been precipitated by the threat of Guise’s imminent election as king and that Henri was but ‘un meschant relaps excommunié, et un vieil loup gris, après lequel tout le monde devoit huer et le chasser, au lieu de le recevoir’ (p. 172). The fact that the king was now a Catholic — even though unrecognized by the Pope — was, in spite of the ravings of many of the priesthood and of the extremists, a powerful factor in the gradual acceptance by the majority of Parisians (‘Tant le people estoit las de la guerre’, p. 227) of the inevitable return of the king to Paris virtually without bloodshed (p. 313). L’Estoile emphasizes the subsequent diplomatic and apparently non-revengeful approach adopted by Henri. The Journal provides information about various topics (even the weather) and gives glimpses of a society marked by its superstitions (witches were executed), by its inherent cruelty (petty thieves hanged and strangled), and by its imaginative suppositions, in an ambience totally permeated by the Church and its representatives. Scholarly lexical notes and a glossary are provided. Useful, mainly biographical annotations follow the various sections — it is a quibble, but I would have preferred them as footnotes.