The 1562 Riots of Toulouse are a series of events (occurring largely in the span of a week) that pitted members of the Reformed Church of France (often called Huguenots) against members of the Roman Catholic Church in violent clashes that ended with the deaths of between 3,000 and 5,000 citizens of the French city of Toulouse. These events exhibit the tensions that would soon explode into full civil war during the French Wars of Religion.
Background The history and political structure of Toulouse played a significant part in the tensions that led to the riots in 1562.
Medieval religious past The city of Toulouse was the capital of Languedoc which had been a stronghold for Catharism throughout the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries. In an effort to stamp out what it deemed heresy, the Roman Catholic Church had called for military action against the Cathars. These campaigns are grouped under the term the Albigensian Crusade. The Catholic hierarchy also developed the Dominican Order and the Medieval Inquisition in order to expose and eliminate this belief. Some historians, such as Edgar Sanderson, believe that the inroads that the later Reformed Church of France made in the region during the 16th and 17th centuries can be traced to a general questioning of Roman Catholic authority by the people in this region, an attitude that made Catharism so difficult to exterminate. Sanderson notes "In the contest [between Cathars and Catholics] which ensued, sometimes heretics were burnt alive, at other times Inquisitors were driven out or assassinated."
Also, as a result of the Catholic Church's sustained focus on the area, great attention was paid to ensure that the population held views seen as acceptable to Catholic orthodoxy, and great efforts were put forward to teach that orthodoxy. These two cultural factors competing in the region (questioning authority and an intense focus on doctrine) may explain how the larger part of the population (including the Parlement) was staunchly Roman Catholic, but the Reformed Church members were able to make quick inroads there.
Reformation
Rise of Protestantism By 1530 some within the mendicant orders living in Toulouse and at its university became persuaded by the writings of Martin Luther. By 1532 Catholic authorities began a purge of the university, persecuting and then banishing several students and professors on charges of ascribing to Protestantism. Also in 1532 Toulouse produced one of the first French Protestant martyrs, when the lawyer Jean de Caturce was burnt on a slow fire. This was for making what was termed a "'Lutheran' exhortation" while merry-making on the feast of Epiphany (he recommended replacing the prayer "May Christ reign in our hearts!" with "The king drinks!").
In 1536 copies of John Calvin's Institution chrétienne were discovered in the city and the Reformed Church of France began to win converts, this despite Toulouse being the seat of Dominican Inquisition. A strange sign of the success for the Reformed Church was when on September 10, 1538, Toulouse's Catholic Inquisitor of the Faith, Louis Rochette, was strangled and burned at the stake for embracing Protestantism. By the 1540s the struggle between Catholics and Reformed Church members escalated in Toulouse. The Reformed Church members continued their activities in Toulouse for decades despite legal and popular persecution (that sometime escalated into killing). Though the Reformed Church had appeared later in Toulouse than in other provincial capitals (such as Lyon or Rouen), by 1561 they were holding their conventicles close to the Hôtel de Ville in the expensive homes of some of Toulouse's leading citizens.
Psalms in French In the events leading up to the riots and during the riots themselves, there was a strong reaction by Catholics against anyone singing the Psalms in French. In the late 1530s Clément Marot had translated the Psalms into French and set them to popular music. At first Marot had presented these only to the royal Court of King Francis I where they were extremely well received especially by the young Dauphin (who later became King Henry II of France). The Dauphin made his courtiers sing them with him while his musicians accompanied him on viol or lute. John Calvin caused twelve of Marot's translations to be published adding five additional Psalms translated by himself and set to music.
As the 1540s began Marot had translated around 50 Psalms and published these for the general populace, they became popular among Catholics and Protestants. In the year 1542 a rise in Catholic concerns over the spread of Protestant ideas led to several edicts against people and writings the Church deemed heretical. It was at this time the Sorbonne banned Marot's Psalms in French and issued a warrant for his arrest (which he escaped by permanently leaving the country). Theodore Beza was among those who worked translating the rest of the Psalms into French, until they were all complete.
The popularity of the Psalms in French is seen by some historians (like Strada and Rowland Prothero) as "among the chief causes of the Reformation in the Low Countries. So in France the metrical version of the Psalter, in the vulgar tongue, set to popular music, was one of the principal instruments in the success of the Reformed Church. The Psalms were identified with the everyday life of the Huguenots. Children were taught to learn them by heart; they were sung at every meal, 'to chant psalms' meant, in popular language to turn Protestant. The Psalms became the Huguenot Marseillaise."
In addition to banning the singing of the Psalms in French, Catholic doctrine held that "Alleluia" was a sign of movement from lament to praise and banned the verbalization of any Psalm containing the word "Alleluia" (Alleluatic Psalms) during funeral rites and during the penitent and solemn season of Lent (which focused on the suffering of Jesus and called for prayer, penance, repentance, almsgiving, and self-denial). Protestants did not consider themselves bound by this tradition and demanded to be free to use whatever Psalms they felt appropriate. As Catholics viewed the refraining of using these Alleluatic Psalms as a sign of respect and reverence to Jesus they viewed any Protestant singing them between the Saturday before Septuagesima Sunday (the ninth Sunday before Easter) until the night of the Easter Vigil as engaging in an especially blasphemous act.
Consumption of meat Another easily observable practice that differentiated Protestants from Catholics during this time was the eating of meat on days prohibited by the Roman Catholic hierarchy. Catholics saw Protestants displaying, selling, purchasing, or eating meat on days prohibited by their Church as blasphemy.
Distinct from fasting (refusing all food), Catholic doctrine calls for the abstinence from "flesh meat" or soup made from meat during some days of the year (in some eras this was also extended to eggs, milk, butter, cheese, or condiments that included animal fat). Catholics hold that this helps to subdue the flesh, and is imitative of Paul the Apostle who according to 1 Corinthians 9:27 "chastised his body and brought it into subjection". Catholics also maintain that "by abstaining from flesh, we give up what is, on the whole, the most pleasant as well as the most nourishing food, and so make satisfaction for the temporal punishment due to sin even when its guilt has been forgiven." Different from fasting (refusing all food), abstinence was practiced at this time on Fridays, Saturdays, and during Lent on Sundays (total fasting on Sundays was always forbidden). Abstaining from meat during Lent was also seen as symbolically significant for in this way "no animal has to suffer death, no blood flows."
Substituting "flesh meat" with fish was de rigueur during Lent at this time, and the Catholic Church only allowed those with infirmity to eat meat. The only way healthy people could eat meat during these occasions was if they paid for a license from the clergy. Anyone who had not received permission to eat meat at this time was supposed to be subject to legal punishment from state authorities. Punishments were usually public, such as confinement to the stocks or pillory.
Denying that the Catholic Church had any other authority over them, French Protestants did not feel obligated to avoid eating meat, and where they were in control of the local government they allowed its sale during Lent. In response to this development a royal edict forbidding the sale of meat or the public serving of it was issued in 1549 (and would be issued later in 1563). All the rules concerning Catholic abstinence and fast days continued to be ignored by a majority of Protestants and openly defied in areas were Reformed Church members held a majority of the population and dominated the local consulat. This practice infuriated Catholics (later in 1601 officials in Saint-Maixent even had house-to-house sweeps to ensure suspected Protestants were not eating meat on prohibited days).
The Protestant eating of meat during the Lent that preceded the riots was a source of outrage among the Catholics that participated in the violence.
Municipal conflicts
Capitouls
Toulouse's political system was unique, which as historian Mark Greengrass states, resulted in "a city where royal judges and municipal authorities had no clear sense of their mutual responsibilities ... [it had] an old and highly developed political consciousness stretching back to its charters in the thirteenth century. Amongst its privileges was a freedom from royal taxation and an exemption from royal garrison within its walls." Each year capitouls were elected from each of the cities eight urban districts (called capitoulats). The role of capitoul was not limited to any particular group and candidates could be seigneurs from noble bloodlines or lawyers and merchants (only officers of the Crown were ineligible). Once in office they were allowed some trappings of nobility, such as wearing a red silk gown. Any major decisions for Toulouse (such as justice, economy, and police powers) were debated and decided by a general council of the capitouls (called a consulat), and they were normally free of interference from the Crown's judges.
Parlement
An opposing center of authority in the city was the Parlement of Toulouse. The French Parlements had been established first in Paris (in 1307) and later in regional capitals by the French monarchy. (These French parlements acted as provincial appellate courts ruling on questions of law and should not be confused with legislative bodies that create laws called parliaments.)
The Parlement of Toulouse had been established by King Charles VII in 1420. Its Parlement was held in esteem second only to that of Paris.
The parlement had a surprising amount of authority and independence considering the strong centralization of power under the French monarchy. It could issue regulations for the application of both royal edicts and customary practices. It could also refuse to register any law that they held was contrary to either fundamental law or local legal customs. It could even refuse to register a law if it judged the law as untimely. Members of the Parlement were drawn from hereditary nobility with positions being purchased from the king with these positions being made hereditary by paying the Crown an annual tax called the paulette which would render them "Nobles of the Robe". With this sense of aristocracy they declared themselves exempt from gabelles and city property taxes, billeting of troops, and even tithes. They also declared that no member of Parlement could be tried by any court in the region except the Parlement itself. These privileges angered the capitouls, especially when city finances were low.