City on the Ocean Sea: La Rochelle, 1530-1650 : Urban Society, Religion, and Politics on the French Atlantic FrontierThis important volume presents the first comprehensive history of early modern La Rochelle, a port town whose fractious residents became embroiled in the French Reformations. Opening chapters situate the Rochelais within the geopolitics of an oceanic frontier, where urbanites created a strong, heavily armed civic government, in part because they perceived themselves as isolated civilizing agents surrounded by the savage inhabitants of a lawless environment. Analysis of the city's Reformation proceeds within this context of place and politics, showing how various ranks of the citizenry idiosyncratically adopted the tenets of Calvinism, amalgamating these salvific doctrines with traditional civic rites and values - to the consternation of more orthodox pastors. Juxtaposing serial sources from multiple archives, Robbins shows with innovative detail how local political and religious struggles intermeshed, setting the city and its Reformed congregations on a fatal collision course with the Bourbon monarchy. Concluding chapters examine how great aristocratic families, churchmen, and Catholic magistrates joined in a local Counter-Reformation, remaking urban power politics from the ground up. |
Contents
A City in a Landscape of Islands | 9 |
An Introduction to the Power Politics | 61 |
No City on a Hill The Rochelais Refor | 107 |
The Course of Urban Politics in La Rochelle | 184 |
Transforming Civic Authority Bourgeois | 241 |
The Advent of a New Civic Regime Urban | 298 |
CounterReforming La Rochelle | 354 |
Conclusion | 411 |
Appendix One | 429 |
449 | |
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City on the Ocean Sea: La Rochelle, 1530-1650 : Urban Society, Religion, and ... Kevin C. Robbins No preview available - 1997 |
Common terms and phrases
ADCM AHSA AMLR Arcère artisans Aunis baptisms Barbot became Bigotteau BMLR bourgeois bourgeoisie Calvinism Calvinist church Catholic century Chatton citizens city's civic administration congregation conseillers consistoire consistory corps corps de ville Cougnes Council of Forty-Eight Counter-Reformation crown defense Delayant Diaire early modern échevins fols France François French Reformed Gaigneur godparents Grenot Guillaudeau Histoire des Rochelais Ibid institutions Jacques Jacques Merlin Jarnac Javalleau Jean Tharay jurists king king's kinsmen La Rochelle La Rochelle's livres Louis Louis XIII magistrates mayor merchants militia companies ministers Mondot municipal municipal government neighborhood Nicolas notaries Oléron pair Paris parish patrician Pérouas Perrot police Pontard popular port presidial court privileges procureurs Protestant ranks rebel rebellion Reformed church regime religious residents rochelais Rochelle Rochelle's Calvinist royal Saint-Simon Saintonge Salbert served siècle siege social Suppl Tharay's tion town council town councilmen town government townsmen townspeople urban politics west country