Affair of the Placards

One of the posters was posted on the bedchamber door of King Francis I at Amboise, an affront and a breach of security that left him shaken.

The Affaire des Placards brought an end to the conciliatory policies of Francis, which had formerly attempted to protect the Protestants from the more extreme measures of the Parlement de Paris, and also of the public entreaties for moderation of Philip Melanchthon.

[1] Writing anonymously the following month, Marcourt took credit for the placards in the address to benevolent readers of his anonymous "Most useful and salutary little treatise of the holy Eucharist", published at Neuchâtel, 16 November 1534,[2] in which he avers "I have been moved by true affection to compose and edit in writing some true Articles on the unbearable abuses of the Mass.

Which Articles I wish to be published and posted throughout the public places of the land..."[b][citation needed] Processions were announced in all the parishes of Paris for the following Sunday.

The immediate public outcry necessitated the flight of several prominent Protestant leaders, including John Calvin, and of scholars and poets like Clément Marot.