Antoine Marcourt

In 1533, he published a satirical work about Catholic practices, such as the cult of Saints and pilgrimages, entitled Le livre des Marchans, in a style reminiscent of Gargantua and Pantagruel.

[1] He was the protagonist of the "Affair of the Placards", on the night of 17 October 1534, in which notices appeared on the streets of Paris and other major cities denouncing Mass.

[1] On 13 January 1535 Marcourt again published a pamphlet entitled Petit traité très utile et salutaire de la saincte eucharistie de nostre Seigneur Jesus christ, "Little Treatise, Very Useful and Salutary, on the Holy Eucharist of Our Lord Jesus Christ."

These publications and notices led the king, Francis I, to take a progressively stronger stance against Protestantism and other diversions from the Roman Catholic faith.

The Edict of Fontainebleau on 1 June 1540 would give authority to regional parliaments, rather than religious courts in fighting against Protestantism.