Assembly of Notables

Assemblymen were prominent men, usually of the aristocracy, and included royal princes, peers, archbishops, high-ranking judges, and, in some cases, major town officials.

But unlike the Estates-General, whose members were elected by the subjects of the realm, the assemblymen were selected by the king for their "zeal", "devotion", and their "trustworthiness" toward the sovereign.

Several times a year, whenever the king needed to cast a wider net to gather information for making important decisions or preparing edicts and ordinances, he would enlarge his Council with prominent men chosen for their social and professional standing or their skills to give counsel on the matters at hand.

The 40 grandees in attendance agreed to a package of reforms put forward by the Guise government, and supported the calling of an Estates General to meet at Meaux later that year.

[6] In November 1583, Henri convened an assembly of notables at Saint Germain-en-Laye to address religious demonstrations that threatened the collapse of the State.

In the assembly, Cardinal de Bourbon called for France to tolerate one faith, Catholicism; he said that if this was offered, the clergy would sell their shirts to support the king.

[7] Henry, however, angrily interrupted him informing the Cardinal that any attempt to impose uniform Catholicism was unthinkable to his brother the duke of Anjou.

Henri continued that he had already risked his life and estate to establish Catholicism as the sole religion, but since he had been forced to sue for peace, he would not breach it.

There were 95 notables present, and they recommended that the king levy a special sales tax of 5% on all sales—with the exception of wheat, to avoid bread riots.

King Henry and the Duke of Sully had come up with many other possible ways to raise money, but the key to rescuing the monarchy from bankruptcy was simply to ensure that the system of taxation worked efficiently.

There was no specific discussion of a march on La Rochelle, but the notables firmly supported the king's desire to destroy the network of independent Huguenot fortresses.

Third, everyone agreed that the basic administration of the kingdom lay in disarray, so that a strong statement from the central government was needed to reestablish order.