Colloquy of Poissy

[1] The conference was opened on 9 September in the refectory of the convent of Poissy [fr],[1] King Charles IX (aged 11) himself being present.

To heal those, and so bring about unity, a conference on free will was held at Weimar in 1560, involving Lutherans Viktor Striegel (1524–69) and Matthias Flacius.

[2] The Pope sent as papal legate Ippolito d'Este, known as the Cardinal of Ferrara, with Diego Laynez, the second General superior of the Jesuits, as his adviser, to dissuade the regent and the bishops.

At the conference, six French Cardinals and thirty-eight archbishops and bishops, with a host of minor prelates and doctors, spent a month in discussions with the Calvinists.

[2] Theodore Beza from Geneva and Peter Martyr Vermigli from Zürich appeared at the colloquy; the German theologians to whom invitations had been despatched only arrived in Paris after the discussion was broken off.

On the motion, however, of Ippolito d'Este, the legate, exception was taken to the further conduct of the negotiations in full conclave; and a committee of twenty-four representatives, twelve from each party, was appointed ostensibly to facilitate a satisfactory decision.

[5] Representing the Catholics were the Protestant Bishop of Valence and Archbishop of Sens alongside the Abbot of Salignac, Boutellier, and Claude D'Espence.