First French War of Religion in the provinces

This decentralised uprising would not be unopposed, and after initially being caught off guard by the sudden and dramatic nature of the conquests, local Catholic royalist commanders would begin to recapture the territories in their provinces.

In the afternoon the Protestant captain returned and began preparing for a counter offensive, uniting with a band of co-religionists in a fortified house and then bursting out to attempt to push the Catholics back out of the neighbourhood.

[40] Iconoclastic action and church seizures would occur in many Norman towns and cities including: Rouen, Dieppe, Caen, Caudebec, Jumièges, Saint-Martin-de-Boscherville, Bayeux, Elbeuf, Barentin, Limesy, Coutances, Avranches, Sées, Saint-Lô, Saint-Wandrille and Le Tréport.

[58] According to the later account of Bourgueville all the churches and monasteries were attacked with their images destroyed, windows shattered, ornaments pillaged and flammable elements all thrown into fires.

Troops loyal to the Protestant cause had been secreted into the city in prior days, which enabled Caudebec to resist an attempted siege by a local royalist force.

In December 1562, he wrote to the court protesting that all his requests for royal favours for his clients went unanswered, leaving him unable to command respect or maintain his fidelity network properly.

Noblemen and ministers were present for a discussion as to whether armed resistance was justified in response to the 'captivity' of the royal family and to defend liberty of conscience (Kingdon notes that at this time Guise and Navarre had yet to assume control of Catherine and Charles).

In June Montpensier directly appealed for his support, but Étampes would not leave without royal instruction (he was also aware the terms of the arrière ban did not apply to service outside the home province of the noble).

They highlighted if Montgommery captured Pontorson it would both allow for English landings on the mainland, but also enable him to menace Saint-Lô, Caen, Rennes, Dinan, Fougères, Le Mans and Angers.

The joint presence of the lieutenant-generals of Normandie eased any concerns Étampes might have had about overstepping his prerogatives, he made a great show of deferring to Matignon and involving him in his processes.

As with Poissy this failed to find any unity, however his aim was to show that coexistence was possible, clients of Rohan and Andelot were invited, who may have been tempted to join with their patrons in rebellion.

[225] In Aix, the Protestant members of the garrison disrupted a Catholic procession by throwing grains into the path it was to take, causing injury to the bare footed pilgrims.

[257] The presence of Spanish forces in Pamplona and Fuenterrabia served to dissuade another Protestant commander, the seigneur de Grammont, who headed Gascon infantry from proceeding north to join with Condé.

[250] Though the defeat of Duras left him uncontested in Guyenne, Monluc recognised that there was the potential for the conflict to be rekindled through outside encouragement, which he primarily saw as emanating from the queen of Navarre.

[270] In December, the comte de Candalle came before the parlement of Bordeaux, and made an appeal for the Catholics of the region to arm themselves and dispel the Protestants who would otherwise bring about the ruin of Catholicism.

[280] In Bas-Languedoc Nîmes, Saint-Gilles, Montpellier, Orange, Beaucaire, Béziers and Agde all expel the Catholic religion from their confines and embrace the Protestant rebellion.

[286] Nicoll highlights several further reasons for his decision to join the Protestant cause: a desire to protect his lands from attacks by Catholic nobles such as Saint-Vidal and prevent the damage to his honour by the assaults on his subjects.

The nobility of the Vivarais and urban delegates from Uzès, Montpellier, Nîmes, Alès, Viviers, Beaucaire, Florac, Pont-Saint-Esprit, Bagnols, Béziers, Les Vans, Mende, Castres and Agde were party to the agreement.

[309] It was agreed there would be no further monetary impositions on Languedoc due to the poverty of the province, focusing on continued liquidation of Catholic church land and export duties.

[357] After the successful preservation of the city at minimum 120 were subject to execution, including one of the capitouls Adhémar Mandinelli who had his severed head nailed to the entrance to the hôtel de ville.

[314] Monluc arrived in Toulouse in December and worked towards the furtherance of Catholic military ascendency in the city, meanwhile elections were held for a new premier président of the parlement and the office of sénéchal.

[361] One of the restored capitouls attempted to filibuster Armagnac's new plan for the guard, but the parlement ordered Catholic troops to seize the keys to the gates from the hôtel de ville in March.

[320][291] As late as 2 April, Protestant soldiers from Castres undertook a sortie alongside troops from Puylaurens that saw the capture of Buzet which afforded access to the capital of Quercy.

[366] Nemours ordered Saint-Chamond to capture the town again, and he returned with a sizable force during Saint-Martin's absence towards the start of January, completely destroying the walls and gate.

Lack of pay continued to endanger the towns security into March and according to the Histoire Ecclésiastique were it not for the captains closing the gates, soldiers may have abandoned Béziers.

[407] Romans attempted to avoid the imposition of a garrison by the Protestant conseil politique based in Valence on grounds of poverty and a desire to defend the town with their own citizens.

[95] By the end of the year, when there was dispute over the renewal of the cities consulate, a man named des Granges proposed the exclusion of Protestants from the office as 'people must be united in religion to exist in harmony and friendship'.

On 28 June he issued a command to 26 of the churches of the province, urging them to bring to him the soldiers they had raised in the month prior to Montélimar by 1 July, in addition to any other men capable of bearing arms.

On 17 March, Candalle presented a denunciation of the premier président of the Bordeaux parlement Lagebâton before the assembled body, while his armed supporters waited outside the chamber.

[434] A few days later, the Protestant noble the sieur de Pardaillan, and premier président of the Bordeaux parlement complained to Catherine that an association had formed for the carrying out of 'evil deeds'.