The Collaborative International Dictionary
Edict \E"dict\, n. [L. edictum, fr. edicere, edictum, to declare, proclaim; e out + dicere to say: cf. F. ['e]dit. See Diction.] A public command or ordinance by the sovereign power; the proclamation of a law made by an absolute authority, as if by the very act of announcement; a decree; as, the edicts of the Roman emperors; the edicts of the French monarch.
It stands as an edict in destiny.
--Shak.
Edict of Nantes (French Hist.), an edict issued by Henry IV. (A. D. 1598), giving toleration to Protestants. Its revocation by Louis XIV. (A. D. 1685) was followed by terrible persecutions and the expatriation of thousands of French Protestants.
Syn: Decree; proclamation; law; ordinance; statute; rule; order; manifesti; command. See Law.
Wikipedia
The Edict of Nantes ( French: Édit de Nantes), signed probably on 30 April 1598, by King Henry IV of France, granted the Calvinist Protestants of France (also known as Huguenots) substantial rights in the nation, which was, at the time, still considered essentially Catholic. In the Edict, Henry aimed primarily to promote civil unity. The Edict separated civil from religious unity, treated some Protestants for the first time as more than mere schismatics and heretics, and opened a path for secularism and tolerance. In offering general freedom of conscience to individuals, the Edict offered many specific concessions to the Protestants, such as amnesty and the reinstatement of their civil rights, including the right to work in any field or for the State and to bring grievances directly to the king. It marked the end of the religious wars that had afflicted France during the second half of the 16th century.
The Edict of St. Germain promulgated 36 years before by Catherine de Médici had granted limited tolerance to Huguenots, but was overtaken by events, as it was not formally registered until after the Massacre of Vassy on 1 March 1562, which triggered the first of the French Wars of Religion.
The later Edict of Fontainebleau which revoked the Edict of Nantes in October 1685 by Louis XIV, the grandson of Henry IV, drove an exodus of Protestants, and increased the hostility of Protestant nations bordering France.
Usage examples of "edict of nantes".
He was certainly strong enough to revoke the Edict of Nantes in 1685 and outlaw Protestantism in France.
Did they think I would not learn about the revocation of the Edict of Nantes?
He was supposed to be a champion of religious toleration, but went no further in his anxiety to give the benefits of generous forbearance to dissenters than the restoration of the Edict of Nantes.
You will see that I shall be overwhelmed with petitions and pamphlets, demanding of me the revocation of the edict of Nantes.
This event may be likened to the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes.
Calvinists and, since the Edict of Nantes was revoked, we need converting.
It was his death that sparked the riots that lead to the Second Edict of Nantes, and eventually to the French Revolution.
Beneath a great tree in the neighborhood fell the German general, Duplat, descended from a French family which fled on the revocation of the Edict of Nantes.
Under a large tree near by fell the German general, Duplat, of a French family which fled on the revocation of the edict of Nantes.