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universal Church, he was recognized as having received his powers directly from God, implying
he had complete authority to rule all Christians. 50
Prior to the 1980s most studies of the Catholic Reformation in France took a theological
approach to the subject. Scholars viewed the reform effort as the papacy’s attempt to implement
throughout Catholic Europe the decrees established at the Council of Trent. 51 Although the
declarations were never officially adopted in France, scholars have studied their Gallic reception
through the acts of groups sympathetic to the decrees. The theological approach to these matters
focuses on contemporary religious theory and practice. Scholarship dating to the last twenty
years has explored the Catholic Reformation through social and cultural issues that analyze the
movement’s impact on the populace. 52 Works by authors such as Barbara Diefendorf and
Elizabeth Rapley, which examine the efforts of specific groups such as women and the dévots,
capture a better sense of the period, focusing on those agents that were actually affecting reform
rather than concentrating on official doctrines of the Church. 53
The French kingdom’s first encounter with the reform movement was negligible. The
Council of Trent was intended to include clergy from all of Catholic Europe, but no delegates
from France attended the first two meetings because they took place in Trent, a town located
within the border of the Holy Roman Empire. 54 François I in 1545 and then Henri II in 1551,
who were both engaged in wars with the Empire, feared that by having the council meet in an
imperial city, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V would have an unfair advantage with the
papacy. Several French bishops were able to attend the last council meeting, which took place in
1562. The Wars of Religion had started by this time, meaning that the French crown, in its
efforts to appease both sides of the religious conflict, allowed the clergy to participate in the
council.
Upon completion of the meetings, the main goal of the attendees was to implement the
decrees. To become law in France, they first had to be ratified by the king, then approved by the
courts, and finally put into practice by the clergy. The rulers of France, however, refused to
receive the decrees for several reasons, including fear of worsening relations with the Protestants
and the unwillingness of Rome to compromise on certain issues. In fact as part of Henri IV’s
requirement to receive absolution, he had promised Pope Clement VIII that he would make the
decrees part of French law, but he neglected to do so after being forgiven. 55 As Alain Tallon
points out one of the most important reasons for not allowing the decrees was their infringement
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