The Edict of Nantes (French: édit de Nantes) was an edict signed in April 1598 by King Henry IV of France that granted the Calvinist Protestants of France, also known as Huguenots, substantial rights in the nation, which was predominantly Catholic. While upholding Catholicism as the established religion, and requiring the re-establishment of Catholic worship in places it had lapsed, it granted certain religious tolerance to the Protestant Huguenots, who had been waging a long and bloody struggle for their rights in France. The Edict of Saint-Germain, promulgated 36 years earlier 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.

Key figuresHugh Capet of FranceLouis XIV of France