France

History

France has been traditionally called the “eldest daughter of the Church” because of its strong Catholic tradition. This history has been marked by the conversion of King Clovis in 496, the king who became Saint Louis in 1297, the patron saint Joan of Arc (who played a decisive role in the French victory against Britain, and in the restoration of the monarchy, during the Hundred Years' War in the 15th century), and the consecration of France to Our Lady (the Virgin Mary) by Louis XIII in 1638. In addition, France housed official papal residences during the 14th and 15th centuries (the Papacies of Avignon); Avignon was home to both popes and antipopes (simultaneous with the contested popes of Rome, after a schism). Ecumenical councils of the Catholic Church also took place in France from the 4th to the 19th century.

The religious history of France has not been without conflict. French Catholics indeed experienced difficulties, due to politico-religious debates (e.g., the Jansenist debate and the banishment of Jesuits in 1763) or anticlericalism (e.g., the prosecution and the dissolution of the order of the Assumptionists, who were exiled in 1900). In the 13th century, a debate about the heresy of the Cathars led to political and religious repression, with the inquisition conferred on the Dominican Order of Preachers. Later, French Protestants (Walloons, Huguenots, and Camisards) were the main victims of religious persecution, with an escalation of violence during the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre (1572) and after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685).

The presence of Jews has been significant throughout French history, with Bordeaux as an important site for Jewish commercial and religious activity. Many major French authors, including Michel de Montaigne and Marcel Proust, were Jewish or part Jewish. There has, however, been significant persecution of Jews in France: Jews were banished from France in the 12th and 14th centuries and deported during World War II.

Muslims have been present in France since the eighth century. They contributed to the early French universities, especially in Montpellier and Paris, in philosophy (Averroism), medicine, astronomy, and sciences in general.

Separation of Church and State

Church and state are separated in France according to the principle of secularity (laïcité). As a heritage of the Bologna Concordat of 1516, of the French Revolution, and of the concordat of 1801, [Page 411]the separation is now legally framed by the law of 1905, which states that