The Rise and Fall of Renaissance France: 1483–1610

In the new edition of this fascinating history, R. J. Knecht clearly and authoritatively describes the rise and fall of France in the sixteenth century. Drawing on more than forty years of research into primary and secondary sources, he combines narrative with analysis, whilst also reflecting on the cultural, economic and social contexts in which events occurred. Now updated to take account of new research in the USA, Britain and France since 1996, this is the most comprehensive and balanced history of sixteenth–century France availbale in English. For the revised edition the bibliography has also been brought up to date to ensure that the book remains indispensable reading for anyone interested in French history and culture, or Renaissance and Reformation Europe.

Note on Coinage and Measures. Map of France (1500). Map of France (1585–98). Preface to the Second Edition. Preface to the First Edition. 1. France in 1500. 2. The Minority Rule of Charles VIII (1483–94). 3. Charles VIII and the Italian Wars (1494–8). 4. Louis XII, ′Father of the people′ (1498–1515). 5. The Church in Crisis. 6. Francis I: The First Decade (1515–25). 7. The New Learning and Heresy (1483–1525). 8. Defeat, Captivity and Restoration (1525–7). 9. War and Peace (1527–38). 10. The Court and Patronage of Francis I. 11. Francis I: The Last Decade (1537–47). 12. The Absolutism of Francis I. 13. Henry II, the Victor of Metz (1547–52). 14. The Arts and Literature under Henry II. 15. Henry II: The Tragic Peace (1553–9). 16. France Overseas. 17. The Mid–Century Crisis. 18. The Failure of Conciliation (1559–62). 19. The First Civil War (1562–3). 20. The Fragile Peace (1563–6). 21. The Second and Third Civil Wars (1566–70). 22. The St Bartholomew′s Day Massacres (1572). 23. Literary Responses. 24. Fraternal Discord (1573–83). 25. Henry III and his Court. 26. The Catholic League (1584–92). 27. The Triumph of Henry IV (1593–1610). Conclusion. Bibliography and References. Glossary. Genealogies. Index.

R. J. Knecht is Emeritus Professor of French History and a Fellow of the Institute for Advanced Research in the Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Birmingham. A Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a member of the Société de l′Histoire de France, he has been Chairman of the Society for Renaissance Studies and of the Society for the Study of French History. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the Centre for the Study of the Renaissance at the University of Warwick. He has published extensively in the field of French history, and his Renaissance Warrior and Patron: The Reign of Francis I (1994) recently appeared in a revised French edition under the title, Un prince de la Renaissance: François Ier et son royaume (1998).

"Knecht has created a synthesis of the most up–to–date research . . . and at the same time restored narrative to history." The late J. Russell Major <!––end––> "The book deserves to establish itself as the standard account in English of this most complicated of centuries in French History." Sir John Elliott, Regius Professor Emeritus of Modern History, University of Oxford (of the last edition)