Contents
The Arthashastra, the ancient Indian textbook of statecraft attributed to Kautilya, knows four means of getting your way with others: sama, persuasion; dana, giving; bheda, division; and danda, the rod, or force. The idea behind them is to begin with the gentle means and to use the harsh ones last. Louis XIV’s policy toward the Huguenots shows all four stages of the Four Means, one after the other.
One king, one faith
Situation
Since the Edict of Nantes of 1598, the Huguenots, France’s Reformed Protestants, have been allowed to practice their faith openly in large parts of the country. Louis XIV rules in his own right from 1661. Under pressure from the clergy, he interprets the edict ever more narrowly from then on. His goal is religious unity in the kingdom.
Link to the principle
The goal is clear; the question is the means. A change of faith cannot simply be ordered, especially while the edict is still in force. Louis and his advisers therefore proceed in stages. It is precisely these stages that make the example instructive.
First stage: persuading
Situation
The Catholic clergy are charged with promoting conversion. Between 1670 and 1680, Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, Bishop of Meaux, leads the theological debate. He argues that the Reformation rests on protest against past abuses and on misunderstandings, and that the Reformed churches are divided while the Catholic Church is united. In 1668, Marshal Turenne converts to Catholicism after conversations with Bossuet. Some pastors convert as well.
Link to the principle
This is sama, persuasion. It is the cheapest means and the only one that creates genuine agreement. It reaches individuals, often educated ones. It hardly moves an entire religious community.
Second stage: giving
Situation
Starting in 1660, many societies for the propagation of the faith spring up, with houses for new converts. New Catholics receive social assistance and help with education and with building a home. Starting in 1676, Paul Pellisson, himself a convert, manages a dedicated conversion fund, which, starting in 1677, is topped up with additional church revenues. In Lyon, around 568 of some 1,600 Protestants convert between 1659 and 1685, among them many orphans, widows and poor people.
Link to the principle
This is dana, giving. It works above all on those who are economically weak. The Musée protestant concludes that the policy was, on the whole, not very successful. Money can make a change easier, but it rarely buys a conviction.
Third stage: dividing and excluding
Situation
At the same time, the edict is hollowed out step by step. Starting in 1664, Protestants are pushed out of most guilds, out of the medical professions and out of the book trade, and later out of municipal and legal offices too. More than 250 of around 700 Reformed churches are closed, some of them destroyed. Children as young as seven can validly convert. Those who convert are rewarded. Those who remain are increasingly isolated.
Link to the principle
This corresponds to bheda, division. The community is split into the rewarded and the disadvantaged. Each individual faces the choice of going down with the group or breaking away from it. In this way, the minority loses its cohesion.
Fourth stage: forcing
Situation
In 1681, René de Marillac, the intendant of Poitou, has dragoons billeted in Huguenot homes, probably with the backing of the war minister, Louvois. The soldiers plunder and mistreat their hosts until they renounce their faith. Within a few months, the priests record around 38,000 conversions. In 1685, the dragonnades are extended to large parts of the country. On October 18, 1685, Louis revokes the Edict of Nantes.
Link to the principle
This is danda, force. It produces the fastest numbers and the least effect. Many conversions remain outward only. Depending on the estimate, between 200,000 and more than 400,000 people flee, to England, the Netherlands and Brandenburg among other places; Brandenburg takes them in with the Edict of Potsdam of November 1685. France loses capable citizens and is left with a lasting stain.
Key takeaways
Key lessons
- Begin with the means that creates genuine agreement.
- Gifts make a change easier; they do not replace conviction.
- If you divide, you win individuals and lose the trust of the group.
- Force delivers fast numbers and poor results.
- Before each stage, ask yourself what it will cost in the long run.
Summary
Louis XIV wanted to bring the Huguenots to the Catholic faith. He began with polemics and preaching, then used money from a conversion fund, excluded those who held firm and finally sent dragoons into their homes. In doing so, he worked through all four means of the Arthashastra. The stages also show how the effect grew worse with each one: force produced submission and flight, but hardly any conviction.
Sources
museeprotestant.orgmuseeprotestant.orgde.wikipedia.orgde.wikipedia.orgmuseeprotestant.orgbritannica.com
- Kautilya: Arthashastra. Translated by Rudrapatna Shamasastry. Bangalore: Government Press 1915.
