French Religion

1 Pages 268 Words

Religion has played a major role in France’s storied history. The major religions of France are Catholicism, Protestantism, Judaism, and Islam.
During the 1500’s France went through a series of religious civil wars started from the Protestant reformation. The French Protestants were known as Huguenots, The Huguenots and the Catholics fought and by 1520 20% of the French population was Protestant. Many struggles between the Catholics and the Protestants continued, by 1560 the Queen of England allowed the Protestants to meet outside of the city for religious meetings, however both the Catholics and the Protestants viewed this as a sin. In 1562 the religious wars rise up again. The Catholics were hanged in Normandy and the Huguenots or Protestants were hanged in Paris. By 1594 the religious wars of France were over.
Catholicism has been the mainstream religion of France for years however during the first French revolution many people were angered at the Catholic Church. The church had taken on the form of a government and was corrupt; the Catholic Church had members in all branches of the French Parliament and was the largest land owner in France. During the war and afterward for a while the Catholic Church was driven underground and stripped of most of its property. The Catholic Church never regained the power over the government that it once held.
Today the French population identifies itself as 60% Catholic, 3% Protestant, 10% Islamic, and the rest is made up of Jews, Buddhists, and others. Today’s France is very tolerant of other religions much like the United States gives us the freedom to practice any religion....