Politique Rulers

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As with any new monarch in Europe came with them profound changes on the policies and governing of that time period. This was especially true following the birth of the Protestant Reformation and religion. Rulers of the time period were pressed to follow the old ways of religion in Catholicism or embrace the revolutionary Lutheranism or Protestantism movements. A few intelligent, humane leaders decided to be neutral on this issue, and they were defined as the politiques. Elizabeth I, Henry of Navarre and William the Silent were all extraordinary rulers of their respective monarchies. Their tolerance of religion was revolutionary for the time period, and is how they all relate to the singular word, politique. Each had their own degree of tolerance for the opposing religion. Elizabeth I created her tolerant state by symbolic notions, Henry of Navarre was a boisterous ruler always looking to make his policies of tolerance known to his people, and William the Silent took the quiet approach with his inaction to religious persecution. Each of these rulers manifested a politique not only through their toleration of religion, but their varying degrees of tolerance.

Politique rulers were often more concerned with their people obeying the laws with which they laid out rather than what religion they were practicing. These rulers usually supported the religion they practiced, but they also tolerated the opposing religion in their land. Each ruler had a certain degree of tolerance with which they accepted the opposing religion. For Elizabeth I it was truly symbolic.

At the start of Elizabeth’s reign she began by making selections for her council. In her predecessor’s, Queen Mary’s, council was all staunch Catholics because Mary wanted all o...

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...te their own opinions, and that is what he let them do. He let his title of a politique ruler manifest him through silence, which differed tremendously from Henry of Navarre. He never spoke out and sort of just let things be (Harrison 40-42).

With any new monarch’s ascension to the throne, there comes with it changes in the policies of the country. From Elizabeth’s new council, to Henry’s documented polices and even to William the Silent’s inaction in response to threats were all policies that needed to be worked out by the new rulers. This group of rulers all had something in common; they chose to let their people make their religious preference solely on their beliefs but they all differed in their ways of letting this come about. This was monumental for the time period in which they lived, but it was something that needed to be done to progress national unity.

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