great step taken by the Crown towards the destruction of the Huguenots as a political organisation. By it religious toleration was secured to them, but they were forbidden to hold political assemblies of any kind whatever. All fortifications recently raised by them were to be demolished, and La Rochelle and Montauban were to be for the future the only guaranteed towns. The victory of France over the Huguenots had results far more extended than appeared upon the surface. The restoration of civil order in the country naturally led to an attempt to restore personal harmony at court, and under the auspices of La Vieuville, who now exercised the chief influence in the ministry, a settlement of the questions still at issue between the king and his mother was effected. One of the conditions of this settlement was the entry of Richelieu into the royal council. From that day a new era dawned for France. CHAPTER III THE COUNTER-REFORMATION AND RELIGIOUS TROUBLES IN GERMANY Causes of the Counter-Reformation--The weakness of Protestantism--The revival in the Church--The influence of the Jesuits--Beginning of the Counter-Reformation in Poland, in Germany, in the Austrian dominions--Questions still unsettled in Germany, the position of the Calvinists, the secularised lands, the ecclesiastical reservation--Dangerous position of the Calvinists of the Rhineland--The troubles of Donauwörth--Formation of the Calvinist Union and the Catholic League--Constitutional difficulties between the Emperor and the Bohemians--Revolt of the Bohemian Protestants--The throwing from the windows. [Sidenote: =Causes of the Counter-Reformation.=] The reaction against Protestantism in Europe began to make itself felt in the concluding years of the sixteenth century. Like all great movements in the religious, as in the political, sphere, it owed its existence to many complex causes. To some extent racial distinctions asserted themselves. The Romance-speaking nations and the Sclavonic peoples, roughly speaking, after a moment of hesitation declared plainly against Protestantism. To a larger extent political reasons dictated the attitude of governments, and governments were able to do much towards defining the religion of their subjects. The determined stand made by Spain in defence of Catholicism was greatly affected by the ambition of Philip II. to make himself master of Europe. The effective opposition to the domination of Spain offered by Elizabeth was far more due to zeal for the independence and commercial prosperity of England than to differences of faith. The final resolve of France to remain distinctly Catholic was, as we have seen, due to the fact that she prized her unity before everything, and the Huguenots were the party of disruption. [Sidenote: =Inherent weakness of Protestantism.=]