Part 7/14:
François I, crowned in 1515, exemplified the Renaissance monarch, engaging in battles like Marignano (notably deadly, with 16,000 casualties), and supporting exploration with Jacques Cartier’s voyages to Canada (1534). The Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts (1539) modernized administration by establishing official use of French and the civil registry.
The French Wars of Religion (1562–1598) involved brutal clashes between Catholics and Protestants, culminating in the Edict of Nantes by Henry IV, advocating tolerance and granting religious rights to Protestants, thus bringing relative peace.