The major changes experienced by France's cities over the period from the end of the middle ages to the eve of the Revolution are explored by six French and North American historians.

Contents:
1. French Cities From the Sixteenth Century to the Revolution: An Overview Philip Benedict, Brown University 2.Paris on the Eve of Saint Bartholomew: Taxation, Privilege, and Social Geography Robert Descimon, Centre Nationale de Recherche Scientifique, Paris 3. From Renaissance City to ancien regime Capital: Montpellier, c.1500-c.1600 Frederick M. Irvine 4. Consumers, commerce, and the craftsmen of Dijon: The Changing Social and Economic Structure of a Provincial Capital, 1450-1750 James R. Farr, Purdue University 5. The Artisans of Aix-en-Provence in the sixteenth century: A micro-analysis of social relationships Claire Dolan, Universite Laval, Quebec 6. Crown and Capitoulet: Municipal Government in Toulouse 1500-1789 Robert A. Shneider, Brandeis University 7. Economic Change, Demographic Growth and the Fate of Dauphine's Small Towns, 1698-1790 Rene Favier, Universite des Sciences Sociales de Grenoble

The year 2009 marked Calvin's 500th birthday. This volume collects papers initially written as the plenary addresses for the largest international scholarly conference held in connection with this anniversary, organized in Geneva by the Institute of Reformation History. The organizers chose as theme for the conference ''Calvin and His Influence 1509-2009, '' hoping to stimulate reflection about what Calvin's ideas and example have meant across the five centuries since his lifetime, as well as about how much validity the classic interpretations that have linked his legacy to fundamental features of modernity such as democracy, capitalism, or science still retain. In brief, the story that emerges from the book is as follows: In the generations immediately after Calvin's death, he became an authority whose writings were widely cited by leading ''Calvinist'' theologians, but he was in fact just one of several Reformed theologians of his generation who were much appreciated by these theologians. In the eighteenth century, his writings began to be far less frequently cited. Even in Reformed circles what was now most frequently recalled was his action during the Servetus affair, so that he now started to be widely criticized in those quarters of the Reformed tradition that were now attached to the idea of toleration or the ideal of a free church. In the nineteenth century, his theology was recovered again in a variety of different contexts, while scholars established the monument to his life and work that was the Opera Calvini and undertook major studies of his life and times. Church movements now claimed the label ''Calvinist'' for themselves with increasing insistence and pride. (The term had largely been a derogatory label in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.) The movements that identified themselves as Calvinist or were identified as such by contemporaries nonetheless varied considerably in the manner in which they drew upon and understood Calvin's thought. Calvin and His Influence should become the starting point for further scholarly reflection about the history of Calvinism, from its origin to the present.

The year 2009 marked Calvin's 500th birthday. This volume collects papers initially written as the plenary addresses for the largest international scholarly conference held in connection with this anniversary, organized in Geneva by the Institute of Reformation History. The organizers chose as theme for the conference ''Calvin and His Influence 1509-2009, '' hoping to stimulate reflection about what Calvin's ideas and example have meant across the five centuries since his lifetime, as well as about how much validity the classic interpretations that have linked his legacy to fundamental features of modernity such as democracy, capitalism, or science still retain. In brief, the story that emerges from the book is as follows: In the generations immediately after Calvin's death, he became an authority whose writings were widely cited by leading ''Calvinist'' theologians, but he was in fact just one of several Reformed theologians of his generation who were much appreciated by these theologians. In the eighteenth century, his writings began to be far less frequently cited. Even in Reformed circles what was now most frequently recalled was his action during the Servetus affair, so that he now started to be widely criticized in those quarters of the Reformed tradition that were now attached to the idea of toleration or the ideal of a free church. In the nineteenth century, his theology was recovered again in a variety of different contexts, while scholars established the monument to his life and work that was the Opera Calvini and undertook major studies of his life and times. Church movements now claimed the label ''Calvinist'' for themselves with increasing insistence and pride. (The term had largely been a derogatory label in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.) The movements that identified themselves as Calvinist or were identified as such by contemporaries nonetheless varied considerably in the manner in which they drew upon and understood Calvin's thought. Calvin and His Influence should become the starting point for further scholarly reflection about the history of Calvinism, from its origin to the present.

This book is the first modern study to examine the history of a single French community over the full course of the civil wars (1560 1600), and its account of local developments is enriched by frequent comparisons with events and conditions elsewhere in the country. An introductory chapter describes Rouen's economy, social structure and political institutions on the eve of the Wars of Religion. Successive chapters explore the rise and decline of Protestantism; the sociology of the faith; the causes and chronology of the popular violence which began to disturb the city after 1560; the roots of the militant Catholic movement of the Holy League; and the first signs of a renewal of Catholic religious life visible amid the agitation of the League. A concluding chapter seeks to show that many of the patterns visible in Rouen's history were also characteristic of communities throughout France, pointing the way to a reinterpretation of the Wars in which the actions and experience of the great mass of the population are given attention equal to that traditionally accorded to court elites and noble factions. The book will interest specialists in early modern history and particularly in the social, ecclesiastical, economic, demographic and political history of France in this period.