Decompression, 1535-1539

The period of détente lasted about four years. This does not signify a change in attitude toward heresy on the part of either the crown or Parlement. On the contrary, it means that their policies were in agreement. No new issues of contention, analogous to the Berquin case, surfaced in these years. The leading reformers were now in exile and Marguerite (de Navarre, since 1527) herself had been obliged to withdraw into silence. The pré-réforme was over. The lull coincided with the brief "liberal" period of the Roman Catholic reform, when the small group of cardinals who sought to heal the

breach with the Lutherans—under the leadership of Gasparo Contarini—drew up a proposal to reform the Church, at the request of Paul III.^[38]

A brief pause in the relentless development of repressive machinery in France was noticeable, especially in Paris. Languedoc continued to be riddled with heresy. The Parlement of Toulouse, which had the reputation of being the most intolerant of the sovereign courts, obtained a royal edict that authorized it to initiate repressive measures against heretics without waiting for royal leadership. In 1539 another edict extended this option to all royal courts and officers above a certain rank.^[39]