The Counts of Laval Culture, Patronage and Religion in Fifteenth- and Sixteenth-century France

The Lavals were one of the most important families in late medieval France, rising to a position of unsurpassed eminence by the mid sixteenth century when all was put at risk by the dual challenges of dynastic failure and the Reformation. This monograph offers a fresh look at several of the critical questions facing historians of late medieval and early modern France. It re-examines the patronage of a rising and enterprising family and provides a new insight into the nature of noble Protestantism. It also considers the events of wars of religion in western France from the perspective of a noble leadership that simultaneously played a vital role in sustaining the cause and undermining it.