Abstract
Cuius regio, eius religio', here is the idea that has lead French politics for more than a thousand years. Indeed, before the Revolution in 1789, catholic religion was deeply involved in the political systems, whether it was at the level of royal power or at the level of high local powers. Church did have an effective administration, it could raise taxes and even deal out justice, which included the judgement of crimes, and above all, give punishments, which were quite cruel. Actually, the Church was a State within the country. It was not really a problem during the Middle-Ages, but from the moment royal powers tried to unify and control their territory, by creating a strong administration, they encountered lots of conflicts with the former administration.
