Anyone any good at As level history???

Question

how important were economic and financial issues in France in contributing to the outbreak of the French Wars of Religion in 1562?

Answer 1

Religious and social factors were primary, but economic factors played a role. In France, as elsewhere in Europe, the Protestants were closely identified with the towns and with commerce/trading; conversely, the Guise and the royal family were more closely associated with the older feudal land order (note that this is separate from the political arena, in which Catherine strove for greater royal control.) Thus, the question of the loyalty of the southern towns remained an issue well after the wars--note that the destruction of their defenses was one part of the revocation of the E of N.