The concept of religious tolerance is not a new one. However, for most of Western history, the vast majority of leaders, and most of their subjects, have accepted the notion that a strong state requires religious conformity. The body politic, a social and political reflection of God's will, can only have one head and one faith. From this point of view, heterodox religious views are a kind of treason. But, of course, European religious belief and practice was not homogenous and leaders were forced to confront, and sometimes accommodate, the reality of religious diversity.

Keep this in mind as you review the boxed features on page 472 (The Hutterite Community) and page 517 (Tolerating Religious Diversity: The Edict of Nantes) of your textbook. When you're finished reviewing, take a look at the website of the Hutterian Brethren, a site devoted to issues relating to contemporary Hutterite communities in North America. Then take a look at the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, Louis XIV's reversal of Henry IV's policy. When you're done, consider the questions below.

1. How do contemporary Hutterites explain their own history? What do they see as the defining features of their religion and their communities? How might early modern Hutterites respond to the vision of faith and society espoused by their twenty-first century descendents?

2. To what extent was the Edict of Nantes an "experiment"? How successful was it? How did Louis XIV justify his decision to revoke the Edict?