Some specific characteristics of the legal discourse in the French royal decrees during the religious conflicts of the 16th century

Rozhkova Serafima D.

The paper analyzes the legal discourse in the French royal edicts during the period of religious strives between Catholics and Protestants in the 16th century. This discourse is already marked by several characteristic features by that time. We can assert that the legal language functions in renaissance legislative acts according to special stylistic and lexical norms. Although, in case the civil law begins to regulate the religious issues, the king promotes the anti-Protestant decrees with several deviations from the traditional legal discourse. So, as the study shows, these atypical new features are borrowed from the discourse of canon law and popes’ decrees.

Keywords:Protestantism, 16th century, legal discourse, law, royal decree, nomination