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During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, politiques (French pronunciation: [pɔlitik]) were Western European statesmen who prioritized the strength of the state above all other organs of society, including religion. During the French Wars of Religion, this included moderates of both religious faiths (Huguenots and Catholics) who held that the country could only be saved by the restoration of a strong monarchy which rose above religious differences. The term politique often had a pejorative connotation of moral or religious indifference, especially after 1568 in contrast with the radical Catholic League calling for the eradication of Protestantism in France. By 1588 the politiques were seen by pious detractors as a faction more pernicious than heretics.
Similar clashes emerged during the same period in the Netherlands and England.