[Sidenote: 1558] When peace was signed at Cateau-Cambresis, [Sidenote: Peace of Cateau-Cambresis, 1559] France renounced all her conquests in the south, but kept the Three Bishoprics and Calais, all of which became her permanent possessions.
[Sidenote: Calvinism] {201} While France was thus expanding her borders, the internal revolution matured rapidly.

The last years of Francis and the reign of Henry II saw a prodigious growth of Protestantism.

What had begun as a sect now became, by an evolution similar to that experienced in Germany, a powerful political party.

It is the general fate of new causes to meet at first with opposition due to habit and the instinctive reaction of almost all minds against "the pain of a new idea." But if the cause is one suited to the spirit and needs of the age, it gains more and more supporters, slowly if left to itself, rapidly if given good organization and adequate means of presenting its claims.

The thorough canvassing of an idea is absolutely essential to win it a following.