From the 16th to the 18th century, Europe experienced various religious changes that had a huge impact on the religious state of Europe as a whole. It tested almost all leaders on their ability to conform or accept religious changes with the aim of tolerating them or to ignore any changes and not recognize them. Various European leaders have taken different approaches, with some leaders tolerating these new changes under certain conditions and others not practicing any form of tolerance. Some leaders were even willing to compromise on religious tolerance in order to maintain peace and unity among their citizens. During and after the Protestant Reformation, European thinkers and leaders believed that tolerance would be the right thing to do for the improvement of the situation. country and for their people. An excellent example of religious tolerance was the proclamation of the Edict of Nantes by King Henry IV of France. Since King Henry IV himself was a former Protestant and Protestants were a minority in France, he was able to pass this edict in an attempt to end ongoing religious conflicts between Catholics and Protestants. Although he may have granted them basic rights, they were required to “behave in other things as contained in this edict” (Doc 5). This shows that although he was willing to allow tolerance in his kingdom, he had to set certain conditions to try not to upset the Catholic majority. Another clear example of religious tolerance can be clearly seen by Voltaire, a French writer and philosopher. He states that “if only one religion were permitted in England, the government would very probably become arbitrary” (Doc 11). In other words, asking the government to declare a rel...... middle of paper ... makes it that much easier to harm us” (Doc 2). This shows that both sides were willing to compromise because they had no choice but to ally in order to defend themselves against a common enemy. Although the kingdoms mentioned above may not have wanted to compromise and allow religious tolerance, they did so because they were "forced" to and it was the only choice left to them . Religious tolerance throughout the 16th–18th centuries was in constant flux due to the Protestant Reformation and political conflicts between other kingdoms. Some leaders and thinkers believed that tolerance was the best opportunity for their people and would avoid civil wars, while other leaders thought the exact opposite. On the other hand, some were inevitably "forced" to compromise due to their circumstances and tolerance was a consequence of certain events..