empirical evidence
Michel de L'Hopital, chancellor France between 1560 and 1568, pursued a policy of coexistence of Catholics and Protestants during the religious wars, by granting the latter limited toleration. But he was more than a lonely apostle of toleration. His idea of religious toleration was not so much the outcome of philosophical reflections the result of his keen understanding of the desperate financial situation of the kingdom and his strong wish for peace and order.