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How did the Edict of Nantes give the Huguenots military power?

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Full-length portrait of Cardinal Richelieu by Philippe de Champaigne, showing him in red clerical robes holding a red book, standing beside a balustrade with a draped curtain behind. — Cardinal Richelieu As both statesman and churchman, Cardinal Richelieu was the acknowledged architect of France's greatness in the 17th century. In 1640, when this full-length portrait was painted (likely by Philippe de Champaigne), he was embroiled in a dispute with the pope and other religious controversies along with many other consequences of expanding French power across Europe. He would die two years later, facing conspiracies against his life and suffering ill health.

The Edict of Nantes, promulgated by Henry IV in 1598, granted the Huguenots significant military power by allowing them to retain control over the fortified towns and strongholds they held as of August 1597. These locations, known as places de sûreté, functioned as military garrisons, with the king providing the funds necessary for their maintenance for an eight-year period.1

This arrangement effectively created a "state within a state," as the Huguenots maintained their own military force and civil government in these major centers. Cardinal de Richelieu viewed these military and political clauses as a direct threat to the authority of the French state. Consequently, he worked to dismantle this power, eventually stripping the Huguenots of their military advantages through the Peace of Alès in 1629 following the siege of La Rochelle.21