The Society for the History
of French Protestantism

Of what use is the history of Protestantism ? Since one hundred fifty years, the Society of the History of French Protestantism (SHPF) has never avoided the question but it has not answered it either. Instead, it has kept it open and has thus made it more stimulating.

The House of Protestantism
in Charentes

The House of Protestantism in Charentes was created in 1994 and it was set up as a memorial to the history of Protestantism in Aunis and Saintonge.

Saint-Hippolyte-du-Fort House (Dugas Foundation)

The Huguenot memorial
in Ile Sainte-Marguerite

Along with the Castle of If, in Marseilles, the Tower of Constance, in Aigues-Mortes, and the Fort of Brescou, in Agde, the fort on the île Sainte-Marguerite is one of the four royal prisons on the Mediterranean coast.

The Châtillon-Coligny Museum

This museum is situated in the former local hospital and here you can find an exhibition on the Coligny family and the French Protestants in the XVIth century.

The French Protestant Museum of the West of France

12 kilometers south-west of Pouzauges, in “Le Bois Tiffrais” (or Tiffray), in the commune of Monsireigne, the Société d’histoire du protestantisme français has set up a museum in a building which has nearly always been in the hands of protestants since the XVIth century. It was redesigned as a “French château” at the end of the XIXth century.

Museum of the Cevenol Valleys

In this traditionally deeply protestant region, this hostile environment has had its effect on the local inhabitants : farmers here had to be tough, uncompromising, brave and with great willpower to overcome obstacles and difficulties if they were to survive. The Bible has always been their source of inspiration, strength and happiness.

The Désert museum

The “Désert” period in French Protestantism lasted from the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes by Louis XIIV (1685) to the Edict of Tolerance (1787), when Louis XVI restored civil rights to all non-catholics. It was a period when the protestants resisted pressure against them to convert to catholicism – at the beginning they took to arms (the Camisard revolt), but later they rejected the idea of violent combat, choosing instead a pacifist attitude. It was a dangerous time for them and crucial for the survival of their faith in France.

The House of Protestantism
in Poitou

Since 1987, The House of Protestantism in Poitou, in the Inter-regional Park of the Marais Poitevin, has been a useful source of information abut the history of protestantism in Poitou and its effect on the economy and culture of the area.

Protestant Museum of the Dauphiné

The protestant museum of the Dauphiné is situated in a XV^th century building which became a temple two centuries later. Together with the temple of Collet de Dèze in Lozère, it is unusual in the fact that it was not pulled down at the time of the Revocation. Le Poet-Laval is a picturesque medieval village, a military post belonging to the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, who joined the Reform Movement in the XVI^th century.

Musée du protestantisme
de Ferrières

Fondé en 1968, installé en 2010 dans ses nouveaux murs, le Musée de Ferrières a une double ambition qui fait son originalité.

Museum of Protestantism in the Vivarais region

The Museum of Protestantism in the Vivarais can be found in a XVth century fortified building, built in the Boutières style typical of the Ardèche, and classified as a historical site. It is in a little hamlet called Bouschet de Pranles (on the D2 between Privas and Les Ollières-sur-Eyrieux, and signposted from the Moulin à vent pass.)

International Museum
of the Reformation (Geneva)

An interactive introduction to Protestantism from the XVIth to the XXIst century

Jean Calvin museum

Noyon is one of the largest historical cities in the north of France, situated 100km north of Paris. From 531 onwards it was a bishop’s see, (the first bishop was called Saint Médard). Between 641 and 660, Noyon was evangelised by Saint Eloi, whose remains are buried under the altar of the cathedral. This is one of the oldest gothic cathedrals in France and some parts of it date back to the XIIth century.

Jean-Frédéric Oberlin Museum

The subject of the Oberlin museum is Jean-Frédéric Oberlin (1740-1826), a pastor noted for his new approach to agriculture and teaching. He was also a forerunner of social Christianity.

Jeanne d’Albret Museum,
the history of Protestantism
in Béarn

Pierre Bayle Museum

The protestant Museum
in the Wassy barn

On the 1^st March 1562, the Duc de Guise went to celebrate mass in Wassy and on his way back, forced open the doors of the barn where a thousand unarmed protestants were holding a religious service. The troops of the Duc de Guise killed at least a hundred men, women and children.

Museum of protestant history in La Rochelle

This museum was funded in 1931 by the pastor Samuel Eynard and entirely renovated in 1995. It is now installed in rooms near the temple looking out onto an inner garden. There is a large collection of documents, engravings and various objects which tell us about protestant history in Aunis and Saintonge.

The Huguenot history association of Ardèche

Patrimoine huguenot d’Ardèche, a historical association of Protestantism in the Vivarais region, (which comes under the 1901 law controlling all associations in France), has been giving information about the history of Protestantism in Ardèche since 1995.

Société d’études
du méthodisme français

Des millions de personnes de par le monde suivent encore les méthodes de John Wesley, qui est considéré par beaucoup comme un grand réformateur et qui a dit : « Ma paroisse, c’est le monde entier. »

Albert Schweitzer’s House
in Gunsbach

Société de l’histoire
du protestantisme
dans la vallée de la Dordogne

La Société de l’histoire du protestantisme dans la vallée de la Dordogne (SHPVD), créée en 1994, est un centre d’archives, de renseignements et une bibliothèque. Elle est située à Sainte-Foy-la-Grande (Gironde).

Sur les pas des Huguenots

Du Poët-Laval (Drôme) à Bad Karlshafen (Allemagne), en passant par Genève, un itinéraire culturel européen marche sur les traces de l’exil des Huguenots dauphinois, au lendemain de la révocation de l’édit de Nantes.