Legal harassment (1661-1685)
Under pressure from the clergy, and so as to force Protestants to conversion, Louis XIV implemented the Edict of Nantes in a more and more restricted way. Hence the term...
The conversion policy (1660-1685)
While the edict was “rigorously” enforced, the Catholic Church used peaceful means to prompt Protestants to convert. These included the proposal of financial means.
The Protestant education in the 16th century
Secular and religious education was a priority for Reformers. All over Europe new schools and catechisms appeared in the wake of the Reformation.
Charles Mallet (1815-1902)
Charles Mallet is first an associate, then the chairman of the Protestant bank Mallet Frères & Cie which plays a major role in industrial development both in France and abroad...
Louis Du Guernier (1614-1659)
Louis du Guernier was born in a Reformed Church family several members of which were artists, but he was the best known. He was deeply religious but also had a...
The secret meetings
Long before the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, freedom of worship for Protestants was already being questioned. Following the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, three quarters...
The “Dragonnades” (1681-1685)
A “Dragonnade” was the forced lodging of dragoons, the king’s soldiers, in Huguenot homes. The latter were looted and mistreated until they renounced their faith.
The “Gobelins”
The name “Gobelins” represented many things ; an area in Paris, a tapestry workshop, but also, from the Protestant point of view, a family belonging to the Reformed faith and a...
Paul-Henri Marron (1754-1832)
Paul-Henri Marron came from a Huguenot family which had sought refuge in the Low Countries. He was the first pastor of the Reformed Church in Paris.
The anti-Reform policy (1661-1685)
In order to implement his policy of restricting the “allegedly Reformed religion”, King Louis XIV first resorted to legal, peaceful means and then to force.
Repression and persecution of the Reformed Church (1685-1700)
After the Edict of Nantes (1685), the recalcitrant Protestants were severely repressed.
Henri de Rohan (1574-1638)
Henri de Rohan, a protestant from Brittany, had the privilege of being protected by Henri IV, and at the king’s death he became the leader of the reformed protestants in...
The sentences imposed on Protestants
The Edict of Fontainebleau (1685) and various decrees of 1686 imposed penalties on Protestants.
Sentenced to the galleys
Roughly 550 galley-rowers spent up to thirty years of their life in galleys for refusing to renounce their faith.
The prison sentence
Women and children that were too young to serve as galley-rowers were sent to prison. However, many men were kept in prison for long periods of time, some before they...
The Lausanne Theological Seminary (1726-1812)
The seminary in Lausanne was started at the instigation of Antoine Court. Its purpose was to train those called to the ministry in France during the “Desert” period.