The persecution of the Huguenots in France, followed by the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, unleashed one of the largest migration waves of early modern Europe. Focusing on the fate of French Protestants who fled to the Dutch Republic, Experiencing Exile examines how Huguenot refugees dealt with the complex realities of living as strangers abroad, and how they seized upon religion and stories of their own past to comfort them in exile.
This volume provides an English translation of firsthand testimonies by three early modern French women. It illustrates the Huguenot experience of persecution and exile during the bloodiest times in the history of Protestantism: the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, the dragonnades, and the Huguenot exodus following the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The selections given here feature these women’s experiences of escape, the effects of religious strife on their families, and their reliance on other women amid the terrors of war. Edited by Colette H. Winn. Translated by Lauren King and Colette H. Winn The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe: The Toronto Series, Vol. 68
In this book, scholars of the Huguenot Refuge examine the situation of French Protestants before and after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in France and in the countries to which many of them fled during the great exodus which followed the Edict of Fontainebleau. Covering a period from the end of the 16th to the beginning of the 19th century, the book examines aspects of life in France, from the debate on church unity to funeral customs. Its primary focus is on the departure from France and its consequences, both before and after the Revocation. It offers insights into individuals and groups, from grandees - such as Henri de Ruvigny, depute general and later known as Earl of Galway - to converted Catholic priests, and from businessmen and communities choosing their destination for economic as well as religious reasons, to women and children moving across European frontiers or groups seeking refuge in the islands of the Indian Ocean. The information-gathering activities of the French authorities and the reception of problematic groups - such as the Camisard prophets among exile communities - are examined, as well as the significant contributions which Huguenots began to make in a variety of fields to the countries in which they had settled. The refugees were extremely interested in the history of their diaspora and of the individuals of which it was composed, and this theme too is explored. Finally, the Napoleonic period brought some of the refugees up against France in a more immediate way, raising further questions of identity and aspiration for the Huguenot community in Germany.
Huguenot refugees were everywhere in the early modern world. French Protestant exiles fleeing persecution following the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, they scattered around Europe, North America, the Caribbean, South Africa, and even remote islands in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The Global Refuge provides the first truly international history of the Huguenot diaspora. The story begins with dreams of Eden, as beleaguered religious migrants sought suitable retreats to build perfect societies far from the political storms of Europe. In order to build these communities, however, the Huguenots needed patrons, forcing them to navigate the world of empires. The refugees promoted themselves as the chosen people of empire, religious heroes who also possessed key skills that could strengthen the British and Dutch states. As a result, French Protestants settled around the world: they tried to make silk in South Carolina; they planted vineyards in South Africa; and they peopled vulnerable frontiers from New England to Suriname. This embrace of empire led to a gradual abandonment of the Huguenots' earlier utopian ambitions and ability to maintain their languages and churches in preparation for an eventual return to France. For over a century they learned that only by blending in and by mastering foreign institutions could they prosper. While the Huguenots never managed to find a utopia or to realize their imperial sponsors' visions of profits, The Global Refuge demonstrates how this diasporic community helped shape the first age of globalization and influenced the reception of future refugee populations.
These chapters explore how a religious minority not only gained a toehold in countries of exile, but also wove itself into their political, social, and religious fabric. The way for the refugees’ departure from France was prepared through correspondence and the cultivation of commercial, military, scholarly and familial ties. On arrival at their destinations immigrants exploited contacts made by compatriots and co-religionists who had preceded them to find employment. London, a hub for the “Protestant international” from the reign of Elizabeth I, provided openings for tutors and journalists. Huguenot financial skills were at the heart of the early Bank of England; Huguenot reporting disseminated unprecedented information on the workings of the Westminster Parliament; Huguenot networks became entwined with English political factions. Webs of connection were transplanted and reconfigured in Ireland. With their education and international contacts, refugees were indispensable as diplomats to Protestant rulers in northern Europe. They operated monetary transfers across borders and as fund-raisers, helped alleviate the plight of persecuted co-religionists. Meanwhile, French ministers in London attempted to hold together an exceptionally large community of incomers against heresy and the temptations of assimilation. This is a story of refugee networks perpetuated, but also interpenetrated and remade.
From the author of Louis XIV, an unprecedented history of the entire Huguenot experience in France, from hopeful beginnings to tragic diaspora. Following the Reformation, a growing number of radical Protestants came together to live and worship in Catholic France. These Huguenots survived persecution and armed conflict to win—however briefly—freedom of worship, civil rights, and unique status as a protected minority. But in 1685, the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes abolished all Huguenot rights, and more than 200,000 of the radical Calvinists were forced to flee across Europe, some even farther. In this capstone work, Geoffrey Treasure tells the full story of the Huguenots’ rise, survival, and fall in France over the course of a century and a half. He explores what it was like to be a Huguenot living in a “state within a state,” weaving stories of ordinary citizens together with those of statesmen, feudal magnates, leaders of the Catholic revival, Henry of Navarre, Catherine de’ Medici, Louis XIV, and many others. Treasure describes the Huguenots’ disciplined community, their faith and courage, their rich achievements, and their unique place within Protestantism and European history. The Huguenot exodus represented a crucial turning point in European history, Treasure contends, and he addresses the significance of the Huguenot story—the story of a minority group with the power to resist and endure in one of early modern Europe’s strongest nations. “A formidable work, covering complex, fascinating, horrifying and often paradoxical events over a period of more than 200 years…Treasure’s work is a monument to the courage and heroism of the Huguenots.”—Piers Paul Read, The Tablet
