HUGUENOTS

Huguenots a term of unknown origin, applied by the Roman Catholics to the Protestants of France during the religious struggles of the 16th and 17th centuries. During the early part of the 16th century the doctrines of Calvin, notwithstanding the opposition of Francis I, spread widely in France. Under his successor Henry II., 1547-59, the Protestant party grew strong, and under Francis II. became a political force headed by the Bourbon family, especially the King of Navarre and the Prince of Condé. At the head of the Catholic party stood the Guises, and through their influence with the weak, young king, a fanatical persecution of the Huguenots commenced. The result was that a Huguenot conspiracy, headed by Prince Louis of Condé, was formed for the purpose of compelling the king to dismiss the Guises and accept the Prince of Condé as regent of the realm. But the plot was betrayed, and many of the Hugnenots were executed or imprisoned. In 1560 Francis died, and during the minority of the next king, Charles IX., it was the policy of the queen mother, Catharine de Medici, to encourage the Protestants in the free exercise of their religion in order to curb the Guises. But in 1562 an attack on a Protestant meeting made by the followers of the Duke of Guise commenced a series of religious wars which desolated France almost to the end of the century. Catharine, however, began to fear that Protestantism might become a permanent power in the country, and suddenly making an alliance with the Guises between them they projected and carried out the massacre of St. Bartholomew's (August 25, 1572). The Protestants fled to their fortified towns and carried on a war with varying success. On the death of Charles IX, Henry III., a feeble sovereign, found himself compelled to unite with the King of Navarre, head of the house of Bourbon and heir-apparent of the French crown, against the ambitious Guises, who openly aimed at the throne, and had excited the people against him to such a degree that he was on the point of losing the crown. After the assassination of Henry III. the King of Navarre was obliged to maintain a severe struggle for the vacant throne; and not until he had, by the advice of Sully, embraced the Catholic religion (1593), did he enjoy quiet possession of the kingdom as Henry IV. Five years afterwards he secured to the Huguenots their civil rights by the Edict of Nantes, which confirmed to them the free exercise of their religion, and gave them equal claims with the Catholics to all offices and dignities. They were also left in possession of the fortresses which had been ceded to them for their security. This edict afforded them the means of forming a kind of republic within the kingdom, which Richelieu, who regarded it as a serious obstacle to the growth of the royal power, resolved to crush. The war raged from 1624 to 1629, when Rochelle, after an obstinate defence, fell before the royal troops; the Huguenots had to surrender all their strongholds, although they were still allowed freedom of conscience under the ministries of Richelieu and Mazarin. But when Louis XIV. and Madame de Maintenon set the fashion of devoutness, a new persecution of the Protestants commenced. They were deprived of their civil rights, and bodies of dragoons were sent into the southern provinces to compel the Protestant inhabitants to abjure their faith. The Edict of Nantes was revoked in 1685, and by this act more than 500,000 Protestant subjects were driven out to carry their industry, wealth, and skill to other countries. In the reign of Louis XV. a new edict was issued repressive of Protestantism, but so many voices were raised in favour of toleration that it had to be revoked. The revolution first put the Protestants on an equality with their Catholic neighbours.