Do You Have Huguenot Ancestors in Your Ancestry?

Between 5,000 and 7,000 Huguenots andOn January 19, 1536 a general edict was issued in
Walloons (French speaking protestants fromFrance which encouraged the extermination of
Wallonia, in the South part of Belgium) came tothe French Protestants. These Protestants called
America between 1618 and 1725. At least four ofthemselves "reformees" (reformers). By 1550,
these became a part of my ancestry. If you hadwhen the first church based on John Calvin's
ancestors arriving in America during this period ofteachings was established in a home in Paris, they
time, you too are likely to find one or morewere being called Huguenots, a name which has
huguenots in your family history.continued to be used to describe them until this
The migration of the Huguenots and Walloons today.
America might not have occurred had it not beenGeneral persecution continued after the edict of
for the persecution of the French Protestants by1536 but the movement prospered and by 1561
the Catholic Church and the government ofthere were 2,000 Calvinist Churches in France and
France. This article describes the social and politicalthe Huguenots had become a political faction that
environment in which these ancestors of oursseemed to threaten the state. The antipathy
lived.toward the Huguenots created an atmosphere of
Human atrocities throughout history have morehate that led to the Massacre at Vassy, France
frequently been the rule than the exception.on March 1, 1562 of 1,200 Huguenots. This
Burning at the stake, impalement on sharp stakes,triggered the Wars of Religion which lasted from
disemboweling, beheading, and "quartering" were1562 to 1598.
common during much of European history.Persecution of the Huguenots continued and in
Royalty killed Royalty and commoners killedAugust, 1572, 8,000 Huguenots were killed in one
commoners. No one was safe.night at the St. Batholomew Massacre. This
Violence and warfare in some of its mostoccurred in Paris at the wedding of Henry of
atrocious forms was frequently associated withNavarre (later to rule as Henry IV) where
religious movements. The distinction betweenthousands of Huguenots had come to celebrate
state, religion, and society during the 1500's andhis wedding.. Catherine de Medici, who violently
thereafter was not made in people's minds andhated the Huguenots, had persuaded her son
experiences. Prior to that, for approximately aCharles IX to order the mass murder. She
1000 years religion had formed the basis for apersonally inspected the carnage on Sunday, the
social consciousness that pervaded the thinking of24th of August in 1572. Pope Gregory XIII
royalty and commoners.ordered bonfires and celebrations in Rome, when
France in particular had tied itself closely to thenews of the massacre reached him on the 2nd of
Catholic Church. The Church sanctified theSeptember, 1572.
monarchy's right to rule in return for military andWhen Henry IV became ruler, he signed the Edict
civil protection. "One faith" was consideredof Nantes on April 13, 1598, ending the Wars of
essential to maintain societal stability andReligion and establishing 20 specified French "free"
innovation was frowned upon and not generallycities where the Huguenots were allowed to
acceptable. Even the Renaissance period had topractice their faith. This official support soon
be justified as a return to a simple, purer timeended upon the murder in 1610 of Henry IV.
rather than as change.Cardinal Richelieu began a siege of the Huguenot
After the Protestant Reformation that had beenfree cities which resulted in their last stronghold of
started by Martin Luther about 1517 in GermanyLa Rochelle falling to Richelieu in 1629.
took hold, it spread rapidly in France. The FrenchWidespread persecution of the Huguenots again
Protestants gradually left the Lutheran teachingsbegan in earnest and under Louis XIV (1643-1715)
and adapted the teaching of the Reformedthe Edict of Nantes was finally revoked on the
Church, established in 1550 by John Calvin. This22nd of October, 1685. Louis XIV stated a policy
reformed religion was practiced by both membersof "one faith, one law, and one king" and the end
of the French nobility and the social middle classresult was the destruction and burning of
who were for the most part artisans, craftsmen,Protestant churches and homes, and many
and professional people. Their belief in salvationHuguenots being burned at the stake.
through an individual faith that did not rely on theIn spite of emigration being declared illegal,
intercession of the church hierarchy, and an200,000 or more French Huguenots fled the
individual's right to personally interpret scripturescountry, going to Switzerland, Germany, England,
put them in direct conflict with the Catholic churchAmerica, and South Africa.
and the King of France.