Huguenots

The Huguenots were French Reformed Protestants who followed the teachings of John Calvin. The term Huguenots was first coined as a Catholic insult, but it was adopted by French Protestants in the 18th century as a badge of honor. The precise origins of the name are uncertain. Some scholars have suggested it derives from the German word Eidgenossen (confederates bound together by an oath), while others believe the term originated in Tours, where, according to local legend, the spirit of the malevolent King Hugues roamed the city at night. Because Protestants initially assembled in secret under cover of darkness, they were dubbed Huguenots. The history of the Huguenots begins in the 1540s, when Calvin’s teachings found a receptive audience in France, especially among artisans, merchants, and the nobility. They established a formal church structure based on the Genevan consistorial system, with consistories responsible for local church affairs, while also setting up national synods for settling doctrinal affairs. By 1560 the Huguenot movement had gained over 1.5 million followers, particularly in cities and the crescent of provinces stretching from Poitou along the Atlantic coast, across Languedoc in the south, and into Dauphiné. Growing tensions between Protestants and Catholics sparked a series of civil wars known as the French Wars of Religion (1562–1598). The conflict ended when, in 1598, King Henry IV issued the Edict of Nantes, which formalized a regime of religious coexistence by allowing Protestants to worship alongside Catholics, while also granting Huguenots civil rights and military autonomy. During the rule of King Louis XIV, however, the Huguenots came under increasing pressure to convert and had many of their rights annulled. In 1685 the king revoked the Edict of Nantes and forced the Huguenots to convert to Catholicism through brutal persecution. The Revocation provoked one of the largest migration waves of the early modern period, as an estimated 150,000 Huguenots fled to Switzerland, Germany, the Dutch Republic, the British Isles, and the American colonies, forming a transnational diaspora that is often referred to as the Refuge. Although the history of the Huguenots has long been written as a heroic story of ongoing persecution, in recent years scholars have begun to paint a more nuanced picture of the Huguenot movement, exploring the many religious, cultural, social, and political aspects of this important Protestant minority in early modern Europe.

Récupéré en direct depuis OpenAlex et désinversé. Les résumés ne sont pas conservés dans cette base de données : les index inversés représentent 8,6 Go des 9,3 Go de texte de la base, et le serveur dispose de 13 Go libres.