HUGUENOTS, the name given from about the middle of the 16th century to the Protestants of France. According to Henri Estienne (Apologie d'Herodote, 1566), the word is a nickname. The Protestants at Tours, he says, used to assemble by night near the gate of King Hugo, whom the people regarded as a spirit. A monk, therefore, in a sermon declared that the Lutherans ought to be called Huguenots, as kinsmen of King Hugo, inasmuch as they would only go out at night as he did. This name became popular from 156o onwards.
The French reform movement has often been regarded as an offshoot of Lutheranism, and up to the middle of the century its adherents were known as Lutherans. But it should not be for gotten that so early as 1512 Jacobus Faber (q.v.) of Staples pub lished his Santi Pauli Epistolae xiv . . . cum commentariis, which enunciates the cardinal doctrine of reform, justification by faith, and that in 1523 appeared his French translation of the New Testament. As early as 1525 Jacques Pavannes, the hermit of Livry, and shortly afterwards Louis de Berquin, the first martyrs, were burned at the stake. But no persecution could stop the Re form movement, and on the walls of Paris and even at Amboise, on the very door of Francis I.'s bedroom, there were found placards condemning the mass • On Jan. 29, 1535, an edict was published ordering the extermination of the heretics and re sulting in a general emigration. Three years later the first French Protestant church, composed of 1,500 refugees, was founded at Strasbourg.
Of all these exiles the most famous was John Calvin (q.v.), the future leader of the movement, who fled to Basle, where he is said to have written the famous 1 nstitutio christianae religionis, preceded by a letter to Francis I. in which he pleaded the cause of the reformers. The first Protestant community in France was that of Meaux (1546) organized on the lines of the church at Strasbourg of which Calvin was pastor. The Catholic Florimond de Raemond paid it the beautiful tribute of saying that it seemed as though "la chretiente fut revenue en elle a sa primitive inno cence." Persecution, however, became more rigorous. The Vaudois of Cabrieres and Merindol had been massacred in 1545 by the orders of Jean de Maynier, Baron d'Oppede, lieutenant-general of Prov ence ; and at Paris was created a special court in the parlement for the suppression of heretics, a court which became famous in history as the Chambre ardente . The church at Paris was founded in 1556, and in spite of persecution the reformers in creased in numbers. In 1558 at Poitiers it was decided that all the Protestant churches in France should formulate by common accord a confession of faith and an ecclesiastical discipline. The church at Paris was commissioned to summon the first synod, which, in spite of the danger, was convened on May The Synod of Paris derived its inspiration from the constitution in troduced by Calvin at Geneva, which has since become the model for all the Presbyterian churches. Ecclesiastical authority resides ultimately in the people, for the faithful select the elders who are charged with the general supervision of the church and the choice of pastors. The churches are independent units, and there can be no question of superiority among them ; at the same time they have common interests and their unity must be maintained by an authority which is capable of protecting them. The association of several neighbouring churches forms a local council (colloquy). Over these stands the provincial synod, on which each church is equally represented by lay delegates and pastors. Supreme author ity resides in the national synod, composed of representatives, lay and ecclesiastic, elected by the provincial synods. The demo cratic character of this constitution of elders and synods is par ticularly remarkable in view of the early date at which it began to flourish.
The synod of 1559 was the beginning of a remarkable increase in the Reform movement ; at that synod 15 churches were repre sented ; two years later, in 1561, the number was 2,150-an in crease which carried the struggle into the arena of national politics. The conspiracy of Amboise, formed with the object of kidnap ping the king (March 156o) resulted in the death of the plotters and was followed by the proclamation of the Edict of Romorantin, which laid an interdict upon the Protestant religion. But the re formers had become so powerful that Coligny, who was to become their most famous leader, protested in their name against this violation of liberty of conscience. For a moment, at the colloquy of Poissy (Oct. 1561), at which Roman Catholic and Protestant divines were assembled together, it seemed as though a modus vivendi would be established. The attempt failed, but by the edict of Jan. 1562 religious liberty was assured to the Huguenots. This, however, was merely the prelude to civil war, the signal for which was given by the Guises, who slaughtered a number of Huguenots assembled for worship in a barn at Vassy (March 1, 1562) ; and the duke of Guise, entering Paris in triumph, transferred the court to Fontainebleau by a daring coup d'etat in defiance of Cath erine de' Medici, the queen regent. It was then that Conde de clared there was no hope but in God and his arms, and, with the Huguenot leaders, signed at Orleans (April 11, 1562) the mani festo in which, having declared their loyalty to the Crown, they stated that as good and loyal subjects they were driven to take up arms for liberty of conscience on behalf of the persecuted saints. Until the end of the century the history of France is that of the struggle between the Huguenots upholding "The Cause" (La Cause) and the Roman Catholics fighting for the Holy League (La Sainte Ligue). The leading events only are related here (see also FRANCE: History). The war lasted, with intermis sions in 1563 and 1568, until 1569, when, after the defeat of the Huguenots at Jarnac, Conde was assassinated. But Jeanne d'Albret renewed the courage of the vanquished by presenting to them her son, Henri de Bourbon, the future Henry IV.; and Coligny, whose heroic courage rose with adversity, collected the remnants of the Protestant army and by a march as able as it was audacious, moved on Paris. The Peace of St. Germain followed, on Aug. 8, 157o.
For a moment it seemed reasonable to hope that the war was over. Coligny had said that he would prefer to be dragged through the streets of Paris than to recommence the fighting: Henri de Bourbon was to marry Marguerite of France. Peace seemed to be assured when on the night of Aug. 24, 1572, after a council at which Catherine de' Medici, Charles IX., the duke of Anjou, and other leaders of the league assisted, there occurred the Massa cre of St. Bartholomew (q.v.), in which Coligny and all the lead ing Huguenots were slain. The Paris massacre was repeated throughout France, and the Protestants were slain in thousands. The survivors resolved upon a desperate resistance. A Huguenot political party was formed at Milhau in 1573, definitely consti tuted at La Rochelle in 1588, and lasted until the peace of Alais in 1629. The delegates selected by the churches bound themselves to offer a united opposition to the violence of the enemies of God, the king and the state. It is a mistake to suppose that they de sired to overthrow the monarchy. But it is true that among them selves they formed a kind of republic which, according to the his torian J. A. de Thou, had its own laws dealing with civil govern ment, justice, war, commerce, finance. They had a president called the protector of the churches, an office held first by Conde and afterwards by the King of Navarre up to the day on which he became king of France as Henry IV. (1589). The fourth religious war, which had broken out immediately after the Massacre of St. Bartholomew, was brought to an end by the pacification of Boulogne (July 16, 1573), which granted a general amnesty. The recollections of the horrors of St. Bartholomew's night had hastened the death of Charles IX., the last of the Valois. Under Henry III. the most debauched and effeminate of monarchs, the war broke out anew. It lasted, with one brief intermission in 1576, until March 22, 1594, when Henry of Navarre entered Paris as Henry IV., successor of Henry III., who had been assassinated by a monk in 1589. The league was utterly defeated. Thus the Huguenots after forty years of strife obtained by their constancy the promulgation of the Edict of Nantes (April 13, 1S98), the charter of religious and political freedom. (See NANTES, EDICT OF.) Twelve years afterwards, on May 14, 161o, Henry was assassi nated by Ravaillac, leaving his great work incomplete. During the minority of Louis XIII. power resided in the hands of counsel lors who favoured the Catholic party. The Huguenots once more took up arms under the leadership of Henri de Rohan (q.v.). Richelieu had entered the king's council on May 4, 1624; the de struction of the Huguenots was his policy, and he pursued it to a triumphant conclusion. On Oct. 28, 1628, La Rochelle, the last stronghold of the Huguenots, was obliged to surrender, after a siege rendered famous for all time by the heroism of its defenders and of its mayor. The peace of Alais, which was signed on June 28, 1629, marks the end of the civil wars.
Louis XIV.-The Huguenots had ceased to exist as a political party and, assured that liberty of conscience would be granted them, showed themselves loyal subjects. On the death of Louis XIII., the declaration of July 8, 1643, had guaranteed to the Protestants "free and unrestricted exercise of their religion," thus confirming the Edict of Nantes. The Roman Catholic clergy, how ever, had never accepted the Edict of Nantes, and all their efforts were directed to obtaining its revocation. As long as Mazarin was alive the complaints of the clergy were in vain, but when Louis XIV. attained his majority there commenced a legal per secution which was bound in time to bring about the ruin of the reformed churches. The Edict of Nantes, which was part of the law of the land, might seem to defy all attacks, but the clergy found means to evade the law by demanding that it should be observed with literal accuracy, disregarding the changes which had been produced in France during more than half a century. The clergy in 1661 successfully demanded that commissioners should be sent to the provinces to report infractions of the edict, and thus began a judicial war which was to last for more than 20 years. All the churches which had been built since the Edict of Nantes were condemned to be demolished. All the privileges which were not explicitly stated in the actual text of the edict were sup pressed. More than 400 proclamations, edicts, or declarations attacking the Huguenots in their households and their civil free dom, their property and their liberty of conscience, were promul gated during the years which preceded the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. In spite of all sufferings which this rigorous legisla tion inflicted upon them they did not cease to resist, and in order to compel them to accept the "king's religion," the dragonnades (1683-86) were organized, which effected the forcible conversion of thousands of Protestants who gave way under the tortures which were inflicted upon them. It was then that Louis XIV. declared that "the best of the larger part of our subjects, who formerly held the so-called reformed religion, have embraced the Catholic religion, and therefore the Edict of Nantes has become unnecessary." On Oct. 18, 1685, he pronounced its revocation. Thus under the influence of the clergy was committed one of the most flagrant political and religious blunders in the history of France, which in the course of a few years lost more than 400,000 of its inhabitants. Many emigrated to England or Prussia and became very useful citizens of their adopted countries.
Persecution had succeeded in silencing, but it could not convert the people. Despair armed the Cevennes, and in 1702 the war of the Camisards broke out, only to end in the defeat of the insurgents (see CAMISARDS and CAVALIER, JEAN) .
The Huguenots seemed to be finally conquered. On March 8, 1715, Louis XIV. announced that he had put an end to all exercise of the Protestant religion ; but in this very year, on Aug. 21, while the king was dying at Versailles, there assembled together at Monoblet, in Languedoc, under the presidency of Antoine Court, the "Restorer of Protestantism," then only 20 years of age, a conference devoted to the re-establishment of the church. This was the first "synod of the Desert." (See COURT, ANTOINE.) Year by year the churches became more numerous. In 1756 there were already 4o pastors; several years later, in 1763, the date of the last "synod of the Desert," their number had increased to 65. As the 18th century advanced public opinion began to revolt from the persecution of the Huguenots. The torture of Jean Calas, who was condemned on a false charge of having killed his son because he desired to become a Catholic, caused general in dignation, of which Voltaire became the eloquent mouthpiece, and the edict of Nov. 1787, in spite of the fierce opposition of the clergy, renewed the civil rights of the Huguenots by recognizing the validity of their marriages. Two years later the Declaration of the Rights of Man affirmed the liberty of religion. By the law of the 18th of Germinal, year X., the legal standing of the Protestant church was recognized, but it was denied the character of free church, which it had hitherto claimed.
The Protestants, on the day on which liberty of conscience was restored, could measure the full extent of the misery which they had endured. Of this people, which in the 16th century formed more than one-tenth of the population of France, there survived only a few hundred thousand. In 1626 there were 8o9 pastors in the service of 751 churches; in 2802 there were only 121 pastors and 171 churches; in Paris there was only a single church with a single pastor. The church had no faculty of theology, no schools, no Bible societies, no asylums, no orphanages, no religious litera ture. Everything had to be created afresh, and this work was pur sued during the I 9th century with energy and faith.
At the fall of the Empire (1815) the reaction of the White Ter ror once more exposed the Protestants to outrage, and again a number fled from persecution and sought safety in foreign coun tries. Peace having been established, attention was then focused on religious questions, and the period was marked in Protestantism by a remarkable awakening. On all sides churches were built and schools opened. During that period were founded the great re ligious societies :—Societe biblique (1819), Societe de l'instruc tion primaire (1829), Societe des traites (1821), Societe des missions (1822). On the other hand, the old union of the reformed churches had ceased to exist since the revolution of July. Ecclesi astical strife broke out and never entirely ceased. A schism occurred first in 1848, owing to the refusal of the synod to draw up a profession of faith. The comte de Gasparin and the pastor, Frederic Monod, seceded and founded the Union des Eglises Evangeliques de France, separated from the State, of which E. de Pressense was to become the most famous pastor. Under the Second Empire (1852-70) the divisions between the orthodox and the liberal thinkers were accentuated and resulted in a separa tion, which followed on the reassembly of the national synod, authorized in 1872 by the government of the Third Republic. The old Huguenot Church was thus separated into two parts, having no other link than that of the Concordat of 1802, and each possess ing its own peculiar organization.
The law of Dec. 9, 1905, which separated the Church from the State, was accepted by the great majority of Protestants as a legitimate consequence of the reform principles, and its applica tion caused no difficulty with the State. In 1907 the National Union of the Reformed Churches of France, consisting of ten regional unions, was founded in Paris; these unions are combined with others in the Protestant Federation of France, which con venes a General Assembly of all affiliated churches every five years. The restoration of Alsace and Lorraine to France involved the inclusion of the Lutheran and Reformed Churches of those provinces in the main body of French Protestants, increasing the membership to nearly one million. These churches are established and supported by the French state, in accordance with the regime existing before the Franco-German War of 1870-71.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.—General Authorities:—Bulletin de la societe de Bibliography.—General Authorities:—Bulletin de la societe de l'histoire du protestantisme francais, a valuable work of reference; Haag, La France protestante, lives of French Protestants (2nd ed. 1887) ; F. Puaux, Histoire de la Reformation francaise (1858), and articles "Calvin" and "France protestante" in Encyclopedie des sciences religieuses of Lichtenberger ; Smedley, History of the Reformed Re ligion in France (1832) ; Browning, History of the Huguenots (1840) ; J. Vienot, Histoire de la Reforme francaise des origines a l'edit de Nantes (1926) .
The 16th Century.—H. M. Baird, The Huguenots and Henry of Navarre (New York, 1886), and History of the Rise of the Huguenots of France (1879) ; A. W. Whitehead, Gaspard de Coligny (London, 1904) ; J. W. Thompson, The Wars of Religion in France, (1909) ; Th. Beza, Histoire ecclesiastique des eglises ref ormees au royaume de France (Antwerp, 158o; new edition by G. Baum et Cunitz, 1883) ; Crespin, Histoire des martyrs persecutes et mis a mort pour la verite de l'evangile (Geneva, 1619 ; abridged translation by Rev. A. Maddock, 178o) ; Florimcr.d de Raemond, L'Histoire de la naissance, progres et decadence de l'heresie du siecle (161o) ; De Thou, Histoire universelle; Th. Agrippa D'Aubigne, Histoire universelle (Geneva, 1626) ; Hermingard, Correspondance des ref ormateurs dans les pays de la langue francaise (1866) ; "Calvini opera" in the Corpus reformatorum, edited by Reuss, Baum, and Cunitz, particularly the correspondence ; Doumergue, Jean Calvin, les hommes et les choses de son temps (1899) ; G. von Polenz, Geschichte des f ranzosischen Calvinismus (1857) ; Etienne A. Laval, Compendious history of the reformation in France and of the reformed Church in that Kingdom from the first beginning of the Reformation to the Repealing of the Edict of Nantes (1737-40.
17th Century.—lie Benoit, Histoire de l'Edit de Nantes (Delft, 1693) ; Aymon, Tous les synodes nationaux des eglises ref ormees de France; J. Quick, Synodicon (1692) , important for the ecclesiastical history of French Protestantism ; D'Huisseau, La Discipline des eglises ref ormees de France (Amsterdam, 171o) ; H. de Rohan, Memoires . jusqu'en 1629 (Amsterdam, 1644) ; Pierre Jurieu, Lettres pas torales (Rotterdam, 1688) ; Brousson, Etat des Reformes de France (The Hague, 1685) ; Anquez, Histoire des assemblies politiques des reformes de France (1859) ; H. M. Baird, The Huguenots and the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes.
18th Century.—Peyrat, Histoire des pasteurs du Desert (1842) ; Ch. Coquerel, Histoire des eglises du Desert (184,) ; E. Hugues, Antoine Court, Histoire de la restauration du protestantisme en France (1872).
19th and 2oth Centuries.—P. A. Rabant-Dupius, Annuaire ecclesias tique a l'usage des eglises reformees (5807) ; A. Soulier, Statistiques des Eglises reformees en France (1828) ; Die protestantische Kirche Frankreichs (ed. J. G. L. Gieseler, 1848) ; T. de Prat, Annuaire Protestant (1862-84) ; E. Bersier, Historie du Synode General de 1872 (1872) ; Agenda Protestant (ed. Frank Puaux, 1880-94), continued as Agenda-Annuaire Protestant (ed. H. Gambier, 1895, etc., in progress) ; Frank Puaux, Les Oeuvres du prostantisme f rangais au XIXe siecle (1893) ; Louise Seymour-Houghton, Handbook of French and Belgian Protestantism (1919) ; A. Keller and G. Stewart, Protestant Europe, see section "Latin Countries," France (1927) ; see also Annuaire Protestante and Guide Protestant .(Paris). See also