CLAUDE, JEAN (1619-1687), French Protestant divine, was born at La Sauvetat-du-Dropt near Agen. He was professor of theology at the Protestant colleges of Nimes and of Montau ban, but lost both posts on account of his intransigence. In 1666 he became pastor at Charenton near Paris, where he engaged in controversies with Pierre Nicole (Reponse aux deux traites intitules la perpetuite de la foi, 1665), Antoine Arnauld (Reponse au livre de M. Arnauld, 167o), and J. B. Bossuet (Reponse au livre de M. L'eveque de Meaux, 1683) . On the revocation of the edict of Nantes he fled to Holland, and received a pension from William of Orange, who commissioned him to write an account of the persecuted Huguenots (Plaintes des Protestants cruellement opprimes dans le royaume de France, 1686). The English transla tion of this book and the original were publicly burnt by the com mon hangman by order of James II. on May 5, 1686, as con taining "expressions scandalous to His Majesty the king of France." See biographies by J. P. Niceron and Abel Rotholf de la Deveze; E. Haag, La France protestante, vol. iv. (5884 ed.).