Huguenots

French Protestant believers during the 16th Cent. Though the origin of the name is uncertain, their origin can be traced to the influence of Luther's writings which spread widely and quickly across Europe after 1517. The Huguenots suffered greatly at the hands of their Roman Catholic compatriots, and by 1523 had already cost them their first martyr at the stake. One of the most significant effect of this persecution was the departure of John Calvin from France. They also suffered badly in the religious wars that engulfed France, esp., in the notorious St Bartholomew Day Massacre in 1572 instigated by the royal household on occasion of the wedding of Henry IV to the princess. Henry IV eventually helped established the Edict of Nantes which went only part way to bring religious toleration for the Huguenots; Henry IV, sadly converted to Roman Catholicism in the end, possibly, it has been argued, to bring peace to the land.

Further Reading & Resources:

☰ Christian History Issue 71 (2001).

George Rothrock, The Huguenots: A Biography of a Minority. Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1979.

Frederic Baumgartner, France in the Sixteenth Century. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1995.

Barbara Diefendorf, Beneath the Cross—Catholics and Huguenots in Sixteenth Century Paris. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991.

Mack P. Holt, The French Wars of Religion, 1562-1629. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995.

Arlette Jouanna and Joseph Bergin, The Saint Bartolomew's Day Massacre. The Mysteries of a Crime of State (24 August 1572). Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2016.