I. Group Profile

1. Name : Huguenots

2. Founder : John Calvin. ¹

3. Date of Birth : 1509. (Died 1564) ²

4. Birth Place : Noyon, France. ³

5. Year Founded : c. 1550. ⁴

6. Sacred or Revered Texts : The Holy Bible

7. Cult or Sect: Negative sentiments are typically implied when the concepts "cult" and "sect" are employed in popular discourse. Since the Religious Movements Homepage seeks to promote religious tolerance and appreciation of the positive benefits of pluralism and religious diversity in human cultures, we encourage the use of alternative concepts that do not carry implicit negative stereotypes. For a more detailed discussion of both scholarly and popular usage of the concepts "cult" and "sect," please visit our Conceptualizing "Cult" and "Sect" page, where you will find additional links to related issues.

8. Size of Group :

   In 1660 Huguenots numbered 1,800,000; by 1700 they numbered 400,000. ⁵

II. History

The Protestant Reformation, begun by Martin Luther in the early 16th century in Germany, soon found its way to France. Fueled by the protests of Luther against the abuses of the Catholic Church, Protestantism grew rapidly in a country stringently ruled by a Catholic king and government. ⁶ The reign of Francis I (1515-47) began the persecution of Protestants in France. ⁷ By 1521 Lutheran ideas had sufficiently infiltrated France and they were condemned at the Sorbonne. ⁸ Under Henry II (1547-59) the attack intensified with the formation of government policy which allowed for the trial and execution of heretics. ⁹
Many Protestants fled France in the 1540's and 1550's for assylum in Geneva; here they were strongly influenced by John Calvin. ¹⁰ Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion (which he beautifully translated from his own Latin to French) formed the basis for Reform thought. ¹¹ In 1555 a Reformed church was officially, if secretly, founded in Paris; it was supported by the Genevan Compagnie des Pasteurs (Company of Pastors) which sent qualified ministers from Switzerland to France . ¹² The developing Protestant population, though called "Lutheran" in denegration by Catholics, was thoroughly Calvinist in theology . ¹³
Huguenots, as they began to be called, grew in number, meeting secretly but heavily proselytizing . ¹⁴ As their size increased so also did the persecution. The first large scale riot of Catholics against Protestants took place in 1557 . ¹⁵ Huguenots were viewed as seditious by the government desperately fighting the invading Hapsburgs of Spain . ¹⁶ After the end of the Hapsburg-Valois wars, Henri II (now having more time on his hands) escalated the persecution of the Huguenots calling for arrests, executions, and even neighbor-on-neighbor surveilance . ¹⁷ After Henri's death, a period of moderation was established by Catherine d'Medici (regent for Charles IX), allowing for much greater governmentaltoleration . ¹⁸ But the Duke of Guise helped create a climate of Catholic intoleration which led to the Massacres at Vassy and Sens in 1562.
War broke out after the violence in March of 1562, resulting in eight civil wars . ¹⁹ A cycle of war and peace began--bloodshed followed by edicts or treaties--then more killing. The Saint Bartholomew's massacres in Paris in 1572 started the fourth civil war, bringing an end to an almost two-year armistice. Henry of Navarre, one of the most notable and successful Huguenot leaders, converted to Catholicism in 1594 in order to secure the French throne . ²⁰ Finally in 1598 Henry IV (Henry of Navarre) ends the last religious war with the Edict of Nantes. The Edict brought about the most long-standing toleration of Protestantism; Calvinism flourished in its new-found civic freedom. Huguenots organized their church and politics, forming synods, councils, and assemblies . ²¹ They established academic institutions and trained ministers in Reformed theology . ²²
The relative freedom enjoyed by the Huguenots was disrupted first by Cardinal Richelieu, who saw them as a potential threat to order, and later by Louis XIV, who systematically deprived them of all their rights. Louis began persecuting Protestants in 1683 and finally revoked the Edict of Nantes in 1685 . ²³ The revocation led to the emmigration of at least 300,000 Huguenots. ²⁴ Most found homes in the Protestant Netherlands (100,000), while others settled in England, Ireland, and America (100,000); still others settled in Germany and Switzerland (100,000), some eventually finding their way to South Africa . ²⁵ Huguenots were absorbed into existing Protestant churches; while many adapted to changes, others strictly maintained their Calvinist roots. In the United States of America, the largest number of Huguenots settled in Charleston, South Carolina. Over time the Huguenots of America, as they lost thier native French to English, ceased to actively worship under that name; most became adherants of strongly Calvinist denominations (most notably Presbyterianism). ²⁶

III. Beliefs of the Group

The Reformed Church in France drew its theology almost directly from John Calvin . ²⁷ The following predominant themes of Calvinism are taken from the Encyclopedia of Christianity :

the glory of God; the corruption of human nature by the fall; the possibility and actuality, on the basis of God's revelation, of a true, twofold knowledge of God--first as Creator, and then as Redeemer in Jesus Christ; the law of God as the standard of the Christian life grounded in justification and sanctification; the Holy Spirit as the bond of union with Jesus Christ; God's eternal counsel as the final basis of election and reprobation (Predestination); the authority of the Word of God in and over the church; and the urgent summons to restore the true face of the church. ²⁸

The Huguenots were highly iconoclastic; they tore down statues of the Virgin Mary, broke stained glass windows representing Christ or the Virgin, and they vandalized reliquaries. ²⁹ They believed God's Holy Word ("You shall not make for yourselves an idol..."(Exodus 20:4)) to be their justification smashing the "idols" of the Church.

Political ideas were inextricably bound to religious ones, however, and many actions by the Huguenots stemed from a dualistic agenda. Most Huguenots were as eager to overthrow the political regime as they were to restructure the Holy Church, and they used Scripture as the basis for both. ³⁰ Their goal was to establish what Calvin had in Geneva, which was essentially a theocracy.

IV. Links to Huguenot Web Sites

Most web sites for "Huguenots" are either historical or geneological. Below are listed the some historical sites and a few geneological sites which may prove helpful.

The National Huguenot Society
This site provides a considerable amount of resources relating to Huguenot History. The Historical Society provides historical information, books, and links to genealogical pages. This site provides a good overview if you know nothing about the Huguenots; however, none of their historical information is referenced with a bibliography.
http://www.huguenot.netnation.com

Huguenot Historical Society
This page provides a good introduction to the Huguenots. It also provides resources related to history, publications, and genealogy.
www.hhs-newpaltz.org

Huguenot Ring Homepage
The Huguenot Ring Homepage links you to global Huguenot websites. You may surf random Huguenot sites or proceed in a systematic order. Overall, this page is a very good researching tool for the internet.
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Valley/8140/webring.htm

Huguenot Society of South Africa
This site provides you with information about the Huguenots of South Africa. You may investigate their history and heritage.
www.geocities.com/Heartland/Valley/8140/begin-e.htm

Huguenot Memorial Museum
You may find information here about a Huguenot Museum in South Africa. There is also some interesting information on this site about the Huguenots voyage from France to South Africa. It also includes the cultural influences of the Huguenots in South Africa.
www.museum.co.za

Huguenot Society of South Carolina
In the United States of America, the largest number of Huguenot emmigrants settled in Charleston, SC. This site allows you to get information about their extensive library resources. You may also see a picture of the Huguenot Church in Charleston South Carolina located on the corner of Queen and Church Streets (This is the church to which Marguerite Couturier Steedman referred in her book A Short History of the French Protestant Huguenot Church of Charleston, SC ).
www.huguenotsociety.org

South Carolina Roots Huguenot Connections
This site gives you important information about Huguenots in the Carolinas.
www.scroots.org

The Olive Tree Genealogy Homepage
This site enables you to find geneological information about the Huguenots. Some basic knowledge of the Huguenots is helpful before using this site.
www.rootsweb.com

Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet
This site enables you to find geneological information about the Huguenots. It does not provide any more reference material than the Huguenot Historical Society and other genealogical sites.
www.cyndislist.com/huguenot.htm

V. Bibliography

Butler, Jon. 1983.

The Huguenots in America: A Refugee People in New World Society . Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Chadwick, Owen. 1990.

The Penguin History of the Church 3: The Reformation . New York: Penguin Books Ltd.

Diefendorf, Barbara B. 1991.

Beneath the Cross . New York: Oxford University Press. 272p.

Fahlbusch, Erwin. et al. Editors. 1999.

Encyclopedia of Christianity . Brill:William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. 324-332.

Gannon, Peter Steven. 1985.

Huguenot Refugees In The Settling of Colonial America .New York: The Huguenot Society of America.

Greengrass, M. 1987.

The French Reformation . Oxford: Blackwell. 88p.

Herzog, J. J. 1949-50.

The New Schaff-Herzog Relgious Encyclopedia Grand Rapids: Funk and Wagnalls Co. 13v.

Hillerbrand, Hans. Editor in Chief. 1996.

"Huguenots." Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation . New York: Oxford University Press. 263-4.

Holt, Mack P. 1995.

The French Wars of Religion . New York: Cambridge University Press. 239p.

Knecht, R. J. 1989.

The French wars of Religion . New York: Longman. 153p.

O'brien, T.C. Editor. 1970.

"Huguenots." Corpus Dictionary of Western Churches . Washington: Corpus Publishing. 381-2.

Palm, Franklin Charles. 1971.

Calvinism and the Religious Wars . New York: H. Fertig. 117p.

Potter, David. Editor. 1997.

The French Wars of Religion: Selected Documents . Houndmills: Macmillan Press LTD.

Reaman, G. Elmore. 1963.

The Trail of Huguenots in Europe, the United States, South Africa, and Canada . Genealogical Publishing. 318p.

Steedman, Marguerite Couturier. 1983.

A Short History of the French Protestant Huguenot Church of Charleston, South Carolina . Charleston: Low Country Printers, INC. ten pages.

VI. References

1. Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation . p 263.
2. Encyclopedia of Christianity . p 324.
3. Chadwick. The Reformation . p 82.
4. Chadwick. The Reformation . p 82.
5. New Schaff-Herzog Religious Encyclopedia . p 400.
6. Chadwick. The Reformation . p 82.
7. Corpus Dictionary . p381.
8. Deifendorf. Beneath the Cross . p 49.
9. Corpus Dictionary . p 381.
10. Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation . p263.
11. Encyclopedia of Christianity . p328.
12. Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation . p263.
13. Deifendorf. Beneath the Cross . p53.
14. Deifendorf. Beneath the Cross . p49.
15. Deifendorf. Beneath the Cross . p49.
16. Deifendorf. Beneath the Cross . p50.
17. Deifendorf. Beneath the Cross . p52-3.
18. Deifendorf. Beneath the Cross . p56. Jan 1562 edict allows worship outside of towns
19. Knecht. The French Wars of Religion . Timeline.
20. New Schaff-Herzog Relgious Encyclopedia . p397.
21. Corpus Dictionary . p381.
22. Corpus Dictionary . p381.
23. Corpus Dictionary . p382.
24. New Schaff-Herzog Relgious Encyclopedia . p398.
25. New Schaff-Herzog Relgious Encyclopedia . p398.
26. Steedman. A Short History . page six.
27. Oxford Encyclopedia of Reformation . p263.
28. Encyclopedia of Christianity . p324.
29. Chadwick. The Reformation . p163.
30. Chadwick. The Reformation . p163-4.

Created by Stephanie C. Totty
For Soc 257: New Religious Movements
University of Virginia
Spring Term, 2000
Last modified: 04/17/01