Old and New Paris: Its History, Its People, and Its Places, v. 2Edwards, H. Sutherland (Henry Sutherland)
History
Old and New Paris: Its History, Its People, and Its Places, v. 2
Edwards, H. Sutherland (Henry Sutherland)
Paris (France) -- Description and travel; Paris (France) -- History
The Protestant consistories were now required to admit into their
assemblies representatives of the Catholic clergy, whose mission it was
to read to them a so-called pastoral warning. Already the minister
Louvois had attempted to enforce conversion to the Roman Catholic
religion by quartering upon the unfortunate Protestants dragoons, whom,
if they remained faithful to their religion, they had for an indefinite
time to support. The so-called “dragonnades” were for the most part
confined to the provinces. Paris was exempted from them, lest the king
himself should be scandalised by the scenes they well might lead to.
Louvois had sworn to extirpate the “dangerous heresy,” and he assured
the king that he was doing so by peaceful means.
Four days after the signing of the edict, and on the very day of its
formal registration, the Protestant temples were demolished by the mob,
who could not wait for official measures to be taken against the
buildings already condemned. The cemetery adjoining the temple of
Charenton was profaned, and the tombs of the Protestants violated, as, a
century later, were to be violated the tombs of the Catholic kings.
Notices were served on the chiefs of the Protestant families, commanding
them, in the name of the king, to change their religion. Of the
recalcitrants large numbers were sent to the Bastille, while the members
of the consistory were exiled by “lettres de cachet.” Protestants who
had been domiciled in Paris for less than a year were ordered to quit
the capital, and the pastors in general had a fortnight given to them in
which to leave France; while Claude, the most renowned amongst them, was
ordered to quit French territory within twenty-four hours, being
meantime watched by one of the king’s servants. In the months of
October, November, and December, 1685, no less than 1,087 members of the
reformed church emigrated from Paris, 1,098 abjured their religion,
while 3,823, after refusing to abjure, still remained in the city. The
emigration had been arranged beforehand by Claude and his colleagues. A
constant service of guides was kept up between Paris and the frontiers,
though it was death for those who had once quitted Paris to return. The
exiles took flight at midnight on market days, when it was easier to
pass the barriers. Notwithstanding the menace of capital punishment,
some half-dozen Protestant ministers returned to Paris a year after the
revocation in order to do secret duty among their co-religionaries
remaining in the capital. Some were sentenced to imprisonment for life
in the isles of Sainte-Marguerite, others were shut up in the Bastille,
and one of them, the celebrated Claude (Claude Brousson, by his full
name), was hanged. Meanwhile some of the Protestants who still ventured
to stay at Paris continued services at the English Embassy, or at the
legation of the United Provinces. Instead of one chaplain the legation
of the Dutch Republic maintained two. But an edict was soon passed
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account