In the first article in this series, we looked at the start of Calvinism through Calvin himself, and his church and government in Geneva. The first part lay the theological and structural foundation which can be recognized in French Protestantism. In this part, we commence with the actual start of Calvinism in France, a group that became known to history as the Huguenots. Same as in the previous part, I used two books as a guide: one is by Geoffrey Treasure: 'The Huguenots', the other is 'Reformation: Europe's House Divided' by Diarmaid MacCulloch.
Huguenots: composition and location
Hugenots, same as Protestants elsewhere in Europe, could be seen as 'people of the book', that book being the Bible. They keep to sola scriptura: in short, the idea of the superior authority the Bible holds over any other worldy authority. For Protestants, the worldly authority that is overshadowed by the Bible authority is that of the Catholic Churcht and the Pope in particular. Protestantism overall, with the Huguenots among them, valued the translation of the bible in the vernacular languages (i.e. French for the Huguenots) over the Latin bible that was entrenched in Catholicism. The French translation of the Bible, along with Calvin's Institutes, would form the main guide of a well-read Calvinism in France.
There were, however, practical constraints to this. You'd be forgiven to forget these restraints in the 21st century, that restraint being: literacy was not as widespread 500 years ago. All these writings by Reformers and the translations of the Bible in your language are useless if you cannot read. This issue would also influence the demographics of French Calvinism: Huguenots were disproportionally from the middle class, where literacy rates were steadily rising during the late Middle Ages. From the middle class in the cities, the spoken word was able to influence the countryside, albeit in a less thorough fashion.
Predictably, the French Catholic kings of the Valois-dynasty tried to prevent this spread. But it should be noted that France as a state was not nearly as centralized bureaucratic as it is today. This hampered the amount of action the king and his court could take, especially when further away from his centre of power. A rule of thumb for the spread of French Calvinism: the further away from the French heartlands (i.e. the regions around Paris, Orléans, Blois, Chartres), the more successful the spread. The Huguenots were disproportionally present in the south: regions like Navarre/Béarn, the Midi, Provence and the Dauphiné (see image below).
Map detailing the locations of Huguenot churches. Of note is the relative prominence of the south
French Calvinism would see steady growth until it peaked in the 1560s. An estimation of those years puts the amount of Hugenot congregations in France at 1200, totaling about 1.8 million Frenchmen. This amounted to slightly over 10% of the population having converted to Protestantism, which was more influential in the south of France. In some regions in the south, Huguenots had become the outright majority, to the dismay of the French kings and the Catholic clergy. Some French nobles, either through faith or through opportunism, would also convert to Protestantism and the Huguenot cause. The most prominent family among them was the Bourbon-dynasty, which was then centered around their rule over the lands of Navarre (south-west France).
Fall of the Valois, rise of the Bourbons
The Valois kings, regardless of their personal Catholicism, had long tried to maintain internal peace in France. From a geopolitical perspective, they were in a precarious position. In the 16th century, France was completely surrounded by the Habsburg dynasty, who controlled Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, the southern Netherlands (i.e. Belgium) and parts of Italy. The French often had to fight the Habsburgs, and any form of internal disorder could turn out to be disastrous.
The division between Huguenots and Catholics was not the only issue stability-wise in France. In 1559 the Valois-dynasty had a strong position regarding the succession. King Henri II (ruled 1547-1559) had gained a decent result in war against the Habsburgs in the Peace of Cambrèsis, and was able to keep the religious issues in France in check. Unfortunately, he would die the same year in a joust, which was organized because of the result against the Habsburgs.
Because of this, Henri's 15 year old son would follow him as king as Francois II, though he did not rule himself yet. The regency would be taken by his mother, the Florentine Catherine de Médici, until her son was an adult. She would ask and receive help in ruling from the Guise-family, who ruled the duchy of Lorraine. The Guises were hard-line Catholics, and once in power started to agitate and repress the Huguenots. The Huguenots offered resistance and would be led by Louis, prince of Condé (a branch of the Bourbon-dynasty). The Guises were not that popular: Lorraine was considered foreign to France at the time, since is was a part of the Holy Roman Empire, and so the Guises were often seen as meddlesome foreigners.
Several nobles among the Huguenots had developed a daring plan at this point: abducting the young king Francois II would give them the initiative in the religious conflict, and would definitively sideline the Guises. Unfortunately for them, their plans were discovered, and the so-called conspiracy of Amboise failed completely. The king was safe from the Huguenots, though not from sickness: Francois II would die in 1560 at the age of 16.
The religious conflict between Huguenots and Catholic would become an armed conflict in 1562, and would go on (on and off) until 1598. The exact story of the eight wars and seven ineffective truces (!) would be beyond the scope of this article, but I'll offer a short summary: the Huguenots, as mentioned earlier, had a strong foothold in the south of France. They quickly found out, however, that they were not able to field an offensive war against the Catholics in a meaningful way. The Catholics, who suffered from the enourmous debts of the French crown, were also not able to drive the Huguenots from their strongholds. This situation led to an uncomfortable impasse, which is clearly visible in the seven truces that were all broken up again pretty quickly.
In 1584 there was a breakthrough however, but not on a battlefield. In that year only two sons remained of the four sons that Henri II and Catherine de Médici had. Francois II had died in 1560, and the throne went to his little brother Charles IX. He also died of disease (tuberculosis is suspected) at the age of 23, without having children.
The next in line was Henri III (ruled 1574-1589), whose heir was his younger brother Francois. Sickness continued to plague (no pun intended) the Valois dynasty, and Francois died of malaria in 1584. Inheritance of the crown went through male lines only, and the next in line to the succession was Henri de Navarre, head of the Bourbon-dynasty and ardent Huguenot. That the crown of France could go to a Huguenot was a disastrous development for Catholics in the kingdom. This was exactly what happened in 1589, when Henri III was murdered (by a radical Catholic, no less).
The Catholics would not simply surrender to this chain of events, and it would mean the continuation of the war. Henri de Bourbon was lawfully king, but the Catholic part of his kingdom (i.e. the majority of it) would have none of it. After a few years of more stalemates, Henri -now Henri IV- would make an important decision: he walked the path of conciliation, and converted to Catholicism in 1593. He was crowned in Paris in 1595, after five years of being king in name only.
It would become the definitive step to a lasting peace in France, which was codified in the Edict of Nantes in 1598: this issued religious toleration, and guaranteed the rights of the Huguenot minorty. Still, many Huguenots felt betrayed by Henri IV and his conversion: there is quite a difference between being a tolerated minority in a Catholic kingdom and having a Protestant king. However, Henri's choice would lead to almost a full century of internal peace in France. Not a small achievement, considering the on-and-off civil war had lasted 36 years.
The Sun King and the exodus
The most iconic king of France, Louis XIV, would make and end to the presence of Protestantism in France with the issuance of the Edict of Fontainebleu (1685), which contradicted the Edict of Nanted in basically every way. The religious toleration of Nantes did not sit well with Louis' absolutism, which was visible in his rule in other areas. So it had to go. In practice, the consequences of Fontainebleu made life impossible for the Huguenots, if they kept on openly professing and practicing Calvinism in France. Their churches and scholls were closed and often demolished. Also many professions were closed off to them, including a lot of middle-class professions (law, medicine) to which Huguenots adhered disproportionally. A few years before the issuance of Fontainebleu, so-called dragonnades had started: military intimidation by the French army, which often led to Huguenots being killed or wounded.
It would lead to several outcomes: some Huguenots converted, sincere or not, to Catholicism. In some areas of southern France they would remain Protestant, albeit in a more secretive fasion. A large part, however, decided to leave, which was not without danger. It is estimated that about 200.000 Huguenots (out of 700.000) left France in the years 1685-1690. It is often hypothesized that the Huguenot exodus is a historical case of brain drain: the Huguenots who left were disproportionately literate and middle-class.
Emigration to the other side of the world
Many Huguenots left for nearby Protestant countries, like England, the Netherlands and Protestant parts of Germany. However, some would find themselves on far-away shores, like America. Another continent would see Huguenots arrive on its shores: Africa. The Dutch East India Company (VOC) had founded a trading post a few decades earlier, which was called the Cape of Good Hope. This would become a destination for some Huguenots.
The religious affinity with Dutch pioneers there was far better than the Huguenots had back home: the Dutch in South-Africa were also Calvinist. They would, together with Dutch Calvinists and German Lutherans, form the basis for the people we know as the Afrikaners today. The place were the Huguenots settled at first still carries their mark: Franschhoek (literally translated: French Corner). The Huguenot legacy is also still visible in some last names among the Afrikaners (for example: Du Toit, Joubert, Le Roux, Terreblanche, etc.).
Dr. Malan, an echo of the Huguenots
Here is where I'll circle back to the second name in the title: Malan. Daniel Francois Malan was one of the most important figures in South African history, and is a name that is not well-known today. In the next article (or articles, not sure yet) I will jump to the 19th century to talk about his long and eventful life. This will also allow me to talk about more controversial politics (the best kind of politics) because Malan was fundamental to Afrikaner nationalism, and thus to the implementation of Apartheid. But let's not get ahead of ourselves yet.
I hope you've enjoyed this article, and learned something from it. Consider leaving a like, and discussion is always welcome. Until the next one.
-Pieter