The Huguenots

 

The Story Of The Huguenots Begins In France In The 1500

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This Is A Relatively Short History Of The Huguenots. Many Historians Have Written Books About
This Time In The French History. This Is An Attempt To Tell You As Short And Quickly As Possible
Who The Huguenots Were And Why They Were Persecuted.
Many, Many More Atrocities Happened Over The 2 Centuries Of Persecution That Is Not Listed Here

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Sixteenth Century, France.
Born With Relative Freedom That Comes After Many Years Of Ecomomic
Independence, Was Something New In This Era Of Time. This Is The Concept That Man
Each Man, Has A Natural Right To Think For Himself. Today Most Americans
Englishmen, Frenchmen, But Not All People Of The World, Assume This Right,
However Much It Is Ignored.
The 16th Century Made No Allegation To This.
If Each Man In The Kingdom Formed His Own Opinions How Could The
Government Exist???
Even Today, The Person Who Challenges Authority Ends Up In Jail Or Outcast.
In The 16th Century He Was Likely To Be Burned At The Stake. It Took great
Courage To Stand Up For What You Believed. The Religious Rebel
Developed A Deep Concious Motivation, Convinced Of His Righteous Cause.
Motivated By The Bible In Which He Could Read For Himself. The Bible
Reading Rebels Endured Many Hardships Of Torture And Death, Because
They Insisted On Spreading Their own Opinions. In France At
This Time These Rebels Were Called Huguenots
The Huguenots Wanted To Advance To The New Testament Teachings.
This Was Unacceptable To The Catholic Authority. Reading The Bible And Interpreting It Yourself
Was Unheard Of And A Reason For Being Put To Death.
The Huguenots Were For The People Themselves, Whereas The Catholic Authority Was For Themselves
And The Royalty Was Puppets In Their Hands And The Ordinary Man Just Pawns To Use.
How, Even At That Time That Christian People, Let Alone Priests, Cardinals,
And Popes Could Slaughter, Burn At The Stake And Cause So Much
Terror To Another Of Gods People Is Beyond Understanding.

The Word "Huguenot" Is A Combination Flemish And German Word:
In Flemish, Bible Study Groups Were Called "Huis Genooten, House Of Fellas"
In German They Were Called" Eid Genossen", Oath Fellas. The Word Became
"Huguenot"
The Word

Huguenot

For 2 1/2 Centuries Endured Terror, Tortures, Death
And Triumph. It Became The "Badge Of Honor And Courage
Jacob Leferne's Translation Of The Bible Scriptures Began Circulating In The
1520's In France. The Huguenots Based Their Religion On This Translation.
Many Were Upset By The Difference Between The Established Church And The
New Testament Doctrines.
A French Priest And Lawyer, Jean Chauvin Brought Reformation To France.
Calling Himself By The Latin Name,

John Calvin

He Established His Own Moral
Sect In Geneva Switzerland. His Followers Were The First "Huguenots".
They Crossed The Border Back Into France And His Ideas Spread.
In 1517 An Obscure German Monk,

Martin Luther

Defied The Authority
Of The Church And The Reformation Was Underway.

They Slowly Formed Family Study Groups. By 1550, There Were Many Such Groups.
Few Records Were Kept, But It Is Estimated By 1600 There Were Over 3/4 Million
Almost All Were Literate, Which Was An Unusual Occurrance At That Time
The Only Other Literate Group Were The Clergy And Some Royals
But The Huguenots Found No Support There
Most Were Small Businessmen, Family Businesses, Artisans. Wealthy, It Set
Them Apart From The People Of France As A Whole

To Those In Power, The Huguenots Were A Threat. They Undermined Those In
Power At Their Very Core, Religion.
Their Individual Study And Interpretation Of The Bible Directly Undermined
The Established Church's(Catholic) Basis Of Their Religion. Understanding The
Catholic Religion Is Part Of Understanding Why They Were So Devoutly
Against The Huguenots. Not Reading The Bible, Relying On The Priests To
Interpret The Bible, Controlling What The People Read And Thought
Controlling Their Religious And Everyday Lives With Their Interpretation
Of The Bible, The Pope As The Head Of The Church, Priests As The Only Person
They Can Talk To God Through. All This The Huguenots Found Intolerable
This Caused The Huguenots To Be Repressed By Both The Church And Criminal
Laws Of France.

The Established Church Pointed Out, That They Had Already, A Long Time Ago,
Interpreted The Bible, All That Was Needed.
And That If Each Person Read
The Bible, They Might Come Up With, Each, A Different Interpretation And
That Would Cause Caos, So It Should Be Forbidden.

The Royals implemented The Death Penalty For Even Owning A Bible.

Yet, People Obtained Bibles, Within 50 Years Of The Bible Being Interpreted
Into French Language, 1/2 Million Copies Were Circulating In France
By 1560 Of The 15 Million French. It Is Estimated 1 Million Were Practicing
Huguenots(Protestant).They Were Continuing To Spread The Faith.
Francis I Of France Made The Tactical Error Of Trying To Surpress The
Huguenots. A Poet Of The Time, Noted That Whenever A Man Was Arrested
As A Heretic, Two Others Became Huguenots; Whenever One Was Put To Death,
Four Others Joined The Movement.
Henry Ii Died In 1559, He Left An Ambitious Italian Widow, Catherine De Medicis.
She Was Ambitious For Herself And Her Sons, To Rule France. Her Main Opposition
Was The De Guise Family From Lorraine France. Promimant Catholic Aristocrats,
Through The Duc De Guise,And His Brother Cardinal Of Lorraine The Family,
Hoped To Seize The Throne Of Catherine, They Thought This Could Be Done By The
Total Destruction Of The "Huguenots".
Catherine However Saw That The Huguenots Were Not Seeking Her Throne, And Had
Relatively Few Demands, To Worship As They Pleased.
The Popularity Of The De Guise Family, Caused Catherine To Bide Her Time In
Choosing Sides. The Terror Against The Huguenots Began Slowly, At First.
As Time Went On Fear, Was A Day To Day Event In The Lives Of The Huguenots.
As The Terror Spread, The Huguenots Resistence Formed. The Non-Violent
Teachings Of Marin Luther Gave Way To A Struggle For Survival.
By 1562 They Had Armed Themselves And Turned On The Authority.
They Pledged To Fight Until Freedom Of Worship Was A Natural Right For All Men


The Bourbon Clay, Of The Blood Royal, Descendants Of King Louis, Offered Leadership
In The Dissention, With Bourbon Alliance, The Huguenots Gained A Leader
 
Admiral Gaspard Of Colligny. He Begame A Protestant Symbol And Legend.
Against Him Was The Duke Of Guise, A Brilliant Military Officer. If It Had Not
Been For The Duke Of Guise,The Huguenots Would Likely
Have Conquered France, Changing The Course Of History.
He Lived Long Enough To Spread Death And Destruction; And A Son To Succeed Him
That Would Never Be Forgotten For His Vengeance Against The Huguenots.
In 1562 A Decree Was Formed, Limiting The Freedom Of Worshp, The Duke Of Guise
Saw This As A Chance, He Formed His Men And Started For A Small Huguenot Town,
Where The Huguenots Were Worshiping. The Minister Had Just Started His Sermon
, When The Duke Struck. Men Women And Children Were Slain. The Minister Kept
On With His Sermon, It Enraged The Duke So Much, He Was Shot And Slashed
Across The Shoulder. He Was Taken In For Interrogation.
 
He Was Brought Before The Dukes Brother, The Cardinal Of Lorraine And Was
Asked "Are You The Man Who Was Seducing All The People"?, He Replied " I Speak
The Gospel Of Jesus" He Was Sent To Jail. The Cardinal Of Lorraine Ordered
All Huguenots To Leave Paris Or Be Burned At The Stake. He Ordered All The
Huguenots That Lived In His Own Town, Where He Was Archbishop To Be Killed
And Their Bodies To Float Down The River. Similar Massacres Were Done All Over France.

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A Group Of Huguenots Decided To Go To The New World. The First Settlement Was In Rio De Janerio
This Site Was Abandoned And They Traveled On To The Coast Of The San Juan River,
Which Is Called St John River In Florida Now. A Fort Was Built : Fort Caroline
For Awhile All Went Well About 600 People Were There. Then The Spainards In Cuba,
Got Wind Of The Huguenot Settlement. They Sent Word Back To France And Spain About
The Colony The Crown Sent Pedro Menendez De Audes To Sail Straight For The Fort
And "Leave Not One Man Alive".
He Landed In Florida At A Shore We Now Call St Augustine
At Dawn On 9-20-1575 He Struck The Fort. He Killed All But A Few Women He Thought He
Could Sell At The South American Slave Auctions. At The Sight Of The Massacre He Put Up
A Sign: "Done, Not To Frenchmen But To Heretics
He Renamed The Fort San Mateo. He Left A Band Of Men At St Augustine And It Became The First
Spanish Settlement In Now What Is The United States Of America. It Was Supposed ,To Have Not
Been The First Settlement In Usa ,But Some Insists That It Was.

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Back In France, The Bloody War Only Intensified The Huguenot Rebellion:
The Huguenot People, Tried To Keep Their Religion And Their Moral's As
Christian As Possible. This Extended To The Soldiers. Very Little
Carousing, No Rape Or Thievery. They Were Highly Respected And Revered
For Their Honor In Battle.
 
Catherine, The Queen Mother, Made Several Decrees, Over The Years,
With The Huguenots, Granting Them Limited Worhsip Rights, But These Decrees
Were Never Respected By The Duke Of Guise Or His Brother, The Cardinal Of Lorraine.
Catherine Had A Daughter, Margaret Of Valois, She Was Proved To

The Most Beautiful And Treacherous And Dissolute Woman Of The Age. Catherine Decided To
Marry Her Off To A Young Man Of The Huguenot Faith, Henry Of Navarre

His Father Was, Antoine De Bourbon, A Nobleman But Without Power. Henrys Mother Was
Queen Of Navarre, A Tiny Kingdom Between France And Spain. Its Language Was
French But Its Religious Teachings Were Of John Calvin. Virtually The Whole
Kingdom Were Huguenots. When He Was 15 Yrs Old He Joined The Protestant Army
Under The Command Of Admiral De Coligny, By 16 He Was In Command Of A Regiment

He Was By This Time King Of Navarre.
In 1572 Catherine De Medici’s Decided To Take No Chances. She Did Not Like The Idea
Of A Protestant "Heretic" In Her Family But She Thought It Wise To Have Henry

Margaret, Marry The Young Man. Henry Accepted. Perhaps He Was Dazzled By Her
Celebrated Beauty. The Catholic Church Did Not Approve Of The Marriage And It Was
Not Held In The Great Notre Dame Cathedral. Henry Was A Symbol, But Not The Leader
Of The Huguenots. Many Huguenot Nobleman Accepted An Invitation To The Wedding
A Series Of Balls And Celebrations Were Planned For The Next Two Weeks.
This Gave Catherine And Her Advisers An Idea That Was Wicked As It Was Horrendous.

They Could, She Decided, Destroy Two Enemies At The Same Time. Bands Of Hired Killers
Could Kill All The Protestant Leaders. This Would Render The Rest Helpless And At The
Same Time ,Prove To The Catholics Of France That King Charles Ix And His Mother
Queen Mother Catherine Were The True Protectors Of The Catholic Faith And Not The
Guise Family. Catherine Decided To Have Henry Of Navarre Killed At The Same Time
Then The Plan Got Larger, All The Huguenots In Paris Including Some Common People
Would Be Put To Death At Once. Several Regiments Of Troops, Loyal To The Queen, Were
Assigned To The Task. Margaret, Working With Her Mother, Took An Active Part In
The Planning And Persuading Her Husband To Join Her In Her Sitting Room At The Louvre.
They Had Only Been Married 1 Week. Had Henry Accepted Her He Would Have Died.
And The History Of France Would Have Been Significantly Altered. The Assassins That
Rushed Into Margarets Suite Did Not Find Henry, He Had Quarreled With Margaret And
Went For A Walk, Leaving The Palace.
The Massacre Went On In Paris And The Catholics, Who Did Not Know Any Better, Joined In
The Search For Huguenots. Hundreds Of Nobles Managed To Escape. In All Thousands Of
Huguenots Were Killed August 23, 1572 Is Known As The St
Bartholomew's Day Massacre Raged For Two Days. Admiral De Coligny Was Knifed
Outside His Home In Paris. Henry Hurried To The Cathedral Of Notre Dame Where He Stripped
Off His Cape And His Sword. Gathered Up A Prayer Book And Walked Through The Crowd
Back To The Louvre. The Crowd Thought He Was A Young Catholic. Henry Then, Realized He
Had Jumped Into The Frying Pan. He Would Not Loose His Wits Again And By Rapid Thinking
Said He Had Converted To Catholicism. King Charles Was Relieved, Margaret Was Pleased
But Catherine Kept Her Thoughts To Her Self. She Rose To The People And Said" The
Huguenot Cause In France Is Dead!". Henry Had Other Thoughts On The Subject.

St Bartholomew's Day Massacre Was A Temporary Victory For A Bigoted, Cruel Woman, But A
Great Man Emerged From The Tragedy. Henry Of Navarre Formed New Ambitions And Goals.
He Was Cool And Self-Disciplined And Bided His Time. He Realized The Catholic Majority
Would Not Surrender And Since A King Of Navarre Could Not Force Frenchmen To Do His
Bidding He Would Have To Take The Throne Of France. For Many Months Catherine Kept Him
Prisoner At The Louvre. He Studied And Planned His Future.
Other Huguenots Managed, One By One ,To Escape Paris, Young Henry Montmorency And Charles
Duc De Biron, Two Huguenot Leaders Continued To Recruit Their Forces.
On Feb 2,1576 Henry Of Navarre Managed To Elude His Guards And Rode Unchallenged Thorugh
Paris. Everywhere, To His Surprise Crowds Greeted Him. Catholics, Protestants, And Jews.
This Angered The Guise Family And Catherine De Medici’s.

Henry Was A Man Not To Be Trusted Now By The Huguenots, They Did Not Know If He Had Really
Became A Catholic Or Was Still A Protestant. But He Offered Them Their Only Real Hope Of A
Future. So , The Huguenots, In Spite Of Misgivings, Followed Henry.

In 1576 Henry Formed A Mighty Army, In He Accepted Men Of All Faith. Men Who Were Willing
To Accept This And For The First Time In History Jews Were Encouraged To Enlist As Well.
Henry Wanted To Unite France, To End The Civil Wars And To Put The People To Work On The
Nation And In Order To Do This He Needed Religious Freedom And In Struggling To Do This
He Gave The World Its First Taste Of Religious Liberty. The Catholic Nation, De Guise, And
The Queen Mother Catherine Were Amazed And Shocked. Deguise Family And Catherine Formed An Organization
Called The "Catholic League". Its Main Aim To Destroy Henry Of Navarre. Henrys Army Grew So
When He Finally Decided To Strike; His Enemies Fled When He Approached. The Deguise Family
Retreated To Their Citadel Of Lorraine But Catherines Armies Were Scattered And Simply
Melted Away. She Was Compelled To Appoint Henry Of Navarre Lieutenant General. He Had A
Strong Base For His Operations. Men Who Admitted They Were Protestants Could No Longer
Be Put To Death By Burning At The Stake. On Paper It Was An Improvement But The Queen And
The Guise Family Continued To Persecute The Huguenots.
 
Maraguirette, His Wife, Continued To Try To Persuade Henry To Change. He Confiscated All Her
Estates And Sold Her Revenues To Pay For His Army And She Spent The Next 20 Years As A
Prisoner In A Castle In A Remote Village Of Usson. She Was Free To Lead Her Life But Not To
Travel More Than 20 Miles From The Castle. Many Authors Over The Years Have Written About Her
Romantically, But Henry Knew Her True Nature And Assigned Guards To Make Her Obey His Orders
In 1580 Henry Led His Army In A Campaign That Took Him From One End Of France To The Other
The Crown Promised And Signed Another Treaty To Halt The Persecution Of The Huguenots.
For Three And One Half Years, There Was An Uneasy Truce.
Catherine And The Deguise Family Quarreled.

The Deguise Family Tried To Take Over The Crown.
Catherine Had No Choice But To Turn To Her Son-In-Law Henry Of Navarre For Help.

Then. On August 1,1589 Catherines Son, Henry Iii, The King At The Time, Was Assassinated.
Leaving The Throne Of France And The Monarch To Henry Of Navarre. Taking The Title Of
King Henry Iv. More And More Frenchmen Regardless Of Their Religion, Rallied To The New King. By 1593 Henry
Virtually All Of France, Except Paris. Paris Was Still Mainly Catholic, Since The St Bartholomews
Day Massacre Had Killed Or Ran Out Most Of The Huguenots. Sully, A Kings Advisor Suggested
He Become A Catholic, Again ,. The Huguenots Were Appalled But Henry Was Quick To Grasp His
Point. He Was For The Unification Of France.
Where He Had Spent Many Months A Prisoner. Henry Iv's Reign Was Remarkable. Corrupt And
Incompetent Office holders Were Replaced By Able Men.
The Nations Debts Were Wiped Out
Sully, A Protestant, Was A Financial Genius, He Amassed A Hugh Treasury Reserve. Henry
Encouraged Foreign Trade. Appointed Many Huguenots And Jews To Prominant Positions In The Cabinet
Canals Were Built And France Became Under His Leadership France Became A Great
Stronghold Of That Era. From 1600 -1610, Henry Devoted Most Of His Time To Internal Matters
Recognized. Persecution Of The Huguenots Had Stopped In The Areas Where He Ruled
An "Edict" Was Drawn Up, In Which Every Protestant In France Had The Right To Worship God
In His Own Way. In Theory It Included The Jews, Although They Were No Longer Actively Persecuted
Henry Iv Was The First To Commit The Principle Of Religious Freedom To Paper. It Is Necessary
To Say That This Delclaration Played In The Growth Of That Same Principle In The "New World"
The French Noblemen Nd Jesuit Priests That Came To North America Lived Under The Provisions
Of This Edict, the Edict Of Nantes.

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Then, Suddenly, In 1610 Henry Was Killed By An Assasin Who Plunged A Knife In His Heart
Some Say A Madman, Others, Secret Agent Of Austria, Still Another , A Catholic
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By The Time Henry Was Assassinated The "Edict Of Nantes" Was Widely Accepted And The Nation
Enjoyed An Era Of Prosperity And France Had Become A Great Power. Henrys Son Louis Xiii Was
Now On The Throne.
 
He Turned To A To A Young Catholic For Advice cardinal De Richelieu
Richelieu Was Made Royal Minister
Although He Was A Catholic, He Was Interested In The State Of France Not The Church. He Loved
Power And Was Obsessed With Making France Stronger And Wealthier. He Knew That The Protestants
In And Around France Were Feuding, Private Wars. A Lot Of The Noblemen Were Huguenots. Richelieu
Tried To Remedy The Situation. First He Issued A Proclamation" No Private Warfare", To
Inforce The Law, All Private Castles Were To Be Destroyed And All Other Fortifications In The
Country Not Supported By The Crown.
In 1627 One Of The Wealthier Of The Huguenots, Duc De Rohan Decided To Create His Own Kingdom
At The Seaport Of La Rochelle, A Number Of Misguided Huguenots Followed Him. Relations Grew
Strained With Richelieu Had To Stop The Uprising. In 1628 Duc De Rohan Was Captured. Although
The Majority Of Huguenots Were Not Involved, The Crown Was Afraid If It Happened Once It Could
Happen Again. Richelieu Decided To Amend The "Edict Of Nantes". He Assured The Huguenots That
Most Of The Edict Would Remain Intact. The Huguenots Were Stripped Of Their Armies, Garrisons
And Special Privileges Of Carrying Arms. For Another Half Century They All Lived Quietly And
Peacefully. When King Louis Xiv Came To The Throne In 1643,
The Monarchy Became Absolute. He Said"

I Am The State." He Wanted All The Huguenots To Convert To Catholicism. They Refused.!!!
In 1683 He Ordered Troops In The Homes Of The Huguenots For The Purpose Of Forcing Them To Listen
To Those Who Were Trying To Convert Them. They Resisted.
Suddenly In 1685 Louis Xiv Revoked The "Edict Of The Nantes"

Deprived Of Their Precious Rights Stripped Of Their Wealth And Land:
And Again Actively Persecuted, The Huguenots Decided They Had
No Future In France.
The Huguenots Started Leaving The Country In Large Numbers:
Holland, Germany, England, And The New world
They Settled In The Frontier Districts Of Massachusetts Maryland, Virginia And Connecticut.
Some Came Ad Indentured Slaves Because They No Longer Had Money To Buy Passage.
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Our Ramey Descendent Of The Huguenots Jacques (Jacob) Remy Was One Such Person. He Had
Came From Lorraine France Where The Catholic Cardinal Of Lorraine Had Lived. His Father
And Grandfather Before Him Had Been Killed For Being Huguenots.
The Protestants Who Remained In France Either Accepted Conversion Or Pretended To Accept It
Many Huguenots Continued To Practice Their Religion Undercover, This Was Not Found Out Until
Years Later When When Finally The Old Religious Restrictions Were Torn Away A Sudden
Emergence Of A Fairly Substantial Group Of Huguenots Throughout France Appeared.
Gradually A Form Of More Stable Government Was Formed In France.
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When The Pilgrims Landed At Plymouth Rock In 1620, They Had Already Been Profoundly Influenced
By Their Refugee Neighbors In Holland. They Used A Lot Of The Huguenot Ideas An Covenants
Through The Lineage Was Different Names.
Moline Became Mullins
Phillipe De La Noye, Became Delano, The Spelling Used By Franklin Delano Roosevelt
The First Group In Massachusetts Was Under Jean Touton, Who Fled From Rochelle, France
Phillip L'anglois Became Phil English In Salem Mass In 1670
The Huguenots In America Became Known As The "Calvinists" After The Teachings Of Calvin.
Brun Became Browne
Touzell,  Chevalier,  Morall,  Feveryear,  Voudin,  Dellaclose, Valpy, And Lefavor Are Some Surnames That
Came Over With Phil English To Mass
One Of The First Vice Directors Of Delaware Was Jean Paul Jacquett Whose Family ,Like The Astors
Came From The Huguenots That Had Fled France
In Philadelphia Among The Quakers, Were The Families Of De La Vall, Du Castle ,And Doz
All Huguenots.
All Along The Eastern United States Huguenots Settled. The Role Of The Huguenots In The South
During The American Revolution Was Even More Prominent Than That Of Huguenots Like The Reveres
In The North. When The News Of The Battle Of Lexington Reached S Carolia, A Huguenot, Henry
Laurens And John Huger Aroused Carolinians To Support The Independence. The Southern Huguenots
Were Fervently For The Revolution. Francis Marion, "The Swamp Fox" Was An American Along With
General Richard Montgomery (Great Revolutionary Soldiers) Traced Their Ancestry Back To The
Civil Wars In France. Volunteers From The Huguenot Colonies Joined "Marion's Brigade".
Our Huguenot Ancestry Is Spread Over The United States And Was Profoundly The Basis Of Freedom
Of The Right To Worship In The United States.
The Nationalities Of The Huguenots, Were French, German, Spanish, Flemish, English And Italian:
At The Time Of The 16th Century. Before That Many People Believe They Came From Egypt. It Is
Hard To Say Where The First Of Our Remy, Remi, Ramey Originally Family Started.
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As Individuals, Sacrificed In Fire, Tortured On The Rack, Exiled, The Huguenots Lost

Theirs Was The Predestined Fate Of The Vanguards. But Those Who Survived Nurtured Among Us
The Ideal Of Personal Freedom With Responsibility. And Although We Still Have Not Entirely
Found The True Freedom Without That Goal What Other Purpose Is There?
We Still Face The Ancient Enemy, The Tyranny Of Power That Deprives People Of Their Rights
Whenever, With Each Generation, We Fight To Keep Alive The Rights Of Our Forefathers Who Won
For Us With Their Blood, We Fight The Battle Of The

Huguenots

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Our Triumphs Are Theirs
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This Short History Was Written By Gay Lynne Ramey Wells.
Ramey Is A derivitive of the original Remy
A Huguenot Family


Excerpts Were Taken From The Books: The Days Of The Upright, By O.I.O. Roche
The Edict Of The Nantes, By Noel Gerson

When You Read This I Hope It Will Make You Interested Enough To Read For Yourself About The
Huguenots And Their Influence On The World. Your Local Library Will Have Books Or They Will
Obtain Them From Other Libraries, As Mine Did

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