Birth of the Huguenots

By Wanda Morissette-Richards

Their persecution was overblown and grand massacres were preferred over imprisonment or banishment. But why? Why were the Huguenots the targets of such brutality? Why were the Huguenot pastors the object of such ire? Why did they have to be annihilated?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Apr 3, 2018
• ISBN: 9781387715435

Book preview

Birth of the Huguenots

Birth of the Huguenots

From the nooks and crannies of the Pyrenees

The Huguenots of the Occitan, inspired by Calvin, persecuted then to the Diaspora...

by Wanda Morissette Richards

author of:

Huguenots and Jews of the Languedoc

Year: 2016

First Edition

ISBN #: 978-1-365-14588-9

Dedication

This book is dedicated to the Huguenot refugees who suffered in France then made their way to a London slum.

After a generation, the English king sent the demoralized Huguenots to the New World and were given land that used to belong to the Monoacan Indian tribe.

Devoid of housing and basic amenities, some survived the brutal winters and the hatred of the local Virginia populace.

May their suffering not be forgotten.

Introduction

Many authors have written about the persecution of the Huguenots that occurred in France during and after the Protestant Reformation. These books outline the cruelty and intolerance of the French monarchy. The persecution was overblown and grand massacres were preferred over imprisonment or banishment. But why? Why were the Huguenots the targets of such brutality? Why were the Huguenot pastors the object of such ire? Why did they have to be annihilated?

The answer lies in the long and colored history of Southern France – a region famous for its legendary conflicts with the Frankish north of France.

The majority of Huguenots hail from Occitania (today known as the Occitan) and are not of Frankish origin. Although the Huguenots spoke French, their native tongue was Occitan (Provencal and Catalan are dialects of Occitan), the language of the people living in the southern French provinces.

Map of the Occitan

Map from: louisthefox.deviantart.com/art/Occitania-Catalonia-Union-455620803

Interesting point: Keep in mind that in this time period, there was no France and there was no Spain.

In this book, I will acquaint you with the multicultural world of the Occitan and its history of mercantilism and education. Along with the history, you will learn of the faiths of the Occitanians and their conflicts with the Frankish tribes.

After reading this book you will know why the people who come from a unique region. In other words, being a Huguenot was more than adopting the Protestant faith, in fact, you will learn that many Occitanian Huguenots rejected many of Calvin’s tenets.

The term Huguenot was a catch-all phrase for all of the French who, during the 1500s left the Catholic Church. My point here is that all non-Catholic Christians in France were called Huguenots were deemed to be the first protestants in France even though the Waldenses (Valdois) had been in France for at least 500 years before the Reformation. This group and similar groups (including the Cathars, Illuminati, etc.)

As everyone interested in their Huguenot ancestry knows, the Huguenots were persecuted in France because of their faith. This highly-educated industrious people had to escape from France. They then contributed to the prosperity of the countries where the refugees fled. But:

     What caused the Huguenots to be different than other Protestants?

     Why have they been referred to as the Huguenot race?

     Who were the Huguenots before the Protestant Reformation?

     Why are most of the Huguenots from the South of France?

These questions will be answered in this book. As you read, you will find that many of the things you have learned about the Huguenots is not altogether true. In my research I have found that a very large number of those called Huguenots were not in fact Calvinists although the highly-literate Huguenots did read John Calvin’s works, but were only attracted to his philosophy because Calvin was going back to the original scriptures. However, as you learn about the Occitanian people prior to the Reformation, you will understand that non-Roman Catholic Christians had lived in the Occitan since the time of Jesus.

For the purposes of this book, I will call:

     Calvinist Huguenots French Calvinists

     Non-Calvinist Huguenots as Huguenots

You will read more about the problems of Calvinism in Occitania in Chapter 4 – Rebeling Against John Calvin.

The inhabitants of Occitania have a unique history that differs greatly from the Frankish north. First and foremost, the Huguenots were not of Frankish origin. And, as you will learn in this book, I make the claim that the majority of the Occitanian Huguenots had never adopted the Roman Catholic faith before the Protestant Reformation.

People of the Occitan

Before the Middle Ages the Occitanians were conquered by the French, yet Frankish tribes never occupied the Occitan. Therefore the Occitanians are the descendants of the Romans and Semitic peoples who migrated to the area via the Mediterranean. Occitania was attractive to merchants because of the prosperous port of Narbonne, the region’s first city. Citation: Descendants of Muslims In Europe - http://www.arfaglobal.com/p/huguenots-anabaptists-were-they-muslims.html

Interesting point: Today the city of Narbonne is no longer found on the shores of the Mediterranean due to two thousand years of silt deposits that have changed the coastline.

The Celts, Romans, Jews, Arabs, and Goths developed trade routes along the Mediterranean from Narbonne. And are the ancestors of the Huguenots. You can see evidence that many Huguenots were not of Frankish origin by their surnames. The names in the list are taken from the Huguenot refugee manifests from ships leaving France after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Here are a few Huguenot surnames:

     Arabin (D'Arabin) - Arabic

     Agee - Agha - from Turkish - meaning leader

     Bascot, Bass, Bassye – Means Basque from Basque language

     Bashew - meaning Pasha from Turkish

     Bilal – Arabic - One of the companions of Muhammed

     David – Hebrew in origin

     Farcy –