The French Huguenots

The earliest ancestors of Ellis Duval, father of Julius Forest Duvall and Wilma Gladys Duvall Whittlesey, to immigrate to the New World were French Huguenots escaping religious persecution. To know our ancestors it is important that we know their history, for it is also our history and has helped to mold us into the people we are today.

The Vaudois

One can go back as far as the first few centuries after the birth of Christ to find the bases of the Huguenots. It is sufficient to say however, that the origin of the Huguenots is founded in the unrest and disillusionment with the Roman Catholic Church. The predecessors to the Huguenots were known as the Vaudois. We start around 1150 AD with Peter Waldo, a wealthy merchant residing in Lyons. Experiencing the untimely and sudden death of an acquaintance apparently awakened in Waldo the understanding of the frailty of human life. He renounced his worldly goods and committed his vast wealth to promoting the gospel. The Roman Catholic clergy tried, without success, to thwart him, and he was able to influence many in the Languedoc region of Southern France. One of the most important steps taken by Waldo was to translate the Latin Bible into his native Gaul language so that it could be read and understood by the masses. One of the major tenets of Protestantism, at least as intended by its’ original leaders, is transparency. The primary beliefs held by Waldo and the Vaudois were:

“I. The Vaudois held the holy Scriptures to be the source of faith and religion, without regard to the authority of the fathers or to tradition; and though they principally used the New Testament, yet, as Usher proves from Reinier and others, they regarded the Old also as canonical scripture. From their greater use of the New Testament, their adversaries charged them however with despising the Old Testament.

II. They held the entire faith according to all the articles of the apostles' creed.

III. They rejected all the eternal rites of the dominant church, excepting baptism and the sacrament of the Lord's supper, as, for instance, temples, ventures, images, crosses, pilgrimages, the religions worship of the holy relics, and the rest of the Roman sacraments; these they considered as inventions of Satan and of the flesh, full of superstition.

IV. They rejected the papal doctrine of purgatory, with, masses, or prayers for the dead, acknowledging only two terminations of the earthly state—heaven and hell.

V. They admitted no indulgences nor confessions of sin, with any of their consequences, excepting mutual confessions of the faithful for instruction and consolation.

VI. They held the sacraments of baptism and of the eucharist to be only symbols, denying the real presence of Christ in the bread and wine, as we find in the authoritative book of the sect concerning antichrist, and as Ebrard de Bethunia accuses them in his book Antihoeresios.

VII. They held only three ecclesiastical orders: bishops, priests, and deacons; other systems they esteemed mere human figments; that monasticism, then in great vogue, was a putrid carcass, and vows the invention of men; and that the marriage of the clergy was lawful and necessary.

VIII. Finally, they denounced Rome as the whore of Babylon, denied obedience to the papal domination, and vehemently repudiated the notions that the pope had any authority over other churches, and that he had the power either of the civil or the ecclesiastical sword.”2

By the end of the 12th Century, the Vaudois had spread their beliefs to many in not only Languedoc, but also into parts of Italy, Germany and Spain. It was at this time, in 1198, that Innocent III ascended to the pontifical throne. He was less tolerant of the Vaudois than his predecessors and “he charged his satellites to burn the chiefs of the Vaudois, to disperse their flocks, to confiscate their property, and to consign to perdition every soul who ventured to think otherwise than as he directed.”3 Initially, Innocent III’s efforts were focused more at trying to persuade rather than win over the insurgents “by the sword”.

Innocent III was particularly aware of the growth in popularity of the Vaudois in Southern France and sent his inquisitors to subdue them. The arrogance of the inquisitors however, managed to offend all classes of the Languedoc society, so their success was only marginal at best. Count Raymond of Toulouse, who presided over Languedoc and Provence, was tolerant of the Vaudois, which upset Innocent III to no end. On May 29, 1207, he wrote to Count Raymond confirming the prohibition against the practices of the Vaudois, and began his letter: "If we could open your heart, we should find, and would point out to you, the detestable abominations that you have committed; but as it is harder than the rock, it is in vain to strike it with the words of salvation; we cannot penetrate it. Pestilential man, what pride has seized your heart, and what is your folly, to refuse peace with your neighbors, and to brave the divine laws by protecting the enemies of the faith? If you do not fear eternal flames, ought you not to dread the temporal chastisements which you have merited by your so many crimes?"4 This letter did not have the effect that was intended, and in January, 1208, a legate of the Pope’s excommunicated Count Raymond. The Count responded by threatening the legate who immediately quit his post, but was followed, unbeknownst to Count Raymond, by one of the Count’s men, and on the night of January 14, 1208 was killed. The Pope was infuriated and responded with “the sword”. This was the beginning of the “Sacred War”.

Count Raymond was terrified. He agreed to submit to any terms and offered to be totally supportive of and the executor of any attacks against the Vaudois, even if they were against his own family.

While the “Sacred War” was being fought against the Protestants in Europe the Catholic Church was also waging The Crusades against the Muslim world. The murder and pillage was worse on the European battlefield than on the Eastern continents however, perhaps because of the closer proximity of the European Protestants to Rome. To the Pope the threat of the Protestants was on the Vatican’s doorstep, and he responded accordingly. In the city of Beziers, in Southern France, the Pope’s armies murdered more people than had ever before been killed in the world; it is estimated that between forty and sixty thousand were massacred.5

What the Pope’s armies did not succeed in doing was totally exterminating the Vaudois. Their beliefs still spread, and they were even more hostile toward the Catholic Church. The terror against them continued under the tutelage of the tyrant Lord Simon de Montfort. Montfort was helped somewhat by the Catholic populace majority who were accustomed to confiding in their priests, listening to Rome, and who viewed the Vaudois as heretics. The atrocities inflicted upon the Vaudois are among the worst in history. Many of the Vaudois fled to less hostile territories. Others quietly and stoically continued to follow their religious beliefs.

In 1229 the Council of Toulouse established the Inquisition in the province of Provence. Among its edicts were that nobody could possess or read a Bible. Further, for those who were followers of Vaudois, if they became ill, medical care would not be provided to them.

The Vaudois did not totally disappear. They quietly passed their beliefs down from generation to generation. It is their perseverance that is thought to have been “the bridge which spanned the black abyss which yawned between the overthrow of the Vaudois church in Languedoc and the birth of Luther”.6 They are also known to have influenced Wickliffe and the eventual break of the Church of England from Rome. Many Vaudois had escaped to Germany, where the writings of Wickliffe precipitated the development of the independent evangelical church. It was the invention of the printing press that eventually revived Protestantism in Europe.

The Reformation

In sixteenth century Europe Protestantism was resurrected, and Luther launched the Reformation, with Calvin following as the organizer. The Catholic Church believed that Protestants were heretics denouncing Christianity, and failed to comprehend what the Protestants were expressing in their faith: “[Protestantism] simply sought to comprehend it, and to secure to mankind the liberty to understand it, in a more spiritual and unselfish disposition, in opposition to a worldly priesthood; [Protestantism] called on man to ground his faith, not on the word of a priest, but on the infallible word of God.” The time was ripe for the movement. Scholars and the populace at large were becoming more educated and open to new ideas. France seemed to be especially open to a new theology. “As the abuses of Rome were wide-spread, ripe, and pregnant, the dissenters made many and rapid converts. Francis I, who ruled the realm at the commencement of the Reformation, was the puppet of his own vanity, inordinately fond of gaiety, pomp, and dissipation. Without fixed principles of religion, he regarded questions of faith with indifference, so long as they did not trench upon the domain of policy. The historical rival of Charles V of Spain, when that cunning emperor temporized with the German dissenters, he also tolerated their brothers in France.”7 By the time opposition became strong, half of France were adherents of the Reformers.

It was not religion, but rather pecuniary greed, that influenced the powerful in France to instigate persecution of the Reformers. “The French prelates, though immersed in the lewd pleasures of the court, were too clear-sighted not to see with alarm the precipice upon which their order stood. They had sanctioned the aid furnished by Francis to foment the rebellion of the German Protestants, in order that internecine broils might weaken and perplex the political power of Charles V. But they were not disposed to tolerate the new opinions in France, lest their ascendency should despoil them of their revenues, as it had already despoiled the Germanic bishops.”8 While some members of upper society sided with the Reformers, their influence was not strong enough to impede persecution. “France bled from every pore.”9 The “reform”, however, continued to spread.

It was in this environment that Calvin emerged. He was born July 10, 1509 in the French province of Picardy. His family was poor but well-read. Calvin’s father was determined that his son receive a good education, so when Calvin was fifteen, his father sent him to college at La Marche in Paris. Calvin quickly climbed to the top of his class, and attracted the attention of one of his professors, Mathurin Cordier, who took him “under his wing”, teaching him Hebrew, Greek and Latin, and inspiring him with his love of learning.

Calvin was a Catholic and adhered to the church’s strictest doctrines. By age 18, Calvin had his own parish. It was during this time that Calvin began hearing people discuss the Bible, and the teachings of Luther and others. His intelligence and curiosity impelled him to study. At age 19 Calvin broke with Rome. He left Paris and moved to Orleans and later Bourges where he inspired many to Protestantism. Calvin preached throughout France between 1527 and 1535, often becoming a fugitive. In 1535 he found himself in Geneva, Switzerland on his way to Germany. Historically, Geneva had been much freer and more open to intellectual diversity than elsewhere in Europe. Though Catholic in religion, its citizens had resisted efforts by the Vatican to take control of the governance of the city. The Genevese gradually accepted the Reformation, perhaps initially more on political rather than religious grounds. William Farel of Gap, an eloquent and fervent Protestant preacher, propelled the city council to declare that Geneva would adhere to the Reformation.

It was in this atmosphere that Calvin entered Geneva. His original intention was only to visit with Farel for a few days before continuing to Germany. Recognizing Calvin’s exceptional speaking ability, Farel induced him to stay in Geneva by threatening the “wrath of God” if he were to leave. Farel and Calvin’s welcome in Geneva did not last long due to the strict discipline they preached. They were soon exiled. Calvin spent his time in exile wandering from town to town and corresponding with other Reformers. After the expulsion of its preachers Geneva suffered from much infighting. Its citizens believed the discord to be punishment and begged the two preachers to return. Farel was otherwise engaged, but Calvin returned to Geneva in 1541 as a hero. It was in Geneva that Calvin organized the Reformation.

It was during this time that the Vaudois, encouraged by the support they had from Calvin, reemerged in Provence. There was an edict in effect prohibiting, among other things, the possession of Bibles and adherence to any faith other than Catholicism. The activities of the heretics were reported to Paris. Despite the protestations of many in power in Provence, in 1545 Francis I, King of France, gave permission to use arms against the Vaudois. Villages were destroyed and their inhabitants massacred; more than three thousand people were murdered. The response of the surviving Vaudois was not to retreat but to start meeting in the open; they even went so far as to errect a church in the middle of Paris.

In 1547, Francis I died. His death marked the beginning of the end of French feudalism. Francis I was succeeded by his son Henry II who garnered little respect among the increasingly rivaling factions. Many in the court of Henry II were Protestants but few spoke openly of their faith. One however, Francis Chatillon d’Andelot, admitted his faith to the king and Henry II imprisoned him. His imprisonment merely served to offend the members of the King’s court. The Reformers saw the support for d’Andelot as permission to celebrate their faith in public. The executions however continued.

It was during the reign of Henry II that the term “Huguenot” began to be used for the French Reformers. It gradually replaced the terms “Protestant” and “Evangelical” and became the “universal synonym for politico-ecclesiastical reform”10

The Huguenots

Henry II died and was succeeded in 1559 by his sixteen year old son, Francis II, who was too young to govern. The Jesuits took advantage of the situation to gain a foothold in France. The Huguenots conspired with discontented nobles to unseat the government; this attempt failed and many were hung. France continued under a reign of tyranny.

Young Francis II died unexpectedly at age 17. His younger brother, Charles IX, who was only eleven at the time, succeeded him to the throne. Chaos reigned over the next twenty-five years as various factions tried to gain power. The country was now divided into two great parties, the Triumvirates who answered to Rome, and the Bourbon princes who were supported by the Huguenots and those who longed for political reform. The queen mother, who stood in for her young son, wavered between the two parties.

The Pope, in the meantime, had become alarmed at the increasing tolerance shown to the Huguenots, and encouraged his legate in Paris to use all means to strengthen the papal party in France. The Jesuits managed to bribe one of the Bourbon princes, Antony of Navarre, to change sides and join the Triumvirate. The Romanists had their setbacks though, one of which was the passage of the Edict of January, 1562. This Edict allowed the Huguenots to meet openly. In exchange the Huguenots had to restore the images of saints which they had seized and pay tithe to the Catholic Church.

The effect of the Edict was short-lived, and soon the massacres resumed. At Tours, three hundred Huguenots were imprisoned without food for three days then led to a slaughter-house and butchered. In cities throughout France similar atrocities occurred. The Triumvirates were emboldened by their successes and caused the revocation of the Edict of January throughout France. The Huguenots responded with vengeance. By June, 1562 France was involved in an all out civil war. Both sides were fairly equally matched; neither side held back from terror and destruction. In battle after battle thousands died. The war came to an end in the spring of 1563 with the assassination of one of the leaders of the Triumvirate. The Triumvirate dissolved, and for a short period of time things began to improve for the Huguenots.

Soon however, things were as bad as ever for the Huguenots. The Pope continued to intervene in the politics of France. In 1567, the king of Spain set out to remove the Huguenots from the Netherlands. More battles ensued in France with many killed. But again, there was another short-lived peace.

On the eve of August 23, 1572, St. Bartholomew’s Day, the peace was broken. It was the evening of the wedding of Henry of Navarre, a Huguenot, to Marguerite de Valois, a daughter of Catherine de Medici. Thousands of Huguenots had come to Paris for the festivities. But instead of festivities, Paris became the scene of one of the worst massacres in history. Catherine de Medici encouraged her son, King Charles IX to order the killings. The carnage continued in Paris for three days and nights. The slaughter spread throughout France. The heads of the most distinguished Huguenot families did not escape death. Somewhere between seventy and one hundred thousand were killed in the massacre. The only reason Henry of Navarre’s life was spared was that he pretended to support the Roman Catholic Church (twenty years later, in 1593, Henry renounced his faith and joined the Catholic Church; in 1597 he became Henry IV (le bon Henri), King of France).

When the massacre was over King Charles IX declared that each anniversary of St. Bartholomew’s Day should be celebrated with festivities and parades. Pope Gregory XIII was jubilant. He went with all of his cardinals to St. Mark’s and ordered prayers that “the Most Christian King might rid and purge his entire kingdom (of France) of the Huguenot plague.”11

The next several years were difficult for the Huguenots. But, in 1598 Henry of Navarre became king of France. Shortly after being crowned Henri IV signed the Edict of Nantes which brought a temporary end to the Wars of Religion. However, when Henri IV was murdered in 1610, the persecution of the Huguenots resumed.

After the death of Henri IV, his weakling son, Louis XIII took the realm. He refused to grant the Huguenots the privileges they had been granted by the Treaty of Nantes. Cardinal Richelieu became powerful and glorified in the extermination of the “dissenters”. His forces captured the last stronghold of the Huguenots, La Rochelle, in 1629 after a month long siege.

Many Huguenots fled France. They tended to seek asylum in the Netherlands, Germany and England. After the Battle at La Rochelle the Huguenots disbanded their political organization. For the next few years there was a relative peace, but always with an underlying fear of persecution. It was during this time that Ellis Duvall’s ancestors, Benoit Basseur, Mary Richford and Mareen Duvall (the Emigrant) left France for England and eventually for the New World.