Author: Vincento

A contribution to the #AtoZchallenge 2024 Who would have thought a humble pedlar from the tiny village of La Grave in the Oisans region of the French Hautes-Alpes would leave a mark on history? Travelling back and forth between his home and the cities of Lyon, Grenoble, Geneva, and Turin, Jean Giraud enjoyed the unique…

A contribution to the #AtoZchallenge 2024 Origins and roles Intendants were royal civil servants in France, appointed during the Old Regime in an attempt at centralising the administration and raising taxes for the war efforts. They were sent to supervise and enforce the king’s will in the provinces and had jurisdiction over three areas: finances, policing and justice….

A contribution to the #AtoZchallenge 2024 What made Huguenots special? The Huguenots were devout Protestants, who followed the teaching of the theologian, John Calvin. They emphasised salvation by faith in Jesus alone and the authority of Scripture. Their places of worship – referred to as temples rather than churches – were deliberately plain, lacking the…

A contribution to the #AtoZchallenge 2024 After the revocation of the Edict of Nantes by King Louis XIV in 1685, the Huguenot faith was banned in France. Everyone had to accept the Catholic faith and attend mass. Whereas women who refused to abjure their Protestant faith could be imprisoned, e.g. in the infamous Tour de…

A contribution to the #AtoZchallenge 2024 More than one of the twenty or so women who frequented Louis XIV’s bedroom answered to the name of Françoise. In fact, his most celebrated maîtresse-en-titre was Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart. She had the title of Marquise de Montespan by marriage, but chose to be called Athénaïs. This post is,…

An aerial view of the northern section of Les Écréhous

A contribution to the #AtoZchallenge 2024 Constance means perseverance. The Tour de Constance in Aigues-Mortes in the south of France demanded a great deal of perseverance from the Huguenot women imprisoned there. This unique tower was erected in 1242 by King Louis IX, on the site of a previous structure built by Charlemagne in about…

A contribution to the #AtoZchallenge 2024 Imagine being thrown out of your own country as a rebel with fifteen days’ notice, and having to leave your daughters behind. This happened to Pastor Élie Benoist when, in 1685, King Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes. Although from a humble background, Élie Benoist was a learned…

A contribution to the #AtoZchallenge 2024 Abjuration? What a strange word that is. It means a solemn repudiation upon oath of some right or privilege. In the context of the religious strife in France in the 16th and 17th centuries, it referred to a formal renunciation one’s faith and adoption of a different one. Even…