From the author of Louis XIV, an unprecedented history of the entire Huguenot experience in France, from hopeful beginnings to tragic diaspora. Following the Reformation, a growing number of radical Protestants came together to live and worship in Catholic France. These Huguenots survived persecution and armed conflict to win—however briefly—freedom of worship, civil rights, and unique status as a protected minority. But in 1685, the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes abolished all Huguenot rights, and more than 200,000 of the radical Calvinists were forced to flee across Europe, some even farther. In this capstone work, Geoffrey Treasure tells the full story of the Huguenots’ rise, survival, and fall in France over the course of a century and a half. He explores what it was like to be a Huguenot living in a “state within a state,” weaving stories of ordinary citizens together with those of statesmen, feudal magnates, leaders of the Catholic revival, Henry of Navarre, Catherine de’ Medici, Louis XIV, and many others. Treasure describes the Huguenots’ disciplined community, their faith and courage, their rich achievements, and their unique place within Protestantism and European history. The Huguenot exodus represented a crucial turning point in European history, Treasure contends, and he addresses the significance of the Huguenot story—the story of a minority group with the power to resist and endure in one of early modern Europe’s strongest nations. “A formidable work, covering complex, fascinating, horrifying and often paradoxical events over a period of more than 200 years…Treasure’s work is a monument to the courage and heroism of the Huguenots.”—Piers Paul Read, The Tablet

Supported by the beliefs of their faith, twins Renee and Albret and the rest of the Martineau family stand fast during the persecution of the French Huguenots by King Louis XIV and the Roman Church in 1685.

This volume provides an English translation of firsthand testimonies by three early modern French women. It illustrates the Huguenot experience of persecution and exile during the bloodiest times in the history of Protestantism: the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, the dragonnades, and the Huguenot exodus following the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The selections given here feature these women’s experiences of escape, the effects of religious strife on their families, and their reliance on other women amid the terrors of war. Edited by Colette H. Winn. Translated by Lauren King and Colette H. Winn The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe: The Toronto Series, Vol. 68

France, 1637. Young French Huguenot Ambroise Sicard and his family desperately seek a life free from religious persecution. Determined to travel to the New World, they leave their home in France, bring only a few possessions, and depend on the kindness of strangers to stay safe. Ambroise the Huguenot follows the Sicard family as they bravely leave behind everything they know to come to a foreign, unsettled country. Told from Ambroise's viewpoint, this biography follows the young Ambroise from his home in France and his journey across the ocean to a new beginning in what would eventually become the United States of America. Esther Secor Cleveland, a direct descendant of Ambroise Sicard, thoroughly researched life in France during the 1600s to deliver this compelling tale of her ancestors' courage. With highly detailed information about seventeenth-century local history, people, food, and customs, Ambroise the Huguenot is destined to garner a worthy place on the bookshelf of anyone interested in Huguenot ancestry.

HENRI IV (1553-1610) was a favorite among French kings -- for good reason. Born a Protestant in southwestern France, he was centuries ahead of his time in his ideas about religious tolerance. Like his friend the philosopher Michel de Montaigne, he fought for Protestants and Catholics to live peacefully together and succeeded in ending decades-long civil wars. However, his lust and driving sexuality often threatened to upset his high ideals. The Royal Huguenot takes pace during the struggle for power among the Bourbon, Guise, and Valois families in 16th century France and tells the often lurid and surprising story of the five most prominent women in his life: Marguerite de Valois (1553-1615), oftentimes called "Queen Margot," was Henri IV's first wife and a Catholic. She was intelligent, manipulative, and could be either a trial or a temptress for Henry. Their arranged marriage was meant to end the wars between the Catholics and the Huguenots, French Protestants. Corisande d'Andoins (1554-1620) was Henry's true love, but she was too proud and wise to become only his mistress or follow him from battlefield to battlefield. Gabrielle d'Estrées (1573-1599), besotted Henry for many years, and bore him four illegitimate children before an early death would snatch the throne from her. Henriette d'Entragues (1579-1633), wily and beautiful, crazed Henry with her intrigues to trap him into making her his queen. Marie de Medici (1573-1642), an Italian princess, finally became Henry's queen and bore him six children, including Louis XIII, so securing a long line of French Bourbon kings.

The Huguenots were the most successful refugees to leave their homeland in search of freedom. The book tells of their questioning of the established Catholic faith in France and continues through the rise of Calvinism, the wars of religion, the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and the global diaspora of the Huguenots. It examines the national events that shaped their times, and brings to life some of their personal stories of persecution and flight, and how they travelled far and wide to begin new lives with the promise of religious and personal freedom. The book not only tells their history but informs the reader of the numerous, diverse and ingenious inventions, many of which are still much in evidence in our lives today. The book focuses mainly on France and the United Kingdom but within its covers can be found a kaleidoscope of information of their worldwide diaspora. Included within its pages are countless, often previously unpublished, Huguenot family histories set against the events they lived through. The book covers 500 years of history from 1517-2017 and includes many courageous and selfless acts of Huguenot descendants during both world wars and identifies many well-known individuals who have Huguenot ancestry. There is also information on how to research your Huguenot ancestors. The book has been described as a factual novel as it embraces both dedicated meticulous cross-referenced research with the easy read of a novel. A book with a difference that will suit both academic scholars and those who have very little knowledge of the Huguenots but would like to know more.

The Global Refuge is the first global history of the Huguenots, Protestant refugees from France who scattered around the world in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Inspired by visions of Eden, these religious migrants were forced to navigate a world of empires, forming colonies in North America, the Caribbean, and even South Africa and the Indian Ocean.