The Huguenot Galley Slaves, from the Memoirs of Jean Martielhe. The captivating true story of Jean Martielhe, who, at sixteen, was forced to flee home and country in search of religious freedom. In the year 1700, a fresh revival of persecution against the Huguenots was storming across southern France under the command of the Duke de la Force. King Louis XIV had issued the infamous "Revocation of the Edict of Nantes" in 1685 and 15 years later, still finding no end to the number of adherents to the Reformed faith, unleashed yet another wave of dragoonades in a determined effort to abolish Protestantism and unite France under Pope, creed, and King. Bibles were burned, children were taken from their parents, conversions were forced by every means, and the citizens were subjected to outrages, torture, and death. Such an unbridled fury against the Protestants excited an exodus of France's most productive and pious citizens, and no further threat of penalty, imprisonment, slavery for life, torture, or execution, could stop it. Follow our young Christian as he perseveres through imprisonments, attempts to bring him to renounce his faith, and ultimately his enslavement on the French Royal Galleys.

This remarkable memoir tells of the miseries of Jean Marteilhe of Bergerac, a Protestant condemned to the Galleys of France for his Religion, who, after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, attempted, like so many French Huguenots, to escape to the more sympathetic Protestant countries bordering France. In 1700, heading through the Ardennes towards Charleroi, he was captured by French Dragoons and thrown into gaol.In 1707 he then found himself, like so many Huguenots, condemned to serve in the French Mediterranean galleys. Little is known of life as a galley slave on these oared vessels. Certainly no accounts have come down to us from ancient Greece or Rome, though a little is known from the time of the Crusades. So Marteilhes racy account represents the only authentic record of the miseries of a galley slave who experienced all the horrors of whips and chains and the dreaded bastinado—foot whipping.For six years he pulled his oar, often seeing friends and co-religionists lashed—sometimes to death—under the whips of the overseers. He himself sustained almost fatal injuries in a bloody engagement with the British off the mouth of the Thames before being released under a general amnesty in 1713.Galley Slave brings vividly to life the sufferings and conditions on the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century galleys and is a unique and unforgettable account.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.