Hauts Lieux›The great stories

The Desert: the Protestants of the Cévennes, from the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685) to the Edict of Tolerance (1787)

19 min read

From the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes (Fontainebleau, 18 October 1685) to the Edict of Tolerance (November 1787): dragonnades (1681-1685), exodus, night-time assemblies, War of the Camisards (1702-1704), galley slaves, women prisoners of the Tower of Constance (Marie Durand, 1730-1768), Church rebuilt by Antoine Court (1715), then remembrance at Mialet (museum of 1910, Assembly since 1911)

On 18 October 1685, at Fontainebleau, Louis XIV revokes the Edict of Nantes. Tens of thousands of Protestants go into exile. The others hide, pray at night in the ruins of their temples and sing psalms. In 1702, the death of an abbé at Le Pont-de-Montvert sets off the War of the Camisards. Men rowed on the king’s galleys, women remained locked up in the Tower of Constance. Antoine Court then rebuilds the Churches, up to the Edict of Tolerance of 1787. The route runs from Rolland’s house to the cathedrals of the reconquest, and says what each side did.