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The War of the Camisards

The Cevennes only really entered the pages of history in the early 15th century, when much of the population was converted from Catholicism to the ideologies of Luther and Calvin. Preachers and settlers entered the region spreading the word of this new way of thinking. It fell on fertile ground, and such was the zeal of the local inhabitants that a message was sent to Geneva from the town of Le Vigan in October 1560 asking for a minister. By 1563 twelve ministers were preaching in the region. The reaction of the authorities was to send punitive expeditions into the area, but the inhabitants fled into the countryside and there was little bloodshed.

The Edict of Nantes was issued in 1598, wherein it was stated that religious liberty was permissible throughout France. The Calvinist faith flourished and chapels were built where the population could openly gather and hold services. However, in 1685, Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes and the massacre of the Protestants began. Chapels were burnt, whole villages massacred and those that were not killed were imprisoned or sent to the gallows. Instead of deterring the people this seemed to harden their faith and they gathered secretly in isolated farms and caves to conduct their services, including marriages, baptisms and funerals. Many of the richer and more educated families fled to Calvinistic countries such as Switzerland or Germany; some emigrated to Canada and America. Others decided to stay and fight it out.