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The War of the Camisards lasted for only two years, but many innocent people, both Catholic and Protestant, were killed as a consequence. The word Camisard comes from the word‘camisa’, meaning chemise (shirt) in the Occitan language, signifying the special shirts worn by the adherents.

The war began with the murder of the Abbot de Chaila, who was harbouring prisoners in his house in Pont-de-Montvert in the Mont Lozère region (see Walk 19), by a group of insurgents led by Esprit Séguier, who was subsequently burnt alive a few weeks later. Surprisingly few of the noble families were involved, and it was mainly a war organised by the peasants, the four commanders being Roland Laporte from Mailet and Castanet from the Aigoual region, who were both wool carders; brickmaker Jouany from Genolhac; and a baker named Cavalier from the southern Cevennes. A number of skirmishes took place, with villages fighting against other villages, the burning of churches on both sides and families torn apart.