Читать книгу Walking in the Cevennes. 31 walks and the Tour of Mont Lozere онлайн

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Finally the forces of authority led by the Maréchal de Villiers managed to seriously wound Cavalier after discovering his arms depot. He then capitulated and was accused of treachery by his compatriots. Fleeing to England he eventually became Governor of the island of Jersey. In the autumn of 1703 the Maréchal de Montrovel, the chief of the royalist forces, decided to burn 32 parishes loyal to the Camisard cause. Roland continued to fight but was betrayed and killed near Uzzes in 1704. After that the Camisards lost heart and the war fizzled out.

In 1787 the Edict of Nantes was reinstated and the Protestants were free again to lick their wounds and rebuild their chapels. When walking in the Cevennes it is not unusual to come across isolated small graveyards; since the people did not wish to bury their dead in the official Catholic cemeteries they buried them on their land or, in many cases, in their basements so they would not be discovered by the royalist soldiers!

The War of the Camisards has become a legend of Cevenese pride and endurance, but has permanently marked the mentality of the people, who tend to be uncommunicative and self-contained. Although many villages, particularly in the north Gevaudan, reconverted to Catholicism, the majority of the region has remained strongly Protestant; it has taken until the Second World War for the tensions to really heal so that both religious communities can live together in harmony.