"ONE KING, ONE FAITH!"
LOUIS FORBIDS PROTESTANTISM
AND MUCH OF THE MOST DYNAMIC POPULATION LEAVES:
THE EDICT IS THOUGHT THE ABERRATION
OF AN AGING BIGOT ISOLATED IN VERSAILLES
(The "Revocation of the Edict of Nantes" * in 1685)
* The decree tolerating Protestantism at the end of the civil wars (in 1594)
But if one translates "Protestants" by "nascent capitalists"
and understands that their activities transform society
-- as producers' Islam did that of animists --
a practical reason for making them convert appears
 |
| Dragonnade (detail) by Maurice Leloir |
• Penalities for being Protestant have increased
since the beginning of the reign,
and dragoons billeted in Protestant homes
behave with increasing violence.
Now Louis tells them they may do
since the beginning of the reign,
and dragoons billeted in Protestant homes
behave with increasing violence.
Now Louis tells them they may do
anything to Protestants except kill them,
unless they convert
• Europe's first exodus means that:
° In Reims, the number of looms is halved.
° Hatmaking moves to England and Holland.
° Over half the watchmaking moves back to Switzerland.
° Previously busy ports decline.
° In Sedan, there are no skilled workers.
° In Lyons, 9000 out of 12,000 silk weavers leave.
France takes two centuries to recover.
Les enragés de Dieu, 296
Men who are caught trying to leave are sent to the galleys, women imprisoned for life.
The refugees are welcomed in Holland, the German states, Russia, England, the American colonies, South Africa.
People with French names in Protestant countries are often those Protestants' descendants (as I am -- Catherine Aubin).
° Protestants who convert keep their fortunes
and are honored and rewarded
Each day the king receives hundreds of names.
Sincerity is impossible.
That doesn't matter.
° At first glance the prohibition seems pointless --
Protestants are fitting in
Fathers send their sons to Jesuit schools, their daughters would rather marry a Catholic than stay single, moralists cannot keep girls from dressing up, boys from drinking and gambling with Catholics in taverns and youth generally from going to dances, the theater, participating in the Carnaval...
As well, paying pastors' salaries and their trips to synods is expensive.
The heroic times have passed.
-- -- History of the Protestants of France dir. Ph. Wolff, 2001
° Is ending Protestant (capitalist) practices
the real goal?
Must the converted stop working on holidays? Lending at interest? Investing money, emphasizing austerity? Show their sincerity by donating the the Church and spending ostentatiously? In short, must they take up the traditional obstacles to growth?
The subject has not been broached to my knowledge.
At the Royal Chapel of Versailles the image of God hovers directly over the king's pew (in 1689).
The image of God changes again. Instead of being represented by light he is shown as an energetic patriarch, like the king.
The subject has not been broached to my knowledge.
• Destruction and authority coincide,
 |
God in majesty by Antoine Coypel, Versailles royal chapel / Internet, photographer not named
|
The image of God changes again. Instead of being represented by light he is shown as an energetic patriarch, like the king.
• Comparisons:
° Like the Mauretanian nobles
who raid producers for market
doesn't Louis mean,
"We only want to keep you in your little corner?"
Like the public that cheers as the executioner brandishes heads and Senufo who approve Nambolosse's "crimes," most French people acclaim the forced conversions and the terrible punishment of Protestants captured in flight.
Kings protect their societies by violence
Louis violently eliminates the producers themselves
Like the public that cheers as the executioner brandishes heads and Senufo who approve Nambolosse's "crimes," most French people acclaim the forced conversions and the terrible punishment of Protestants captured in flight.
when peaceful methods fail --
their subjects support them.
* * *
Next,
Detour:
A faith specific to France
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