Huguenots

Huguenots were French Protestants, chiefly Calvinists, who formed a distinct religious community during the Reformation and faced recurring persecution in France.

Protestant Reformation: A 16th-century movement that challenged Roman Catholic authority and produced enduring Protestant churches. Its spread in France supplied the religious ideas behind Huguenot communities.
Massacre of Vassy: A 1562 attack on Huguenot worshippers in Vassy that helped trigger the French Wars of Religion. The killings became a catalyst for open warfare between French religious factions.
Jeanne d'Albret: Queen of Navarre and a leading Protestant ruler during the French Wars of Religion. Her conversion and patronage strengthened Reformed Protestantism in Navarre.
Huguenot diaspora: The migration of French Protestants, especially after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. It transformed a persecuted French community into a network across Europe and overseas.
John Calvin: A French theologian whose writings helped shape Reformed Protestantism. His theology became the dominant influence on French Protestant belief.
St. Bartholomew's Day massacre: A wave of killings of Huguenots in France beginning in Paris on August 24, 1572. It was the most notorious episode of anti-Huguenot violence during the wars.
Admiral Gaspard de Coligny: A French nobleman and Huguenot military leader during the Wars of Religion. His prominence made him a central target in the 1572 massacre.
Huguenot silk weavers in Spitalfields: French Protestant refugees who established a silk-weaving district in London’s Spitalfields. Their settlement demonstrates how refugee crafts reshaped a host city’s economy.
Calvinism: A Protestant theological tradition shaped by John Calvin’s teachings and later Reformed churches. It describes the principal religious tradition followed by Huguenots.
Edict of Nantes: A 1598 French royal edict granting Huguenots limited religious rights and civil protections. It ended the wars while establishing a fragile framework for Huguenot worship.

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