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Article: Who were the Huguenots?
- Article from:
- Calliope
- Article date:
- March 1, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Carus Publishing Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The Huguenots were French Protestants. Their beliefs and church organization followed the model established in Geneva, Switzerland, by John Calvin. Calvin was a Frenchman who had studied ancient Greek and Roman texts and applied to the Bible the same method of establishing the original meaning. This approach to the classics was known as humanism. The word "Huguenot" is probably a corrupted form of the German-Swiss word Eidgenossen, meaning "sworn members of a league." In the early 1560s, French Catholics began to use "Huguenot" as a term of abuse for Calvinists. The Calvinists, however, soon adopted the name with pride.
French Protestantism had its origins within ...