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Article: Persecution of a minority.
- 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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Louis XIV's revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 was an expression of the wishes of an entire society. By the late 1600s, the Huguenots were a small minority, but to the Catholic majority they seemed to present a real threat. Their style of worship and their refusal to honor Catholic symbols or to join the rest of the community at Mass made them different. Their beliefs were thought to offend God.
For decades, appeals had poured in to the king calling for action against the Huguenots. Louis XIV responded with one law after another designed to make the Protestants' life uncomfortable and to persuade them to convert. Special funds were established to reward ...