Louis XIV Revokes the Edict of Nantes

Since 1598 the Edict of Nantes had regulated the standing of the Reformed in France and the places where they might worship (Edict of Fontainebleau preamble); see the Edict of Nantes. In October 1685, at Fontainebleau, Louis XIV revoked it (Edict of Fontainebleau preamble) (Edict of Fontainebleau dating clause).

The preamble gives the king’s reasons. His grandfather Henry IV, it says, had granted the edict to keep the peace and in order to work the better for reuniting to the church those who had left it. Henry’s sudden death, and then foreign wars under his son, had prevented the design. Now, with the kingdom at peace, “the better and the greater part” of the Reformed had embraced the Catholic faith, so that the edict no longer served any purpose (Edict of Fontainebleau preamble).

The articles then set out the measures. The Edict of Nantes and the Edict of Nîmes of 1629 are revoked and all Reformed churches are to be demolished at once; the Reformed may not meet for worship in any place or private house, and nobles may not hold services on their estates (Edict of Fontainebleau art. 1–3). Ministers who will not become Catholics must leave the kingdom within fifteen days of publication and may not preach in the meantime, on pain of the galleys (Edict of Fontainebleau art. 4). Ministers who convert keep the exemptions from the taille and from billeting that they had as ministers and receive a pension a third larger than their former salary (Edict of Fontainebleau art. 5–6 (French text)). Reformed schools are closed, and children born to Reformed parents are to be baptized by the parish priests and brought up as Catholics (Edict of Fontainebleau art. 7–8). Those who have already left France may recover their property if they return within four months; everyone else is forbidden to leave, the men on pain of the galleys, the women of imprisonment and confiscation (Edict of Fontainebleau art. 9–10). The last article allows the Reformed who remain to live and trade in the kingdom without being troubled for their religion, provided they do not practise it or assemble for prayer (Edict of Fontainebleau final article).

The Elector of Brandenburg, Frederick William, who was himself Reformed, described the situation in other terms. His Edict of Potsdam, dated 29 October 1685, speaks of persecution and harsh treatment that had driven many families out of France, and offers them a safe and free refuge in his lands (Edict of Potsdam preamble). It arranges ships and passports for the journey, frees the newcomers’ goods from duties, gives them houses, land, tax exemptions and the rights of native subjects, and provides that they shall have their own pastors and worship in French (Edict of Potsdam art. 1–11). Among the towns it names for their settlement are Magdeburg, Halle and Königsberg (Edict of Potsdam art. 1–11). Roman Catholics are excluded from the offer (Edict of Potsdam art. 13 and dating clause).