Who were the French Hugonauts?

Question

Bri - that's weird, they're my grandads ancestors too

Answer 1

The Huguenots were French Protestants who were members of the Reformed Church which was established in 1550 by John Calvin (who lived from 1509 to 1564).
The origin of the name Huguenot is uncertain, but dates from approximately 1550 when it was used in court cases against "heretics" (dissenters from the Roman Catholic Church). There is a theory that it is derived from the personal name of Besançon Hugues.
During the infamous St Bartholomew Massacre of the night of 23/24 August, 1572 more than 8 000 Huguenots, including Admiral Gaspard de Coligny, Governor of Picardy and leader and spokesman of the Huguenots, were murdered in Paris.
It happened during the wedding of Henry of Navarre, a Huguenot, to Marguerite de Valois (daughter of Catherine de Medici), when thousands of Huguenots converged on Paris for the wedding celebrations.
It was Catherine de Medici who persuaded her weakling son Charles IX to order the mass murder, which lasted three days and spread to the countryside. On Sunday morning August 24th, 1572 she personally walked through the streets of Paris to inspect the carnage. Henry of Navarre's life was spared when he pretended to support the Roman Catholic faith. In 1593 he made his "perilous leap"and abjured his faith in July 1593, and 5 years later he was the undisputed monarch as King Henry IV of France.
When the first rumors of the massacre reached the Vatican in Rome on 2 September 1572, pope Gregory XIII was jubilant and wanted bonfires to be lit in Rome.
The religious wars between these protestants and the ruling Catholics (especially under Louis XIV) led to the exodus of Huguenots from France created a kind of brain drain from which the kingdom did not fully recover for years. One branch of my family fled to German territory along with about 40,000 other French Huguenots. Thousands left France for Holland, England Ireland, and South Africa with some coming to America as well. They tended to be middle class people with skills or trades. My family people were all brewers - - they made beer in the Heidelberg area since the late 1600s.

Answer 2

To add to what other posters have said, the once derogatory term Huguenot applied to a member of the Protestant Reformed Church of France, or the French Calvinists, although Huguenot may be a French corruption of the German word "Eidgenosse", meaning Confederate. French Protestants primarily came from the Southern and Central regions of France and were primarily skilled craftsmen and city dwellers.

French Protestant emigres to Great Britain settled in London and worked in the weaving industry or else came to work in the Irish linen industry.

However, Huguenots came to the American colonies as well, perhaps among the most famous of them being the patriot Paul Revere. Henry David Thoreau was also of Huguenot descent. My paternal grandfather's mother had a Huguenot surname, Keesee, which apparently came from an English mispronunciation of "La Cage".

Answer 3

Huguenots (pronounced Hewg-en-ohs) were French protestants. In 1564 after the Massacre of St Bartholomew's Days in which thousands of Huguenots were murdered in Paris and other major French cities, many of them fled to England, Holland, Switzerland and then to America, particularly to Maine and New Hampshire where their descendants now flourish. In the 17th century another group settled the Carolina coast.

Answer 4

The Huguenots were French Calvinist protestants, many of whom fled (Catholic) France in the 16th and 17th Century, especially in the 16th Century after the St Bartholomew massacre of 23rd/24th August 1572 and the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. There were various 'waves' of Huguenot emogration during the 16th/17th centuries dependant on France's 'toleration' towards them.

Henry IV (who was a Protestant himself until he converted in 1593 largely to secure his throne reputedly saying 'Paris is worth a mass'-although he remained sympathetic to the protestant cause), in the Edict of Nantes 1598 granted the Huguenots freedom to follow their consciences in matters of faith and promoted religious toleration.

However, in October 1685, Henry's grandson, Louis XIV repealed the Edict of Nantes with the Edict of Fontainbleau. Whilst this did not cause civil war over religion in France, this caused many French protestants to emigrate, to the netherlands, Germany, Prussia and England (the East End, Spitalfields and East Anglia-Essex/Norfolk areas- the silk weavers and other skilled and hardworking tradespeople- I think my family are descended from these Huguenots). The loss of these skilled individuals to other countries damaged France.

Answer 5

Further to the previous answers they were also my ancestors on my maternal grandmothers side. They fled to England under persecution and the first few generations led lives of unbelievable poverty and hardship, some surviving on a paupers stipend, others in the workhouse, until one of the daughters survived childhood (her parents died when she was in her teens) and made a reasonable marriage to a self employed hackney cab driver.

Answer 6

The Huguenots were French Protestants, hounded by King Louis [the so-called Sun King] of France. Many thousands of Huguenots settled here in England, from the reign of HM Queen Elizabeth I and on through the reign of Charles II - when England was an established Protestant nation.

Many Huguenots settled in the American Colonies, in particular in the Carolinas, where they joined other Protestants who eventually established the world's first modern democracy following their successful Revolution and War of Independance from Britain.

POWER TO THE PEOPLE.

Many Huguenots are buried in a church yard [burial ground] at Wandsworth in South London.

Some famous descendants of the Huguenots include such as the following well known showbiz folk [no gone] - Hattie Jaques and John Lemessurer.

The links below will supply a lot more infomation : -

Cyndi's List - Huguenot The Huguenots in England : Immigration and Settlement, C. 1550-1700 A book by Bernard J. Cottret. The Huguenots of Colonial South Carolina ...
http://www.cyndislist.com/huguenot.htm - Similar pages

BBC - Legacies - Immigration and Emigration - England - London ...Stigmatized by oppressive laws and facing severe persecution, many Huguenots (Protestants) fled France. In 1681, Charles II of England offered sanctuary to ...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/legacies/immig_emig/ england/london/article_1.shtml

Huguenot History The strong religious beliefs of the Huguenots in England strained their relations with the Anglican church, and many who aligned themselves with the ...
http://www.witness.com.au/huguenots.htm

The following links will take you to the burial gound[s] of many Huguenots here in London - esp. at Wandsworth.

London TownTalk - The Huguenot Burial Ground Discover an interesting piece of Wandsworth's ... 1911 by Mr St Aubyn Roumieu, President of the Huguenot Society of London. ...
http://www.london.towntalk.co.uk/ view.php?id=434&v=bfe5484556baa95b9ad1deac2d4a248e

Parks, commons and open spaces - Huguenot Cemetery - Wandsworth ...Huguenot Cemetery, East Hill, SW18 - a brief description from the London Historic Parks and Gardens Trust. An historic burial ground near to the centre of ...
http://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/Home/EnvironmentandTransport/ Parks/Parkscommons/Huguenot.htm

Answer 7

I did a quick search on Yahoo, and this website looks very informative and has pictures too.....they were French protestants (Calvinists) in the 16th-18th centuries, many of whom were killed for their faith - ie being evangelical rather than Catholics, and very many of whom fled to other countries, including the USA.....

Answer 8

they were Calvinists during the reformation period
btw it's Huguenots

Answer 9

A type of flaky pastry .

Answer 10

protestants from france