The War of the Camisards (1702–1704)
Huguenot Insurrection during the Reign of Louis XIV
- History & Biography
- Publisher: Wipf and Stock
- Published: 2024
FritzSearch.com earns a commission on purchases made through Bookshop.org links.
Publisher's Description
Winner of the National Huguenot Society's 2024 Scholarly Works AwardThe War of the Camisards was the last of France’s wars of religion and pales in comparison with the Wars of Religion of the 1500s. There were no nobles to lead the peasant armies, its active phase hardly lasted two years, and the war was limited to the Cévennes region in Southern France. For two years, the royal troops of Louis XIV battled outnumbered, ill-equipped peasants led by wool combers, shepherds, and farmers. The war mobilized several great marshals of France and ended with negotiations between a decorated marshal of France and a modest baker, Jean Cavalier. The War of the Camisards has been both embraced and rejected by French Protestants. The primary causes for rejection are prophetism, nourished by Old Testament prophecies that God would pour out his Spirit in a time of trouble, and the prophetic call to violent resistance. The War of the Camisards, the devastation of the Cévennes, the atrocities committed in the name of religion, and the damage to the image of France serve as warnings for governments to tread lightly in religious matters and for Christians to weigh carefully how to respond to government repression.
Endorsements (4)
“Stephen Davis brings light to a lesser-known period of French Protestantism and a movement that contains all the intrigue and mystery of a spy novel. Davis untangles the complex web of the Camisards, detailing the various guerilla groups, their leaders, and their prophets in an honest but fair treatment, with an engaging style accessible to all readers.”
“Stephen Davis has crafted an impressive and moving account of the tragic War of the Camisards. The author narrates the rise of the controversial development of prophetism and the ravages of the religious conflict that led to slaughter on both the Protestant and Roman Catholic sides in the south of France during the era following the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes.”
“Stephen Davis’s book effectively uses history as a launching point for exploring current issues, such as dissent and the limits of resistance. It offers a creditably complete analysis in a relatively slender volume. The book helpfully presents to English-speaking readers a story that was previously available mostly in French. The work is sympathetic and understanding of the Camisard situation but not uncritical of their actions. It is a fine introduction to the topic.”
See something wrong on this page? Report a problem