Huguenots & Walloons: Our Ancestors & Their History
Genealogists and family historians have a special interest in the French Huguenots and Walloons. These French speaking protestants from France and Wallonia (Southern Belgium)are genealogically significant to much of the population of the United States.
Most immigrations from Europe to America which included these groups came from the early 1600's to the late 1600's during the height of their religious persecution.
As a person who has several Huguenot-Walloon ancestors, I have always had a particular interest in this group. It didn't take me long to realize that the strong protestant orientation in my family in many cases could ultimately be traced to the historical conditions which created these two groups.
State Sanctioned Violence
Human atrocities throughout history have more frequently been the rule than the exception. Burning at the stake, impalement on sharp stakes, disemboweling, beheading, and "quartering" were common during much of European history. Royalty killed Royalty and commoners killed commoners. No one was safe.Violence and warfare in some of its most atrocious forms was frequently associated with religious movements. The distinction between state, religion, and society during the 1500's and thereafter was not made in people's minds and experiences. Prior to that, for approximately a 1000 years religion had formed the basis for a social consciousness that pervaded the thinking of royalty and commoners.
France in particular had tied itself closely to the Catholic Church. The Church sanctified the monarchy's right to rule in return for military and civil protection. "One faith" was considered essential to maintain societal stability and innovations was frowned upon and not generally acceptable. Even the Renaissance period had to be justified as a return to a simple, purer time rather than as change.
Prelude To Disaster
This reformed religion was practiced by both members of the French nobility and the social middle class who were for the most part artisans, craftsmen, and professional people. Their belief in salvation through an individual faith that did not rely on the intercession of the church hierarchy, and an individual's right to personally interpret scriptures put them in direct conflict with the Catholic church and the King of France.
On January 19, 1536 a general edict was issued in France which encouraged the extermination of the French Protestants. These Protestants called themselves "reformees" (reformers). By 1550, when the first church based on John Calvin's teachings was established in a home in Paris, they were being called Huguenots, a name which has continued to be used to describe them until this day.
General persecution continued after the edict of 1536 but the movement prospered and by 1561 there were 2,000 Calvinist Churches in France and the Huguenots had become a political faction that seemed to threaten the state. The antipathy toward the Huguenots created an atmosphere of hate that led to the Massacre at Vassy, France on March 1, 1562 of 1,200 Huguenots. This triggered the Wars of Religion which lasted from 1562 to 1598.
St. Bartholomew Massacre!
8,009 Huguenots Killed
August 1572!
Persecution of the Huguenots continued and in August, 1572, 8,000 Huguenots were killed in one night at the St. Batholomew Massacre.This occurred in Paris at the wedding of Henry of Navarre (later to rule as Henry IV) where thousands of Huguenots had come to celebrate his wedding.. Catherine de Medici, who violently hated the Huguenots, had persuaded her son Charles IX to order the mass murder.
She personally inspected the carnage on Sunday, the 24th of August in 1572. Pope Gregory XIII ordered bonfires and celebrations in Rome, when news of the massacre reached him on the 2nd of September, 1572.
Scene in the bedroom of Marguerite de Valois during the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre--In The Louvre Museum
Edict of Nantes
This official support soon ended upon the murder in 1610 of Henry IV. Cardinal Richelieu began a siege of the Huguenot free cities which resulted in their last stronghold of La Rochelle falling to Richelieu in 1629.
Widespread persecution of the Huguenots again began in earnest and under Louis XIV (1643-1715) the Edict of Nantes was finally revoked on the 22nd of October, 1685. Louis XIV stated a policy of "one faith, one law, and one king" and the end result was the destruction and burning of Protestant churches and homes, and many Huguenots being burned at the stake.
In spite of emigration being declared illegal, 200,000 or more French Huguenots fled the country, going to Switzerland, Germany, England, America, and South Africa. Between 5,000 and 7,000 Huguenots and Walloons(French speaking protestants from Wallonia, in the South part of Belgium) came to America between 1618 and 1725. Many of these became the ancestors of you and me.
Duet From Opera "Les Huguenots"
Huguenot & Walloon Research Resources
- The Huguenot Society of America
- The Huguenot Society of America was founded in 1883 by the Reverend Alfred V. Wittmeyer, Rector of the French Huguenot Church in New York City, l'Eglise du Saint Esprit.
- Who Were The Huguenots?
- This link on Huguenot history is provided by the Huguenot Society of South Africa and includes numerous historical paintings, drawings, and sketches. "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)..."
- Copy of Revocation of Edict of Nantes -- 22 Oct 1685
- This is a transcription of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes provided by The Hanover Historical Texts Program. See the next link for details on their program.
- The Hanover Historical Texts Program.
- The texts scanned for the project are all in public domain. The electronic forms of the texts created by the HHTP are under copyright. Permission to copy and use the texts is granted for educational purposes. We ask that you acknowledge the Hanover Historical Texts Project. Permission is not granted for commercial uses.
- Historic Huguenot Street
- In 1678, a small but brave group of French-speaking Huguenot refugees from what is today southern Belgium and northern France set out to create a community of their own and so began an American Story that continues today.
Huguenot and Walloon Genealogical Resources
- Cyndi's List: Huguenot
- No list of links is better on any genealogical terms than Cyndi's List. At this link you can get considerable information on any topic related to the Huguenots
- Belgian Migrations: Walloons...
- It was French-speaking Walloons from Hainaut who were among the first to settle the Hudson River Valley and Manhattan Island between 1620 and 1626. Eight Belgian Protestant families, fleeing from Catholic Spanish religious persecution, joined the Dutch settlers in 1624 to settle what became New Amsterdam...
- Huguenot & Walloon Genealogy & History Overview
- It was French-speaking Walloons from Hainaut who were among the first to settle the Hudson River Valley and Manhattan Island between 1620 and 1626. Eight Belgian Protestant families, fleeing from Catholic Spanish religious persecution, joined the Dutch settlers in 1624 to settle what became New Amsterdam.
"Huguenots"
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France (or French Calvinists) from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries. Since the eighteenth century, Huguenots have been commonly designated "French Protestants", the title being suggested by their German co-religionists or "Calvinists". Protestants in France were inspired by the writings of John Calvin in the 1530s and the name Huguenots was already in use by the 1560s. Many Huguenots emigrated from France in the late 17th century.
Other Resources For Huguenots and Walloons
"When You Need To Know More"
The French Religious Wars 1562-1598 (Essential Histories)
Amazon Price: $10.17 (as of 11/10/2009) 
Huguenot Ancestry
Amazon Price: (as of 11/10/2009)
Escape to Freedom (Huguenot Trilogy)
Amazon Price: $26.09 (as of 11/10/2009)
Additional Information On "Walloons"
Walloons (, ) are a Romance-speaking people partly from Germanic origin and Celtic origin; in any case a melting-potA Henri Holt Reference Book, (Page 645: « The Walloons are descended from Germanic (Frankish) invaders who were culturally absorbed into the romanized sphere in which they settled and came to speak a French dialect »Félix Rousseau,La Wallonie, Terre romane, Charleroi, 1993, p.60 : brassage humain melting-pot... creuset où sont venus se fondre des éléments ethniques surgis came de tous les points de lhorizon everywhere. P. 112: Germanic people named all their neighbours in the South Wahla (...) from which our Walloon is deriving (...) it means the Foreigner, the Celtic people, the Roman people vis-à-vis the German people. Albert Henry, Histoire des mots Wallons et Wallonie, Institut Jules Destrée, Coll. «Notre histoire», Mont-sur-Marchienne, 1990, 3rd ed. (1st ed. 1965), p. 20, following Leo Weinsberger, Die geschichtliche Leistung des Wortes welsch, in Rheinische Vierteljahrsblätter, t. XIII, 1948, pp. 87-146, wrote about the Germanic and Celtic prehistory of the word Walloon''. speaking French, living in Belgium principally in Wallonia, more generally the inhabitants of Wallonia. They also speak regional languages like Walloon or Picard.
It's Your Turn Now!
Let Me Know What You Think of This Lens
leblgebeau wrote...
Doe anyone know if there is any information on Huguenots from Belgium?
Posted May 28, 2009
mrscookie wrote...
My own ancestors were possibily Huguenots who came to England in the 17th century but I have never managed to prove it. I thought this lens gave a lot of interesting information and also taught me several things I didn't know.
5* lens
Posted May 02, 2009
LadySquid wrote...
Great info here! You've really provided a lot of comprehensive information on the Huguenots that will prove useful to anyone with an ancestral connection to that group.
Stephanie at the Research Your Family Tree lens-stop by and see us!
Posted April 06, 2009
lebelgebeau wrote
in reply to ratso Just curious to know if you had any huguenot ancestors you were aware of
Posted March 17, 2009
lebelgebeau wrote
Thank you for your website I am intersted in anything concerning Walloons and Huguenots I can find.I just discovered the existence of the Walloon cross through your website.Thanks again Lebelgebeau
Posted March 14, 2009
businessblossom wrote...
Thank you for checking out the HIMbook, and for posting this info about the Huguenots and Walloons . . . I had always wondered if any Huguenots had managed to survive the terrible persecution under Richelieu (referenced famously in The Three Musketeers), and I am glad to know that so many did. Thanks; this history should be known far and wide, so I'm giving you five stars and rolling you to my HIMbook page.
Posted January 17, 2009
MUJERDEEXITO wrote...
Thank you so much for passing by and your kind words. I am impressed with the great historical information you have in this lens I didn't know anything about the Huguenots. It was a pleasure to read this information.
Posted January 02, 2009
Shelly wrote
Hi, I just followed you home from Tipi's, I'm her sister. You have some very interesting subjects! I was just impressed by your Expatriot lens but couldn't leave a message as I am an outsider looking in. Well done!
Posted December 12, 2008
ratso wrote...
Originally from NY I always new of the Huguenots but never knew of their history, a most fascinating read. 5*
Posted December 12, 2008
AndyPo wrote...
Very good introduction. My knowledge of this history was certainly a bit vague. Excellent lens.
Posted November 16, 2008
anthropos wrote...
in reply to Margaret VanAmburgh Margaret, I finally got around to responding to you. I hope this lens has been beneficial to you and you will let others know of its availability. Good luck on your family history research.
Posted October 24, 2008
Margaret VanAmburgh wrote
I have just come across the information that my ancestory includes Rachel DeForst, daughter of Jesse. This has sparked my interest in both the Walloon and Huguenot connections that exist in my background. Good brief information.
Posted August 01, 2008
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