Persecution of Huguenots under Louis XV

The members of the Protestant religion in France, the Huguenots, had been granted substantial religious, political and military freedom by Henry IV in his Edict of Nantes.

As soon as the vigilance of the government was relaxed they neglected the service of the Catholic Church, and, when they dared, they met in their houses or in the open for the worship of their own faith.

The penalties for preaching or attending a Protestant assembly were severe: life terms in the galleys for men, imprisonment for women, and confiscation of all property were common.

After Louis Henri, Duc de Bourbon became premier in 1723, however, the bishop found in him a more receptive audience, and he was given permission to draw up a general law against "l'hérésie".

The King promulgated a law on 14 May 1724: Of all the grand designs of our most honoured lord and great-grandfather, there is none that we have more at heart to carry out than that which he conceived, of entirely extinguishing heresy in his kingdom.

We have observed that the chief abuses which demand a speedy remedy relate to illicit assemblies, the education of children, the obligation of public functionaries to profess the Catholic religion, the penalties against the relapsed, and the celebration of marriage, regarding which here are our intentions: Shall be condemned: preachers to the penalty of death, their accomplices to the galleys for life, and women to be shaved and imprisoned for life.

Confiscation of property: parents who shall not have baptism administered to their children within twenty-four hours, and see that they attend regularly the catechism and the schools, to fines and such sums as they may amount to together; even to greater penalties.

[5] Protestant preachers and/or leaders active during this period in France included Antoine Court,[6][7] Paul Rabaut,[8] Alexander Ramsey, and Roger.

[10] Letters of one of its inmates and the accounts of witnesses such as Marie Durand tell of the dreary and desolate women's prison, the Tower of Constance at Aigues Mortes.