The law revoked the edict of Nantes, which had granted religious freedom and civil rights to the country's Protestant minority.

[2] Since late October 1685, Huguenots held "desert assemblies" in an attempt to continue following their religion, but countermeasures against Protestants strengthened since authorities used fines, sequestrated properties, military force, and took hostages as punishments.

[citation needed] On July 24, 1702, about sixty armed men led by Abraham Mazel entered the village of Pont-de-Montvert as they sang a psalm.

The group demanded that the abbot and political figure François de Langlade du Chayla release Protestant prisoners from the jail.

Lieutenant-general Victor-Maurice de Broglie, commander of the Royal troops in Languedoc ordered Captain Poul to crack down on the rebellion, but with little success.

Several bands were organized, led by Jean Cavalier, who headed a group of 700 men, appointing the lieutenants Rastelet, Abdias Maurel, Ravanel, Bonbonnoux and Claris.

Geographically, the insurrection commenced in the Bougès mountain range, situated along the southeastern edges of what is now the departement of Lozère (Hautes-Cévennes) but then spread to the territory that is now Gard (Basses-Cévennes).

[7] The royal troops, who were opposed to the Camisards, were commanded by lieutenant-general Victor-Maurice de Broglie managed to assemble 20,000 soldiers, fusiliers and dragoons by March 1703.

Many Catholic parishes organized pro-government militias, forming groups such as the "Florentins" or "White Camisards", which held 200-700 people.

The Protestant rebels employed some of the earliest tactics of guerilla warfare against the Royalists, and Captain Poul was slain on January 12.

Surrendering Camisards holding their hands in the air were summarily executed via the gallows and the breaking wheel, at times even burned at the stake.

[10] After a snowstorm in February 1703, French officer Jacques de Jullien won a major victory against Cavalier's troops.

[13] Huguenots refugees who had fled abroad, the Marquis of Miremont in particularly, tried to convince the English and Dutch, who were at war with France, to land troops in the country to support the Camisards.

Support for the Camisards skyrocketed after the Burning of the Cévennes, providing a major propaganda boost for the Huguenot cause and an increase of the conflict's intensity.

As French authorities unsuccessfully attempted to maintain stability, Catholic militias responded to the insurgency with brutal anti-Protestant reprisals.

[citation needed] Cavalier's capitulation was received poorly by other Camisards, especially Pierre Laporte, who opted to continue fighting.

[citation needed] In late June, English and Dutch warships led a botched naval expedition into the Gulf of Lion.

Many Camisard leaders who had fled abroad, including Catinat, Castanet and Élie Marion returned to France where they continued the uprising.

[citation needed] In April 1705, a Protestant from Genève named Vilas teamed up with Catinat and Ravanel, helping form the "league of the children of God."

The League planned to kidnap the Duke of Berwick and Nicolas de Lamoignon and capture Sète where they would allow troops of the Grand Alliance land.

[citation needed] Jean Cavalier later assembled a new regiment made up of Camisards who fought for the Grand Alliance against France during the War of the Spanish Succession.

Cavalier's fortunes took a turn for the worse on April 25, 1707, during the battle of Almansa, when Bourbon troops defeated a Grand Alliance army, which included his regiment.

A hundred men with Mazel at their helm, told France to restore the edict of Nantes and free Camisard prisoners who had been captured during the war.

At the request of Queen Anne, Louis XIV pardoned 136 Huguenot galley slaves imprisoned for their faith, allowing them to seek exile in England.

[citation needed] According to the historian Pierre Rolland, of the estimated 7,500 to 10,000 Camisards who took part in the war, at least 2,000 died in action, and at least 1,000 were summarily executed.

While Elizabeth Williams from Oklahoma State University agreed that Huguenots had been "perhaps the most brutally persecuted Protestants of the early modern era", she criticizes the narrative of the war as an ethnic cleansing.

[21] Catholic priest and historian Jean Rouquette [fr] listed the names of 471 recorded different civilians who were killed by the Camisards.