Congénies
| Congénies | |
|---|---|
| Commune | |
A general view of Congénies
|
|
 Congénies
|
|
|
Location within Occitanie region
Congénies
|
|
| Coordinates: 43°46′45″N 4°09′39″E / 43.7792°N 4.1608°ECoordinates: 43°46′45″N 4°09′39″E / 43.7792°N 4.1608°E | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Occitanie |
| Department | Gard |
| Arrondissement | Nîmes |
| Canton | Calvisson |
| Intercommunality | Pays de Sommières |
| Government | |
| • Mayor (2008–2014) | Michel Febrer |
| Area1 | 8.64 km2 (3.34 sq mi) |
| Population (2008)2 | 1,542 |
| • Density | 180/km2 (460/sq mi) |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) |
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) |
| INSEE/Postal code | 30091 /30111 |
| Elevation | 45–145 m (148–476 ft) (avg. 75 m or 246 ft) |
|
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once. |
|
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
Congénies is a commune in the Gard department in southern France.
It is situated between Nîmes, Montpellier, the Cévennes and the Camargue and has a strong Quaker history. Congénies possesses the only and oldest purpose-built Quaker Meeting House in France.
Le Desert. From 1661 onwards, the Catholic King Louis XIV used various incitations to re-convert French Protestants to Catholicism. In 1681 he started using troops to force these conversions. In 1685, the Edict of Fontainebleau outlawed Protestantism everywhere in the Kingdom of France. A lot of pastors had already either converted or emigrated and the king was under the false impression that there remained almost no Protestants in France. In fact among the plain people, chiefly farmers, farm workers and small crafters, a lot had stayed in France, complying in a minimal way with the king's demands. In 1685, the religion moved completely underground and visits by clandestine pastors became the only and very rare way to relate to the Reformed faith. In times of exasperation due to the intensity of repression, "inspired" lay prophets, claiming they took their instructions directly from God, stood up and took the lead of the "small (protestant) flock".
La Guerre des Camisards (1702–1711)
From July 1702, some of the prophets led peasants into an armed revolt which spread mainly in the Cévennes mountains. Le low country, where Congénies is located, was much less affected although on 17 December 1703, Jean Cavalier, a Camisard leader came down into the low country and torched the Catholic church. The people of Congénies and the surrounding region, the Vaunage, are believed to have remained faithful to the general non-violent line which prevailed in other French Protestant regions. Congénies was affected a second time between 19 and 27 May 1704 when peace negaciations were organised between the Royal troops commander Marshall de Villars and Jean Cavalier in the neighbouring village of Calvisson. During these eight days there was a general truce in which allowed the Cévennes' prophets to interact freely with the population. Numerous public Protestant worships were organised at this occasion. The local religious tradition was thus principled and relied on an inner spirit, the Inspiration. This history set the stage for the ensuing religious developments in Congénies, among which the development of a local quaker community, wholly unrelated to any other quaker group, and the blossoming of a Methodist mission under the leadeship of the English pastor Charles Cook.
...
Wikipedia