Hugenots

Huguenots (English pronunciation /ˈhjuːɡənɒt/ or /ˈhjuːɡənoʊ/; French: Les huguenots, [yɡ(ə)no]) are the ethnoreligious group of French Protestants who follow the Reformed tradition.

It was used frequently to describe members of the French Reformed Church until the beginning of the 19th century. The term has its origin in 16th-century France. Huguenots were French Protestants mainly from northern France, who were inspired by the writings of John Calvin and endorsed the Reformed tradition of Protestantism, contrary to the largely German Lutheran population of Alsace, Moselle, and Montbéliard. Hans Hillerbrand in his Encyclopedia of Protestantism claims the Huguenot community reached as much as 10% of the French population on the eve of the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre, declining to 7–8% by the end of the 16th century, and further after heavy persecution began once again with the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes by Louis XIV of France. The term "Huguenot" was also applied to non-Catholic Christian churches originating in the south of France, which were formed by the earliest Jewish population in France. The northern Huguenots were generally Catholics who became Protestant. The southern Huguenots were generally Jews and other religions that needed to Christianize in response to persecution.

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