Huguenots

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 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.

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