Teacher's Guide for CALLIOPE: Huguenots

March 2003

Teacher guide prepared by: Nancy I. Colamussi, Elementary Education, B.S., M.A. Rocky Point School District, Long Island, New York.

Essay Question:
Think of a time when you, or a group that you belonged to, had privileges revoked. Describe the situation and the feelings you experienced. Why did you, or didn't you, fight to regain what was lost and what was the outcome?

Define the following words:

heresy
corruption
'selling of indulgences'
theology
persecution
Martin Luther
Martin Brucer
Anabaptists

1. What city was a center of French Catholicism where Catholic residents frequently gathered at public rallies against heresy?
2. The Parisians were nervously anticipating a marriage between whom?
3. Why did Huguenot nobles enter Paris in the summer of 1572?
4. Why did many prominent Huguenots stay in Paris after the marriage?
5. Where and when did Admiral Gaspard of Coligny meet with King Charles IX?
6. What happened after Admiral Gaspard left the meeting?
7. What did the Parisian Catholics fear after the attack on Coligny?
8. What was decided at the late night conference on August 23 in the Louvre Palace?
9. Did the Huguenots indeed have plans to attack?
10. What happened on St. Bartholomew's Day?
11. What did Guise and his men do to Coligny? What did the Catholics and the city militia do?
12. Approximately how many Protestants were killed in this Massacre?
13. What was responsible for an additional 3,000 deaths?
14. What was reignited by this whole massacre?

___1. Henry IV successfully overtook Paris in the summer of 1590.
___2. Pressure mounted on the King to consider a Catholic conversion.
___3. King Henry IV declared that he would remain a Protestant.
___4. Henry IV formally declared war against Spain 1595.
___5. The Huguenots began to realize that they might have to go to war against the man who had once championed their cause.
___6. Henry IV was eager to fight the Protestants.
___7. Henry IV reached a historic settlement with the Huguenots in April 1598 in the form of the Edict of Nantes.
___8. The Edict of Nantes stated that its main goal was the eventual peaceful reunion of the king's subject in a single, agreed-upon faith.
___9. The Edicts consisted of eight separate documents.
___10. Royal 'brevets' expired exactly one year after they were issued.
___11. The Edict recognized the Huguenots right to freedom of conscience and to worship in all towns that they controlled as of August 1597.
___12. Catholics could practice their faith only in the large cities in France.
___13. Generous royal funds were provided to help subsidize the French Protestant Church, under the first royal brevet.
___14. The second royal brevet allowed the Huguenots to fortify and station troops in towns under their control.

1. What happened on May 14, 1610, and what was the result of this incident?
2. Who ascended the throne after Henry IV's death and why did this make the people nervous?
3. Explain how each group (Protestant and Catholic) interpreted the Edict in their favor.
4. As civil war broke out, so did a quarrel between Louis XIII and his mother, Marie of Medici. Explain the correlation between these two fights.
5. In 1620, open religious warfare had re-emerged. What was each side trying to gain?
6. List the major events of the war from 1621 to 1629, and describe the outcome.
7. In your opinion, was anything at all gained from the war? Why or why not?

1. Louis XIV's revision/revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 was an expression of the wishes of an entire society.
2. For decades appeals had poured in to King Louis XIV calling for action against the Catholics/Huguenots.
3. Protestant children over the age of 11/14 were encouraged to convert without their parent's consent.
4. To separate rabbis/pastors from their congregations, excuses were invented to exile them for small crimes.
5. The King's agent brought in companies of royal dragoons, which were soldiers who arrived on horseback and fought on foot/horseback.
6. Some 'converted' Protestants managed to escape by making their way through remote mountain/desert trails.
7. Protestant ringleaders were sent to the guillotine/galleys, a humiliating form of punishment usually reserved for murders and swindlers.
8. Between 1680 and 1748, some 1,500 Huguenots/Catholics were sentenced to the galleys.

Activity:
Read about Judith Giton and the article titled "Le Refuge." Imagine that you are Judith or a member of her family. Write ten diary entries detailing the journey to freedom.

1. What were some of the obstacles that the Huguenots faced on the path to 'freedom'?
2. Explain the 'brain drain' experienced by France.
3. Explain the tragic case of Jean Calas and Voltaire's involvement.
4. Why was the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen so important for the Protestants?
5. What was the Catholic's reaction to this Declaration and why?

1. Why do French Protestants identify with the image of the desert?
2. Detail the three major anniversaries that have brought the Huguenots into news in recent years.
3. How does the article reference September 11, 2001?
4. How do you feel about the French government still refusing some groups to be considered religions?
5. What traces of Huguenot communities exist today and where are they located?

Answer Key:

"St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre"

1. Paris
2. King's Catholic sister (Marie of Medici) and a powerful Huguenot noble (Henry of Navarre)
3. to attend the wedding of Catherine and Henry
4. They were hoping to gain the king's support for increased protection and privileges for French Protestants.
5. the Louvre Palace on August 22, 1572
6. He was wounded by gunshot (assassination attempt).
7. that the Protestants wanted revenge and that the Huguenots were preparing to retaliate against them
8. to launch a strike against the Huguenot leaders before the Protestants could attack them
9. No, these were just rumors.
10. a bloody strike against Huguenot leaders
11. stabbed him to death and threw his body in the street
12. They went door to door, killing their Huguenot neighbors.
13. 2,000
14. copycat scenes after news of the slaughter
15. religious warfare throughout France

"The Edict of Nantes"

1. False
2. True
3. False
4. True
5. True
6. False
7. True
8. True
9. False
10. False
11. True
12. False
13. True
14. True

"Persecution of a Minority"

1. revocation
2. Huguenots
3. 14
4. pastors
5. foot
6. mountain
7. galleys
8. Huguenots

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Updated: 11/21/09 04:51 am
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