The Huguenots and French Opinion, 1685-1787: The Enlightenment Debate on Toleration (Editions SR, 12)

The decision of Louis XIV to revoke the Edict of Nantes and thus liquidate French Calvinism was well received in the intellectual community which was deeply prejudiced against the Huguenots. This antipathy would gradually disappear. After the death of the Sun King, a more sympathetic view of the Protestant minority was presented to French readers by leading thinkers such as Montesquieu, the abbé Prévost, and Voltaire. By the middle years of the eighteenth century, liberal clerics, lawyers, and government ministers joined Encyclopedists in urging the emancipation of the Reformed who were seen to be loyal, peaceable and productive. Then, in 1787, thanks to intensive lobbying by a group which included Malesherbes, Lafayette, and the future revolutionary Rabaut Saint-Étienne, the government of Louis XVI issued an edict of toleration which granted the Huguenots a modest bill of civil and religious rights. Adams’ illuminating work treats a major chapter in the history of toleration; it explores in depth a fascinating shift in __mentalités__, and it offers a new focus on the process of “reform from above” in pre-Revolutionary France. The Revocation Imposed, 1685-1715 -- I. The Edict Of Fontainebleau: The Rationalization Of Intolerance -- Ii. Thunderous Applause, Discreet Dissent: The Intellectual Reaction To The Revocation -- Iii. A Three-way Impasse: The Huguenots, The Clergy. And The State -- Part Two The Revocation Attacked, 1715-1760 -- Iv. An Abstract Combat: Voltaire's First Battles Against Intolerance, 1713-1750 -- V. Montesquieu And The Huguenots: A Conservative's View Of Minority Rights -- Vi. A Friend In The Enemy Camp: The Abbe Prevost -- Vii. Controller-general Machault Provokes A Public Debate On Huguenot Rights, 1751-1760 . -- Viii. Encyclopedists And Calvinists: An Exercise In Mutual Aid -- Ix. A Case Study In Incompatibility: The Philosophe Voltaire And The Calvinist La Beaumelle, 1750-1756 -- X. Mutual Disenchantment: Voltaire And The Genevans, 1755-1762 -- Xi Distant Cousins: Rousseau And The French Calvinists -- Xii. The Stage In The Service Of Huguenot Emancipation: Voltaire, Fenouillot De Falbaire, And Mercier -- Xiii. Reaction Put To Rout: The Dictionnaire Philosophique, The Last Of The Encyclopédie And The Bélisaire Affair. 1764-1757 -- Part Three The Revocation Undone, 1760-1787 -- Xiv. The 1760s: From Words To Deeds -- Xv. The Calas Affair: A Catalyst For The National Conscience, 1762-1765 -- Xvi. Large Expectations, Limited Gains: The Reform Efforts Of Turgot And Malesherbes, 1774-1776 -- Xvii. Conservatives And Pragmatists Try Their Hand: Necker, Armand, And The Parlementaires, 1776-1784 -- Xviii. Genteel Conspirators: Breteuil And Malesherbes Set The Stage For Reform, 1784-1787 -- Xix. Spurs To Action: The D'anglure Affair And The Dutch Crisis, 1787 -- Xx. Toleration Triumphant: The Edict Of 1787. Geoffrey Adams. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 311-330) And Index