Numerous works have been published on the history of the Huguenots and their escape from France ever since the three hundredth anniversary of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, in 1985. The first years were dedicated to establishing a historical sequence of events, the theological background, and the Huguenot settlement in the countries of the so-called Refuge. In the past ten years, this scope broadened into the domains of education and personal experiences of the Huguenots in France and abroad. The author of the present book has previously worked on Huguenot memoirs written by those who left France around 1685.
Facing the Revocation, which draws on multiple archival sources, aims to question “four widely assumed features of the Huguenot story” (3): (1) that escaping Huguenots were particularly religious, (2) that the French state opposed Huguenots leaving the country, (3) that the nobles who converted to Catholicism did so for financial benefit, and (4) that the Refuge was “a modernizing force.” To achieve her goal, Chappell Lougee draws on a complicated history of the rather unknown Huguenot noble family called De Robillard de Champagné, and primarily its numerous female members. The book is divided into four main parts: the family history before the Revocation; leaving France; the life of family members left behind in France; and life in the Refuge. The book also contains a list of principal characters, glossary, genealogical trees, and an index.
In the first part, the author carefully reconstructs the family history, based on documents found in numerous archives across Europe, and places it within the juridical and social context of its time. This microhistorical approach allows the author to provide a reliable and detailed picture of the family milieu of the French (Reformed) provincial nobility. Particular attention is given to the financial aspects of the life of this rather large family, as it seems that for the author those are the key aspects in their future decisions. Throughout the book, Chappell Lougee stresses that the decision to leave France for the family members, who did not convert to Catholicism following the Revocation, was based on a reshuffling of loyalties and the loss of a family-supported network because of these financial divisions. The second part tells the story of the escape from France, which echoes already known narratives of Huguenot refugees. One of the most curious insights of the book is presented in part 4, where the author identifies the spy of the French ambassador in the United Provinces d'Avaux as Sieur de Tillieres. This person was so close to the Huguenot refugees there that he supplied the French government with invaluable information on the escape plans of those who remained in France. It is based on his reports that Chappell Lougee asserts that Louis XIV did not employ his full force to stop Huguenots from escaping the country (204).
Some of the main points the author claims as her innovations have, in fact, been researched in recent years; the book would have profited from engaging with these scholarly conversations, which reexamine, for example, the motivations of the Huguenots to flee, and analyze the intersection between their religious and economic motives (see David van der Linden's Experiencing Exile: Huguenot Refugees in the Dutch Republic, 1680–1700 [2015], and my own The Huguenot Jean Rou (1638–1711): Scholar, Educator, Civil Servant [2015]). Both studies reach similar conclusions that are also stated here—that the economic factor was prominent among consideration for leaving France, though this factor was closely tied to the religious persecution experienced by the Huguenots. The intensity of this persecution is questioned in the second part of the book. For example, Chappell Lougee reexamines the dragonnades—forced housing of the French dragoons in Huguenot houses—in order to force the inhabitants to convert to Catholicism. While stating that “stories of dragoon abuses are numerous and credible. More disciplined and less destructive cases of lodgings were also no doubt common, though underreported” (76), the author offers no reference to support this claim, which could truly shed new light on this issue.
This meticulously reconstructed family history is a valuable contribution to research, which fits in the recent trends among scholars of the Huguenots. The author rightfully asserts that through investigation of particular and private experiences of many different Huguenots around the Revocation, it will eventually be possible to compile a general picture of these experiences and analyze them. Given that there are numerous Huguenot memoirs and autobiographies preserved, similar projects would be of great interest for the research community, because they offer a different outlook than the traditional history and allow the researcher to dive into the world of the individual facing a major turning point in history.
