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Rensselaer County Huguenot Research |
French Protestants, known as Huguenots, enjoyed relative freedom of worship in Catholic France for 87 years under the Edict of Nantes, promulgated in 1598 by King Henry IV (1553-1610, reigned 1589-1610), the first king of the House of Bourbon. But in 1685, King Henry IV's grandson, King Louis XIV (1638-1715, reigned 1643-1715), the "Sun King", revoked the Edict. A reign of terror against French Protestants ensued. More than 400,000 Huguenots emigrated from France, first to the neighboring countries of England, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Ireland, and then to the English colonies of South Africa and America. In America, they first settled mostly in New York, South Carolina and Massachusetts. You can learn more about your Huguenot ancestors by visiting the websites listed below.
If you have information about Huguenots who once lived in Rensselaer County that you would like to contribute to this section, please e-mail Lin Van Buren.
 The Huguenot Cross |
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NOTE: It should not be forgotten that about a million French Huguenots did not emigrate but remained in France, where on 28 November 1787 the Edict of Toleration was promulgated. With the French Revolution of 1789, France became - permanently - a nation of freedom of worship - and of strict separation of church and state (even more strictly separate than in the USA). We descendants of American Huguenots have cousins in France today.
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Lin Van Buren