Huguenots.
The name of
Huguenot was first given to the Protestants of
France who favored the Reformation, but afterwards it was confined to the Calvinists, or followers of
John Calvin, who was the morning-star of the Reformation in that country.
Under his teaching the number of Protestants in
France rapidly increased from 1528 to 1559, when the great synod held in May adopted Calvin's ideas of church government and discipline, as well as doctrine, in an embodied confession of faith.
The
Huguenots were then so strong that they confidently expected to be the dominant party in the state in time.
They included some of the royal family and many of the nobility.
Among the latter was
Gaspard de Coligni, admiral of
France, a man respected by both parties, a brave and patriotic soldier and sailor, and for a while the favorite of the queen mother and regent of
France, Catharine dea
Medici.
In 1555 he formed a project of a settlement for the persecuted
Huguenots in
America; and in that year Henry II.
furnished two ships, commanded by the
Chevalier de Villagagnon, who, with a small Protestant colony, sailed from Havre-de-Grace in May, 1555, and reached the bay of
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in September.
Coligni provided ministers for his colony, and in a synod that year, held at
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Geneva, of which Calvin was president, the church determined to send two ministers to
Brazil.
The enterprise was a failure.
On the death of Henry, Queen Catharine became regent of the kingdom during the minority of her son Charles.
She cared nothing for religion, but had espoused the cause of the Protestants because the leader of the
Roman Catholics was the
Duke of Guise, a descendant of Charlemagne, and a claimant of a right to the
French throne.
The Protestants were still suffering greatly from persecution, and late in 1561
Coligni sought permission from Catharine to provide a refuge for them in the wilds of
America.
She readily granted all he desired, and early in 1562 he sent
John Ribault, an expert mariner of
Dieppe, with two caravels (small two-masted ships without whole decks), with sailors and soldiers, and a few gentlemen of fortune, who were prompted by a love of adventure and the prospect of gain to seek a place wherein to plant a colony.
They arrived off the coast of
Anastasia Island (it is supposed), below the site of
St. Augustine, at the close of April.
Sailing along the “sweet-smelling coast” of
Florida, northward, the two vessels entered a river which was named Mary, and were kindly received by the natives when they landed.
The
Frenchmen were delighted with everything they beheld—the climate; the forest, redolent with the perfume of the magnolia; birds with gorgeous plumage and sweetest notes; and “people of the finest forms and kindest natures.”
In the presence of half-naked, wondering semi-worshippers, the Christians knelt in the shadows of a flowerladen magnolia-tree, and offered thanksgivings to God for their safe voyage.
At twilight they returned to their ships; and the next morning conveyed a stone column, on which were carved the arms of
France, planted it on a flowery knoll, and in the usual manner took possession of the country in the name of the boy-king Charles IX., son of Catharine.
A few days later they sailed northward, entered a broad sound which they named
Port Royal, on the coast of
South
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Carolina, explored the
Coosa and the
Combahee, in the land where D'Allyon met a deserved fate, and on
Port Royal Island, near the site of
Beaufort, made choice of a spot for a colony.
The
Indians were kind, and so were the Frenchmen, and there was mutual friendship.
Ribault addressed his company on the glory to be obtained and the advantage to the persecuted
Huguenots by planting there the seed of empire, and asked, “Who will undertake the work?”
Nearly all were willing.
A colony of thirty persons was organized by the choice of
Albert Pierria for governor.
Ribault built a fort, and named it
Carolina, in honor of his
King, the remains of which were yet visible in 1866.
After giving the colonists good advice,
Ribault departed for
Europe with the rest of the company.
Coligni was delighted with his report, but was unable to do anything for his colony then, for civil war was raging between the Huguenots and Roman Catholics.
When it subsided the admiral sent three vessels—the
Elizabeth of Honfleur, the
Petite Britain, and the
Falcon—under the command of Rene —
Laudonniere, who was with the former expedition, to the aid and reinforcement of the colony.
He was accompanied by
Jacob Lemoyne, an artist and geographer; two skilful pilots (the brothers Vasseur) of
Dieppe; and many young men of family and fortune, as well as mechanics and laborers.
Laudonniere left Havre-de-Grace on April 22, 1564, reached the coast of
Florida in two months, and, instead of going to
Port Royal, he proceeded to plant a colony on the banks of the
St. John.
He had evidently heard of the fate of the first colony before leaving
France.
That colony, expecting supplies from home, had not planted, and when
Ribault did not return they were menaced with starvation.
The friendly
Indians supplied them with corn, but it was consumed by fire.
Dissensions arose among them, a mutiny broke out, and their governor was murdered.
The
Indians became distrustful of the Frenchmen and withheld supplies, and the latter determined to desert
Port Royal.
Constructing a frail brigantine, they departed for home, with scanty supplies.
Tempest-tossed on the ocean, their food was exhausted, and their vessel floated, a mere wreck, on the waters.
One after another died and fell into the sea, and the survivors were about to eat the last victim when a green shore greeted their eyes, and a small vessel saved them from death.
It is believed they were on the shores of
England, for it is known that some of these French adventurers were taken before Queen Elizabeth, and gave her the first information concerning that beautiful middle region of
America which
Sir Walter Raleigh (q. v.) afterwards tried to colonize.
Laudonniere anchored his ship, landed where
Ribault had set up the arms of
France, and erected a fort on the south bank of the river, which he named
Carolina.
Rumors came of rich mines in the interior, and a violent gold-fever raged.
Disappointment cured the fever, but idleness and improvidence were the rule in the colony.
There were too many “gentlemen” who would not soil their hands with labor.
At length there was a mutiny, and some of the soldiers and sailors seized two of the vessels, sailed for the
West Indies, and turned pirates.
The rich soil was neglected, starvation was threatened, and
Laudonniere determined to return to
France.
From
Sir John Hawkins (see
Drake, Sir Francis), who sailed into the
St. John, he bought a ship, and was about to embark for
Europe with the whole company, when
Ribault appeared with a squadron of seven ships, with supplies, and a fresh colony of men, women, and children.
He arrived near the close of August, 1565.
A few days afterwards
Pedro Menendez, a Spanish officer, appeared off the mouth of the
St. John with five ships, who told
Laudonniere that he was sent by his master, Philip, of
Spain, to hang and destroy all Protestants whom he should find on land or sea; that he should execute his orders to the letter, and that if any Roman Catholics were among the Huguenots they should be well treated.
The captains of the French vessels cut their cables and put to sea, chased by the Spaniards, who could not overtake them, and returned to the coast farther south.
The
Frenchmen returned to the
St. John, where Indians brought the news that the Spaniards had landed, and were building fortifications.
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Ribault, who was in chief command, believing the Spaniards meant to march overland and attack Fort
Carolina, with three ships manned by sailors and soldiers went to sea to drive their enemies from the coast.
Meanwhile
Menendez had sent a galleon to
Cuba for a reinforcement of Spanish troops.
The spot fortified by
Menendez was the site of
St. Augustine, Fla. During
Ribault's absence the
Spanish marched over the country, captured Fort
Carolina, butchered a greater portion of the Huguenots there, and hanged some of them upon trees, with the inscription over them, “Not as Frenchmen, but as Lutherans.”
The number of Huguenots murdered there was 142.
Ribault's vessels meanwhile had been wrecked below
St. Augustine, and while making his way towards Fort
Carolina, with about 300 men, they were caught by the Spaniards and massacred.
Laudonniere and a few others escaped from the
St. John, and so ended the Huguenot colony.
A fiery Frenchman,
Chevalier Dominic de Gourges, a
Roman Catholic, determined to avenge this outrage.
He sold his property to obtain money to fit out an expedition to
Florida.
He kept his destination a secret, even from his followers.
He arrived in
Florida in the spring of 1568, and was joined by the natives in an attack upon two forts on the
St. John occupied by the Spaniards below Fort
Carolina.
The strong places were captured, and the whole of the Spaniards were slaughtered, excepting a few whom
De Gourges hanged upon trees, under the words, “Not as Spaniards and mariners, but as traitors, robbers, and murderers.”
Menendez firmly planted a colony at
St. Augustine.
In 1598 Henry IV., of
France, issued an edict at
Nantes (see
Edict of Nantes) that secured full toleration, civil and religious, for the Huguenots, and there was comparative rest for the Protestants until the death of
Cardinal Mazarin, in 1661.
Then the Huguenots began to be perse-
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Indians decorating Ribault's pillar (from an old print). |
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cuted, and in 1685 Louis XIV.
revoked the Edict.
The fires of intolerance were kindled, and burned so furiously that at least 500,000 Protestants took refuge in foreign lands.
In 1705 there was not a single organized congregation of Huguenots in all
France.
Many came to
America—some to
South Carolina, some to New York, and a few to
Massachusetts,
Rhode Island, and
Virginia.
They formed excellent social elements wherever they settled, and many leading patriots in the
Revolutionary War were descended from them.
Three of the presidents of the
Continental Congress—
Henry Laurens,
John Jay, and
Elias Boudinot—were of
Huguenot parentage.
