A primer on the history of the Huguenots and Renaissance France

Unless you’ve done research on your own Huguenot ancestors, the term may be completely foreign to you.  Don’t worry, today I’ve collected some video links that will get you caught up on who these people were and why they were so dead set against opposing the Catholic church.

Granted, the Catholic characters in my novels looked down upon the Protestants, so when you’re reading you won’t hear them talk about them in the best of lights.  For a less biased view of the Huguenots, there You Tube videos will get you caught up on who they were.

The origins of the Protestant Reformation:

It didn’t start in France.

The Reformation didn’t start with John Calvin’s follower. Martin Luther started the movement in Germany, and the movement spread from Germany to Switzerland and eventually to France.

The rise of the Huguenot movement.

After two years of research, I’m still scratching my head as to why someone would be attracted to the tenets of Calvinism.  Still, each to their own.

The St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre

Marie of Cleves’ life changed completely after the massacre that happened during the Feast of St Bartholomew.  It’s easy to assume that only Protestants were slaughtered that day, but every class and creed were killed in the frenzy.