The War of the Camisards (1702-1704): Huguenot Insurrection During the Reign of Louis XIV

by Stephen M Davis, Michael A G Haykin (Foreword by)

Overview

Winner of the National Huguenot Society's 2024 Scholarly Works Award

The War of the Camisards was the last of France’s wars of religion and pales in comparison with the Wars of Religion of the 1500s. There were no nobles to lead the peasant armies, its active phase hardly lasted two years, and the war was limited to the Cévennes region in Southern France. For two years, the royal troops of Louis XIV battled outnumbered, ill-equipped peasants led by wool combers, shepherds, and farmers. The war mobilized several great marshals of France and ended with negotiations between a decorated marshal of France and a modest baker, Jean Cavalier. The War of the Camisards has been both embraced and rejected by French Protestants. The primary causes for rejection are prophetism, nourished by Old Testament prophecies that God would pour out his Spirit in a time of trouble, and the prophetic call to violent resistance. The War of the Camisards, the devastation of the Cévennes, the atrocities committed in the name of religion, and the damage to the image of France serve as warnings for governments to tread lightly in religious matters and for Christians to weigh carefully how to respond to government repression.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798385229024
Publisher:	Wipf & Stock Publishers
Publication date:	10/31/2024
Pages:	120
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.27(d)

About the Author

Stephen M. Davis is an elder at Grace Church in Philadelphia (gracechurchphilly.org). He holds a PhD in intercultural studies from Columbia International University and a DMin in missiology from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He is the author of several books, including three on French history: Rise of French Laïcité in the Evangelical Missiological Society Monograph Series, The French Huguenots and Wars of Religion, and French Protestantism’s Struggle for Survival and Legitimacy (1517–1905).

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Stephen Davis brings light to a lesser-known period of French Protestantism and a movement that contains all the intrigue and mystery of a spy novel. Davis untangles the complex web of the Camisards, detailing the various guerilla groups, their leaders, and their prophets in an honest but fair treatment, with an engaging style accessible to all readers.”

—Dan Borvan, pastor, Christ Reformed Church, Anaheim, California



“Stephen Davis has crafted an impressive and moving account of the tragic War of the Camisards. The author narrates the rise of the controversial development of prophetism and the ravages of the religious conflict that led to slaughter on both the Protestant and Roman Catholic sides in the south of France during the era following the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes.”

—Martin I. Klauber, affiliate professor of church history, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School



“‘When the state killed the preachers, it created the prophets. When it killed the prophets, it created the Camisards.’ With the deft touch of a storyteller and the rigor of a historian, Stephen Davis leads us through a little-known but brutal episode in French church history—one that raises questions of enduring importance: To what degree should the state involve itself in religion, and when it oversteps its bounds, how should Christians respond?”

—Jonathan P. Case, professor of theology, Houghton University



“Stephen Davis’s book effectively uses history as a launching point for exploring current issues, such as dissent and the limits of resistance. It offers a creditably complete analysis in a relatively slender volume. The book helpfully presents to English-speaking readers a story that was previously available mostly in French. The work is sympathetic and understanding of the Camisard situation but not uncritical of their actions. It is a fine introduction to the topic.”

—Mark Sidwell, professor of history, government, and social science, Bob Jones University

Editorial Reviews

Stephen Davis brings light to a lesser-known period of French Protestantism and a movement that contains all the intrigue and mystery of a spy novel. Davis untangles the complex web of the Camisards, detailing the various guerilla groups, their leaders, and their prophets in an honest but fair treatment, with an engaging style accessible to all readers.”

—Dan Borvan, pastor, Christ Reformed Church, Anaheim, California



“Stephen Davis has crafted an impressive and moving account of the tragic War of the Camisards. The author narrates the rise of the controversial development of prophetism and the ravages of the religious conflict that led to slaughter on both the Protestant and Roman Catholic sides in the south of France during the era following the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes.”

—Martin I. Klauber, affiliate professor of church history, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School



“‘When the state killed the preachers, it created the prophets. When it killed the prophets, it created the Camisards.’ With the deft touch of a storyteller and the rigor of a historian, Stephen Davis leads us through a little-known but brutal episode in French church history—one that raises questions of enduring importance: To what degree should the state involve itself in religion, and when it oversteps its bounds, how should Christians respond?”

—Jonathan P. Case, professor of theology, Houghton University



“Stephen Davis’s book effectively uses history as a launching point for exploring current issues, such as dissent and the limits of resistance. It offers a creditably complete analysis in a relatively slender volume. The book helpfully presents to English-speaking readers a story that was previously available mostly in French. The work is sympathetic and understanding of the Camisard situation but not uncritical of their actions. It is a fine introduction to the topic.”

—Mark Sidwell, professor of history, government, and social science, Bob Jones University

From the Publisher