The War of the Camisards () or the Cévennes War () was an uprising of Protestant peasants known as Camisards in the Cévennes and Languedoc during the reign of Louis XIV. The uprising was a response to the Edict of Fountainebleu in 1685.
Background
The war in the Cévennes originated from the edict of Fontainebleau, signed by King Louis XIV on October 18, 1685. The law revoked the edict of Nantes, which had granted religious freedom and civil rights to the country's Protestant minority. The edict of Fontaineblue banned Protestantism from the country. In the provinces which the largest Protestant (or Huguenot) minorities, Huguenots were converted by force to Roman Catholicism in what is now known as the dragonnades, which took place in the Cévennes as early as 1683. This persecution was strongest in Poitou, Guyenne, the Dauphiné, and Languedoc, where reformist ideas took root from 1530 to 1560. Many Huguenots decided to flee the country, while others opted to practice their faith in secret. "New Converts" (or NC) were employed by the French monarchy to monitor and suppress the Protestant faith.
Since late October 1685, Huguenots held "desert assemblies" in an attempt to continue following their religion, but countermeasures against Protestants strengthened since authorities used fines, sequestrated properties, military force, and took hostages as punishments. Reconversion to Protestantism was treated as a significant crime. People charged with it were often executed, tortured with breaking wheels, or sentenced to penal labour. Children were forcibly taken from their families and sent to Catholic ones.
In the Cévennes, Nicolas de Lamoignon de Basville ordered the execution of 84 people, sentenced fifty to the galleys and deported 300 people to the New World in 1686 and 1687. While the desert assemblies continued, a new crisis came along in 1701, when the Kingdom of France intervened in the War of the Spanish Succession.
Beginning
On July 24, 1702, about sixty armed men led by Abraham Mazel entered the village of Pont-de-Montvert as they sang a psalm. The group demanded that the abbot and political figure François de Langlade du Chayla release Protestant prisoners from the jail. They were told to wait. As the men stood outside, somebody shot one of them. The enraged mob broke through the doors of the structure, freeing the prisoners before they set the building on fire. Chayla was hunted down and killed as he tried to escape through the window. The abbot's murder sparked the beginning of the Cévennes war.
During the aftermath of the attack, several Huguenot bands formed led by Protestant "prophets". The bands committed reprisal attacks against priests and Catholics. Lieutenant-general Victor-Maurice de Broglie, commander of the Royal troops in Languedoc ordered Captain Poul to crack down on the rebellion, but with little success. Despite general failures, Huguenot rebel Gédéon Laporte was slain later in that year's October.
Not all Protestants supported the Camisards, including the population of Fraissinet-de-Lozère. Despite their loyalty, many of them lost their property in the Great Burning of the Cévennes in late 1703.
The Camisards
Starting in January 1703, Protestant guerillas, (dubbed as "fanatics" by Royals), became gradually referred to as Camisards. Several bands were organized, led by Jean Cavalier, who headed a group of 700 men, appointing the lieutenants Rastelet, Abdias Maurel, Ravanel, Bonbonnoux and Claris. Pierre Laporte, nicknamed Rolland, commanded 300 to 400 men who were later joined by 50-100 rebels under the lead of Abraham Mazel. Nicolas Jouanny led 300-400 men in the Bougès mountains. Castanet led a small band in Mount Aigoual. There were numerous other Camisard leaders, notably Salomon Couderc.
The Camisards were mainly composed of peasants, usually sheep-farmers between 20 and 25 years old. Geographically, the insurrection commenced in the Bougès mountain range, situated along the southeastern edges of what is now the departement of Lozère (Hautes-Cévennes) but then spread to the territory that is now Gard (Basses-Cévennes). The exception to this was a territory roughly corresponding to the east of a line from Nîmes to Barjac and north of Génolhac and Saint-Ambroix. The current arrondissement of Le Vigan, and most of the area west of Aulas were not touched.
Camisards held their own pious gatherings, which have been noted for their intensity and deep religiosity. Camisards were supported by local Protestant peasants in the Cévennes, which made warfare easier.