Jean de Forcade de Biaix, aka Jean de Forcade, Marquis de Biaix, aka Jean-Quirin de Forcade de Biaix, aka Jean Quérin von Forcade, Herr von Biaix, aka Johann Querin de Forcade, Herr zu Biaix, aka Johann Quirin von Forkade de Biaix ( – ), was a Huguenot, a descendant of the noble family of Forcade and Lieutenant General in the service of the Kingdom of Prussia. He was the Regimentschef of the 23rd Prussian Infantry Regiment, Commandant of the Royal Residence in Berlin, Gouverneur militaire of Berlin, a Knight of the Order of the Black Eagle a member of King Frederick I of Prussia's "Tobacco Collegium". and president of the Grand Directoire 1718–1729, the deliberative and decision-making body responsible for all Huguenot affairs in the kingdom.
Although there are references to Jean de Forcade de Biaix as the "Marquis de Biaix" in some Prussian sources published between 1788 and 1837, there is no evidence that he was ever a Marquis. The noble manor of Biaix in the city of Pau was never a marquisate, at any time in its history.
He was also never the Seigneur de Biaix, as stated in some historical Prussian sources. The title Seigneur was not hereditary. In the case of his family, his father, who purchased Biaix manor in 1659, was the Seigneur de Biaix. Following the father's death in 1684, the property and the right to enter the Order of Nobility of the Estates of Béarn were passed to the eldest son, Jean's elder brother, Isaac de Forcade de Biaix (Seigneur de Biaix 1684–1737).
Life in France
Little is known about his early life. His parents were Protestant. Protestant church records do not exist for the period between 1617 and 1667 for the Temple in Pau. Historical records published in the 19th century related to the research of noble families in France claim that only two branches of this family descended from the parents, and that the only surviving branch was the Prussian one.
Protestant baptismal records for the Temple in Pau for the period 1668–1681 and 1673–1684, however, point to a large family with no fewer than 11 children, of which six sons to carry the name forward. What happened to the rest of the family is unknown.
Emigration to Prussia
Jean de Forcade de Biaix, unlike his father and eldest brother, did not abjure from Protestantism. Like many Huguenots, he left Béarn in religious exile after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes by the Edict of Fontainebleau in October 1685 and went to Brandenburg, where Frederick I of Prussia, the Elector of Brandenburg, was actively encouraging Huguenot immigration.
Frederick I of Prussia, Elector of Brandenburg and future King of Prussia, saw an immediate interest in what Huguenot Refugees could represent for his country. Indeed, he was both a francophile and an admirer of the French. In October 1685, he published the Edict of Potsdam granting the Huguenots everything the Edict of Fontainebleau refused them: safe passage to Brandenburg, freedom to live and work where they chose, religious freedom and the right to worship in their native French, tax exemptions for 10 years, and more, going as far as granting them the same rights as citizens of the states of Brandenburg-Prussia. Meanwhile, his envoy to King Louis XIV of France's court at Versailles, the Count of Schwerin, dispensed subsidies and passports to all who requested them, provided, of course, that those requesting appeared to be of some benefit to his sovereign. As a result, the Kingdom of Prussia became for many Huguenots, in particular for the noblesse militaire, the ideal place of refuge, for Jean de Forcade de Biaix.
Whereas there were only about 400 Huguenots in the Kingdom of Prussia in 1685, two years later, 20,000 French had established themselves. ·Berlin and Frankfurt on the Oder, the Kingdom of Prussia's two major cities, who each had 7,000 inhabitants in 1685, almost doubled in size within five years as a result of the French contribution and thanks to Frederick I of Prussia's generous offer of land and houses to the religious exiles.
Huguenot Noblemen and officers flocked to the military, where letters patent granted them the same rank they previously held in France, with the youngest among them granted entry ranks as ensigns or lieutenants, while in parallel new roles were created for notaries public, members of the bar and members of parliament, and lastly, businessmen and tradesmen were offered significant opportunities to start new industrial activities.