The Historic Village at Allaire

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The Huguenot Memorial - New Rochelle, NY THE HUGUENOTS - About the middle of the 16th Century, a new movement was sweeping France, a Protestant Movement led by John Calvin. Calling themselves Les Reformées, the followers of this movement became known as the Huguenots. A derogatory term at the time, the name became a symbol of pride. Comprised mainly of the Bourgeois and Aristocratic classes these French Protestants suffered extreme religious persecution and were forced to flee France in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, making their homes in England, Der Nederland, South Africa and America, among other places.This new religion based its beliefs in salvation through individual faith and an individual's right to Scriptural Interpretation. There was no room in the reformist Movement for an intercession of the Church or its hierarchy. The French Protestants, therefore, according to the National Huguenot Society, came "in direct theological conflict with both the Catholic Church and the King of France in the theocratic system which prevailed at that time. Followers of this new Protestantism were soon accused of heresy against the Catholic government and the established religion of France, and a General Edict urging extermination of these heretics (Huguenots) was issued in 1536." *5 Despite the persecutions the movement continued to spread and in 1555 the first Église Réformer, or Reformed Church, based on Calvinistic principals was founded in a home in Paris.

The Huguenot Cross In 1562, however, approximately 1,200 Huguenots were slaughtered in Vassey, igniting the Varsovie de Religion Français or French Wars of Religion which would last for 35 years, devastating France. This was followed by the infamous St. Bartholomew Massacre in 1572 which took place in the streets of Paris on the night of 23 August and continuing into the morning of the 24th. Goaded on by his domineering and cruelly sadistic mother Catherine de Medici, the weak French king Charles IX ordered the massacre on the wedding night of his sister Marguerite de Valois to the Huguenot, Henri de Navarre. Paris, at the time, was flooded with fellow Huguenots present for the celebrations. On the morning of Sunday 24 August Medici, herself, walked the streets of the French capital to inspect the carnage, reputedly smiling as she went. The marriage of Henri and Marguerite was an attempt to quell the War of Religion and Henri was forced to convert to Roman Catholicism. However, in February of that year, prior to his marriage to the Roman Catholic Marguerite, Henri resumed his practice of the Protestant faith with which he grew up.

King Henri IV of France In 1584, upon the death of François, Duke of Alençon, brother and heir to King Henri III, and successor to Charles IX in 1574, Henri de Navarre became the legal heir to the French throne through his descending from Louis IX. Because of the Salic Laws, Henri III had no choice but to recognize Navarre as heir and Henri became King Henri IV in 1589. On 13 April, 1598 Henri IV, or Roi Bon Henri as he was known, signed the Edict of Nantes ending the Wars of Religion, and allowing some religious freedoms to the Huguenots, including free exercise of their faith in 20 specified towns and cities of France, including La Rochelle the ancestral home of James Allaire. France saw a little over a decade of peace and harmony until the murder of Henri IV on 27 May 1610 by the fanatic François Ravaillac. After Henri's death and under the tyrannical guidance of Cardinal Richelieu, the Huguenot Persecution resumed in full force. During this time Henri's widow, Marguerite de Valois de Medici served as regent to their 9 year old son Louis XIII until he reached the age of 16 and took the control of the country into his own hands. Influenced by Richelieu, Louis XIII continued the persecution of the Huguenots; despite that his own father was, himself, a French Protestant; canceling all special privileges granted the Reformists under the reign of Henri IV.

King Louis XIV of France Upon Louis XIII's death on 14 May 1643, he and Queen's Anne's five year old son Louis XIV became King of France. Louis did not effectively become ruler until 1661 with the death of Cardinal Jules Mazarin, Chief Minister of France and successor to Richelieu, who served as Regent. Often called the Absolute Absolutist, Louis XIV immediately put into practice his motto "Je suis l'état. L'état c'est moi." I am the State, the State is Me. In order to achieve his goals of absolute power, Louis believed he must first achieve religious unification in France. Therefore in October of 1685 he issued the Edict of Fontainebleau which revoked the Edict of Nantes, ordered the destruction of Huguenot Churches and the closing of the Protestant schools. As a result over 200,000 Huguenots left France for other parts of the world where religious freedoms were granted and Protestantism accepted.

This mass migration had a crippling affect on France financially as well as on the Sun King's newly established court at Le Palais de Versailles. The Huguenots were, for the most part, Artisans, Craftsmen and Professionals and were widely received in the countries to which they fled. In his attempt at absolute power, Louis XIV mandated the nobles and aristocracy of France to relocate to the Court of Versailles, leaving their estates and territories over which they ruled. With the nobility thus disenfranchised, Louis was then able to appoint persons of his own choosing to rule in his behalf over these territories.

The life at the court was lavish to the point of Bacchanalian decadence. The nobles were compelled to spend incredible fortunes on their clothes and jewels, as dictated by court etiquette. Most of their time was spent in attending the balls, dinners, suppers, masses, celebrations and performances and entertainments which comprised the daily routine of court life. The memory of Louis XIV was allegedly so acute, he had the ability to scan a room upon entering and know exactly who was absent. This left the nobles in the predicament of having to seek favor from their king by participating in court life rather than through their governmental allegiances.

Participation in court life required all the trappings necessary for the lavish lifestyle being promoted by the king. With the Huguenots gone, however, France was left with a primarily, unskilled agrarian population and no artisans to provide the accoutrements necessary for proper court living. Along with this, the now nearly bankrupt France was fast becoming a credit risk on the world market and the import of such fineries was dwindling. Thus, the once envied Court at Versailles began to lose some of its luster.

The Huguenots, however, were prospering in their new homelands. "Their character and talents in the arts, sciences, and industry were such that they are generally felt to have been a substantial loss to the French society from which they had been forced to withdraw, and a corresponding gain to the communities and nations into which they settled," states the National Huguenot Society on their website. *5 Aside from their talents, the Huguenots took with them their high moral values and principals. Among these principals, was one in which James Allaire, a Huguenot descendent, was a firm believer. That being all children, both boys and girls, should be educated and educated freely. It is only fitting, therefore, that the Historic Village at Allaire, once owned and operated by James Peter Allaire as the Howell Works Company, remains to this day an educational facility dedicated to preserving 19th Century life and the memory of James Allaire for generations to come.

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