Jean Marteilhe

The Huguenot Galley-Slave: Autobiography of a French Protestant Condemned to the Galleys for the Sake of his Religion Jean Marteilhe

The Huguenot Galley-Slave is the autobiography of a French Protestant condemned to the galley's for the sake of his religion. By the Edict of Nantes, Henry IV, in the year 1598, guaranteed to his Protestant subjects liberty of conscience and of worship, absolute security to person and property, and equal rights and privileges before the law. The Edict continued in force for nearly ninety years, though its stipulations were often violated, and under one pretense or another, the Protestants suffered frequent persecutions. But on the 22nd of October, 1685, it was revoked by Louis XIV. The Reformed pastors were commanded to leave the kingdom within fifteen days, under pain of the galleys. All Protestant worship was interdicted, both in public and private, and the temples were ordered to be razed to the ground. The Protestant schools were to be closed forthwith; and all children born after the date of the Revocation were to be baptized by the parish priests, and brought up as Roman Catholics. Refugees were enjoined to return and abjure their faith within four months, under penalty of confiscation and outlawry. Protestants attempting to escape from the kingdom were sentenced to the galleys. Adults who had been brought up in the Reformed faith were allowed to remain " until it shall please God to enlighten them."