The Peace of Westphalia in 1648 had…

October 1685 CE

The Peace of Westphalia in 1648 had ended the last of the so-called wars of religion, but sectarian competition has continued and Catholic powers hope to regain territory from Lutheran Protestantism.

French king Louis XIV's pious second wife Mademoiselle de Maintenon, a strong advocate of Protestant persecution, has urged Louis to revoke Henri IV's Edict of Nantes, which in 1598 had granted to the Huguenots the right to worship their religion without persecution from the state.

Louis, identifying French power with universal French acceptance of the Roman Catholic faith and viewing French Protestants as potential rebels, does so on October 18-19, 1685, in declaring the Edict of Fontainebleau, which revokes the Edict of Nantes and declares Protestantism illegal.

By this edict, the "Sun King" orders the destruction of Huguenot churches, as well as the closing of Protestant schools.

This policy makes official the persecution already enforced since the dragonnades created in 1681 by the king in order to intimidate Huguenots into converting to Catholicism.

Maintenon‘s confessor and spiritual advisor, François de la Chaise, must be held largely responsible.

The revocation of the Edict of Nantes creates a state of affairs in France similar to that of virtually every other European country of the period, where only the majority state religion is tolerated, effectively ending for the time being the experiment of religious toleration in Europe.

In practice, the revocation causes France to suffer major brain drain, as it loses a large number of skilled craftsmen, including key designers such as the young architect, decorative designer, and engraver Daniel Marot, whose opulent and elaborate designs will contribute to European styles of decoration in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries.

Some rulers, such as Frederick Wilhelm of Brandenburg, who issues the Edict of Potsdam, encourage the Protestants to seek refuge in their nations.

As a result of the persecution by the dragoon soldiers and the subsequent Edict of Fontainebleau, a large number of Protestants—estimates range from two hundred thousand to five hundred thousand—will leave France over the next two decades, seeking asylum in England, the United Provinces, Denmark, the Habsburg's Holy Roman Empire, South Africa and North America.

Upon leaving France, Huguenots take with them knowledge of important techniques and styles—which is to have a significant effect on the quality of the silk, plate glass, silversmithing, and cabinet making industries of those regions to which they relocate.