Huguenot France Jean (Schunck)

These German names almost all came from the Palatinate and Switzerland. Even today we can trace the

French Huguenot origin, which by combined German and English influence have often received a not very elegant or euphonious form: examples are Lemon (Le Mon), Bushong (Beauchamp), and Shunk (Jean); the original Fierre was changed to German Faehre, and later became anglicised into Ferree.

What a deterioration there is in such names as Shunk (from Huguenot Jean),

The French Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France (or French Calvinists) from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries. Huguenots became known for their criticisms of worship as performed in the Roman Catholic Church.

The Roman Catholic Church fanatically opposed the Huguenots, attacking pastors and congregants as they attempted to meet in secret for worship. The height of this persecution was St. Bartholomew’s Eve Massacre, but was preceded by much slaughter before that date.

By 1562, the estimated number of Huguenots in France likely peaked in number at approximately two million, compared to approximately sixteen million Catholics during the same period. As the Huguenots gained influence and displayed their faith more openly, Roman Catholic hostility to them grew, even though the French crown offered increasingly liberal political concessions and edicts of toleration.

In 1561, the Edict of Orléans declared an end to the persecution, and the Edict of Saint-Germain of January 1562 formally recognized the Huguenots for the first time. The Huguenots transformed themselves into a definitive political movement, adding wealth and holdings to the Protestant strength, which at its height grew to sixty fortified cities, and posed a serious threat to the Catholic crown and Paris over the next three decades.

In what became known as the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre of 24 August – 3 October 1572, Catholics killed thousands of Huguenots in Paris. Similar massacres took place in other towns in the weeks following. In 1685, Louis revoked the Edict of Nantes and declared Protestantism to be illegal in the Edict of Fontainebleau. After this, the Huguenots fled.

A group of Huguenots under the leadership of Jean Ribault in 1562 ended up establishing the small colony of Fort Caroline in 1564, on the banks of the St. Johns River, in what is today Jacksonville, Florida. Barred from settling in New France, many Huguenots nevertheless moved to North America, settling instead in the Dutch colony of New Netherland (later incorporated into New York and New Jersey), as well as the Thirteen Colonies of Great Britain and Nova Scotia.

Huguenot immigrants founded New Paltz, New York, which has the oldest street in the current United States of America with the original stone houses, and New Rochelle, New York (named after La Rochelle in France). Louis DuBois, son of Chretien DuBois, was one of the original Huguenot settlers in this area. There was Huguenot settlement on the south shore of Staten Island, New York in 1692. The present-day neighborhood of Huguenot was named those early settlers. Some Huguenot immigrants settled in Central Pennsylvania. There, they assimilated with the predominately Pennsylvania German settlers.

American Huguenots readily married outside their immediate French Huguenot communities, leading to rapid assimilation. They made an enormous contribution to American economic life, especially as merchants and artisans in the late Colonial and early Federal periods.

Eight American Presidents (George Washington, Ulysses S. Grant, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, William Taft, Harry Truman, Gerald Ford and Lyndon Johnson) had significant proven Huguenot ancestry, as did founding fathers Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and Paul Revere. Twelve other U.S. Presidents had credible but unproven claims to Huguenot ancestors.

The Huguenots were French Protestants most of whom eventually came to follow the teachings of John Calvin, and who, due to religious persecution, were forced to flee France to other countries in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Some remained, practicing their Faith in secret.

The Protestant Reformation began by Martin Luther in Germany about 1517, spread rapidly in France, especially among those having grievances against the established order of government. As Protestantism grew and developed in France it generally abandoned the Lutheran form, and took the shape of Calvinism. The new “Reformed religion” practiced by many members of the French nobility and social middle-class, based on a belief in salvation through individual faith without the need for the intercession of a church hierarchy and on the belief in an individual’s right to interpret scriptures for themselves, placed these French Protestants 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. Nevertheless, Protestantism continued to spread and grow, and about 1555 the first Huguenot church was founded in a home in Paris based upon the teachings of John Calvin. The number and influence of the French Reformers (Huguenots) continued to increase after this event, leading to an escalation in hostility and conflict between the Catholic Church/State and the Huguenots. Finally, in 1562, some 1200 Huguenots were slain at Vassey, France, thus igniting the French Wars of Religion which would devastate France for the next thirty-five years.

Date Event

1440-1455 Guttenberg's invention of moveable type enabled printing and distribution of Bible and other information to the masses, which enabled works of Martin Luther and other reformers to be circulated throughout Europe.

ca. 1500 Erasmus (1467-1563) begins to write and preach to reform the church.

1512 Jacques le Fevre (Jacobus Faber) writes Aaneti Pauli Epistolas.

1515 Accession of Francis I of France.

1516 Concordat of Bologna.

1521 Martin Luther proclaims documents of Reformation.

1523 First French translation of the Bible.

After 1525 John Calvin led Protestant Reformation in France and Switzerland.

1526 Tyndale's English version of the New Testament printed in Antwerp.

1529 Louis de Berquin burnt at the stake.

1534 Protestant placard campaign in Paris. Calvin settles in Basle, Switzerland.

1535 Edict banning all heretics in France. First refugees leave France. Publication of Tyndale and Coverdale Bible in English in Hamburg.

1538 Foundation of the French Protestant church at Strasbourg.

1539 Bernard Palissy settles at Saintes.

1540 First substantial Huguenot settlements in Kent and Suxxes, England. French trading station established at Sheepshead Bay, NY. (Called Angouleine).

1541 French forts established near Quebec.

1545 Jean de Maynier, baron d'Oppede, ordrs massacre of Waldensians at Merindol and Cabrieres. Protestants massacreed in 22 French towns and 14 members of Protestant church at Mejux burned at stake over religion.

1547 Death of Henry VIII of England; accesion of Edward VI. Death of Francis I of France; accesion of Henry II. Protestantism established officially in England. Increased immigration of Huguenots to Kent, especially Canterbury. Chambre Ardente established in Paris.

1548 Large groups of French Huguenots began escaping to Channel Islands. First Huguenot congregation estalised at Canterbury by Jan Utehove and Francois de la Riviere of Orleans.

1550 Temple of Jesus licensed, earliest foreign Protestant Church in London. Church of St. Anthony's Hospital in Threeadneedle Street, London, given to French Huguenots.

June 27, 1551 Edict of Chateaubriand placed severe restrictions on Protestants, including loss of one-third of property to informers and confiscation of all property of those who left France. "Heretical" books were forbidden or censored.

1553 Death of Edward VI; accesion of Mary I of England. Dispersion of London Protestants; persecution of English Protestants begins.

1555 French Admiral Gaspard de Coligny, Huguenot leader, envisions French Portestant colony in Brazil. King Henry II consented and colony was wiped out in 1557 by the Portuguese. First Huguenot consistory in Paris.

Sept., 1555 First Protestant Church in Paris, France, organized in a home. Date sometimes given as 1556.

1556 Philip II succeeds to throne of Spain.

1558 Death of Mary I of England; accession of Elizabeth I.

1559 Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis. First national synod of the Reformed Churches of France in Paris at which 15 Protestant churches are represented. Death of Henry II; accession of Francis II of France.

1560 Conspiracy of Amboise to kill the king of France fails. Edict of Romorantin lays interdict on Protestantism. Meeting of States General at Orleans. Death of Francis II; accession of Charles IX of France.

July, 1561 Royal edict authorizes imprisonment and confiscation of property upon all who attend any "heretical" (non-Roman Catholic) public or private worship service. Beginning of new influx of refugees to Kent from Low Countries, Picardy, Artois and Flanders. Coiloque of Poissy attempts to bring about a modus vevendi between Catholics and Protestants in France.

Jan., 1562 Royal edict of Saint-Germain recognizes new religion as legal and offers some protection. Massacre of Vassy. First battle of civil war in France at Dreux. Siege of Rouen.

Feb. 18, 1562 French colonists, mostly Protestants, set sail to start colony in Florida.

Mar., 1562 Masacree of Protestants at Vassy starts first Civil War in France over religion. Forces of Duke of Guise attachedd a Protestant assembly in one of the towns of Champagne and killed some 50 to 60 worshipers. First battle of civil war at Dreux.

1563 Assassination of Francis, duke of Guise. Pacification of Amboise.

1564 French settlement at Fort Caroline, Florida, founded. Treaty of Troyes.

Sept., 1565 Spanish forces captured Fort Caroline and slaughtered all inhabitants.

1567 Seige of Saint-Denis. Death of Montmorency.

1567-1568 Huguenot thread and lace makers established in Maidstone, England. Others escaped to Cranfield in Bedfordshire and others to the shires of Oxford, Northampton and Cambridge. Huguenots established glassworks in London during this period.

1568 Treaty of Longjumeau. Fort Caroline recaptured by French.

1569 Battle of Jarnac. Death of Conde. Battle of Montcontour. Peace of St. Germain.

1570 Henry of Navarre affianced to Marguerite de Valois.

1572 Anglo-French Treaty of Blois. Death of Jeanne d'Albret, queen of Navarre. Marriage of Henry of Navarre and Marguerite de Valois. Aug. 24, 1572 St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in Paris and elsewhere in France in which thousands of Huguenots were lulled into a sense of false safety by King Charles IX and Queen Mother Catherine and slaughtered. Duc de Guise (Henri I de Lorraine) personally killed Admiral Gaspard de Coligny. Slaughter continues until October. Civil War Begins.

1573 Duke of Anjou elected king of Poland. Edict of Boulonge.

1574 Death of Charles IX; accession of Henry III of France. Huguenot settlement at Winchester, England, moved to Canterbury. Truce with Huguenots in France.

1575 Confederation of Milhaud.

1576 Formation of the Holy League. Peace of Monsieur and defeat of Henry III. War renewed.

1577 Peace of Bergerac.

1579 Peace of Fleix. Ordonnance of Blois.

1584 Death of duke of Anjou; Henry of Navarre becomes heir to the throne of France. Duke of Guise proclaims Cardinal de Bourbon heir apparent. Treaty of Joinville.

1585 Henry III forced to surrender to the League and the Guises. Treaty of Nemours. Outbreak of the War of the Three Henrys.

1586 Truce of Saint-Brice.

1587 Execution of Mary, queen of Scots. Battle of Coutras. Battle of Auneau.

1588 Day of the Barricades. Spanish Armada. Edict of Union. Duke of Guise and cardinal of Guise assassinated at Blois.

1589 Henry III assassinated; accession of Henry of Navarre as Henry IV of France. Death of Catherine de Medici. Battle of Arques. Death of Cardinal de Bourbon (Charles X).

1590 Battle of Ivy. Seige of Paris.

1592 Battle of Aumale.

1593 States General meet in Paris to elect king. Henry IV converted to Catholicism.

1594 Henry IV crowned at Cartres. Henry IV enters Paris.

1595 Defeat of Spanish at Fontaine-Francaise.

1596 Conference of Notables at Rouen.

1597 Spanish capture Amiens. French recapture Amiens.

1598 Peace of Vervins. Death of Philip II of Spain. Apr. 13, 1598 Edict of Nantes proclaimed returning civil and religious freedom to Protestants. So strong were Protestants in LaRochelle that Roman Catholic mass had not been said in 40 years. Huguenots, for a time, became a strong political power in France. End of Franco-Spanish War. Sable Island colony of Nova Scotia founded.

1599 Pierre Charivia was commissioned by King Henry IV to colonize North America and established trading posts on St. Lawrence River in Canada.

1600 Tadoussac on the St. Lawrence founded. Spanish defeated at Nieuport.

1603 Pierre du Gua, sieur de Monts, a Huguenot, was granted royal permission to possess and settle North America from the 40th to 46th degree North Latitude for 10 years. (Acadia, later Nova Scotia). Death of Elizabeth I of England and acession of James I.

1605--1613 Several French refugee merchants had settled in Dublin and Waterford in Ireland.

1607 Jamestown, VA, English colony established.

Summer, 1607 Trade priviliges for de Monts withdrawn by king and Port Royal abandoned.

Summer, 1608 Samuel de Champlain landed at what is now Quebec City and established trading post. Religious liberty was unrestricted and trade prospered.

1609 Group of Flemish Huguenots settled in Canongate, Scotland. Disrupted succession to the duchy of Cleves.

By 1609 French Huguenots established manufacture of cloth in north and west of England in Worcester, Evesham, Droitwich, Kiddeminster, Stroud and Glastonbury and in east at Colchester, Hereford and Stamford. Colchester had 1,300 Walloon citizens by 1609. In the north of England, Huguenot establishments made coatings at Manchester, Bolton and Halifax and cloth caps and woollen stockings at Kendal.

May 14, 1610 King Henry IV of France killed by assassin; accession ov Louis XIII. Duke de Rohan becomes leader of the Huguenots. Alliance with Evangelical Union of Swabisch. De Monts surrendered his colonization rights in North America which were purchased by Antoinette de Pons, a lady of honor to the queen and an intense devotee of Church of Rome and supporter of Society of Jesus (Jesuits).

1613 By this time Jesuits controlled religion in Acadia and restricted Protestants.

1614 Jean Dankerts (Jean Verassen) was first white man born on Manhattan island.

1616 Treaty of Loudon.

1618 Cardinal Richelieu publishes "Principal Points of Faith of the Catholic Church."

1619 Sir William Sandys reports on "our Frenchmen" in the Virginia colony. Huguenot Church of Bearn rejects Decree of Restitution. La Rochelle supports Bearnaise resistance to Louis XIII.

1620 Sieges of Montauban and Montpellier. Death of duke of Luynes. Defection of Sully, La Force and Chatillion to the Catholics.

1621 Jesse de Forest's request to settle in English colonies turned down by Sir Dudley Carleton. Instead they were directed to NY.

Sept., 1621 English under King James I, laid claim to much of Canada east of St. Croix River and south of St. Lawrence, including much of Acadia (Nova Scotia).

1621 to 1627 Religious toleration still existed in Quebec and area and Huguenot merchants prospered.

1622 Archbishoip Laud attempts to compel refugees to conform to Angelican liturgy. Siege of Montpellier abandoned and peace signed.

March, 1623 Sailing ship New Nederlandt sailed with 30 families from Texel River, Holland, for New Amsterdam. Four Huguenot families left New Amsterdam and settled settled near "Trenton Falls" on the Delaware River in Delaware, but returned to New Amsterdam because of Indian attacks. Other later early settlements were destroyed by Indians.

1624 Richelieu given seat on Royal Council and appointed chief minister to Louis XIII.

1625 Huguenot settlers established along the James River in VA.

1625-1686 Huguenots sought refuge in French colonies in Lesser Antilles of Caribbean -- St. Christopher, Guadeloupe, Martinique.

1626 Jesuits joined Franciscans in Quebec and religious turmoil began as privileges were withdrawn for Huguenots. Trade declined. Cardinal Richelieu was rising to power in France as he moved to reduce the political power of Huguenots. Siege of La Rochelle begins. Manhattan Island bought from Indians by Peter Minuet, a Huguenot. Permanent settlement established at Salem, MA, included Huguenots.

1627 King Charles I of England declared himself a friend of French Huguenots.

1628 English fleet sent to relieve Huguenots at La Rochelle, which had been under blockade by French troops under Louis XIII. Relief failed and La Rochelle fell to French troops on Oct. 8, 1628. Acadia (Nova Scotia) fell to English.

By 1628 There were 300 inhabitants of New Amsterdam, mostly Huguenots. First Huguenot Church established on Manhattan Island.

1629 Huguenots in England ask for permission from King Charles I to settle in Carolinas and set sail in 1630, but were landed in VA. Massachusetts Bay Company charter granted.

Jan. 1629 Some 50 settlers left England to establish, Charlestown, MA. Sir Robert Heath's Carolina charter granted. Baltimore decides to settle on the Chesapeake. Peace of Alais ends civil war in France and Huguenots cease to exist as a political force.

June 27, 1629 French King Charles I, granted to Baron de Sauce permission to establish a colony on the lower James River in VA.

July 20, 1629 Quebec surrendered to English forces after the English war with France was officially over.

Sept. 24, 1630 First ship of de Sauce's French emigrants arrived at Southampton Hundred on the James River, but the colony did not prosper and they believed to have dispersed.

1632 English returned Quebec to France with Emery de Caen, son of Gullaume, sieur de la Mothe, as governor. Lord Baltimore's Maryland charter granted. Louis XIII bans all Huguenots from Canada.

23 May, 1633 Champlain again appointed governor of French Canada and returned Jesuits to religious power. From this time, Canada was formerly closed to Protestant colonists. While some Huguenot traders were allowed to remain, permanent residency was granted to none but Frenchmen of the Roman Catholic faith, marking the beginning of a steady decline of the economy with some Huguenots escaping to Nova Scotia and the British colonies. Huguenot merchants in France continued to trade with those remaining in Quebec.

1633 Archbishop Laud appointed to head commission for regulating colonies.

By 1634 Some 20 villages established in Boston, MA, area, including Charlestown, Newton, Watertown, Roxbury and Dorchester.

1642 Death of Richelieu.

1643 Death of Louis XIII; accession of Louis XIV. Louis XIV guarantees Edict of Nantes. Mazarin prevents clamour for revocation.

1647 Dutch establish refreshment station at Table Bay.

1648 Outbreak of Fronde in France. Treaty of Westphalia.

1650 Jan van Riebeck established permanent settlement at Table Bay.

Feb. 25, 1651 Acadia (Nova Scotia) again surrendered to English.

1654 Beginning of Huguenot emigration on a large scale to North America.

1658 New Harlem founded.

1659 Treaty of the Pyrenees.

1659 & 1671 Virginia passed acts allowing for naturalization of non- British in the colony.

1660 Restoration of Charles II to English throne.

1661 Death of Cardinal Mazarin. Beginning of serious persecution of Huguenots and infringement of Edict of Nantes.

From 1661 Series of proclamations seriously restricted terms of Edict of Nantes. Protestant schools and churches were abolished and "dragonnardes" began, billeting French troops in Huguenot homes to spy upon the inhabitants. Escaping Huguenots were welcomed in many countries of Europe -- England, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden. At one time, more French resided in Berlin than Germans.

1662 Jean Touton's colony in Massachusetts founded.

1663 Carolinas Grant from King Charles II of England to eight proprietors.

6 Sept., 1664 New Netherland became an English colony and name changed to New York.

1665 First Dutch church registers in South Africa.

1670 Three ships arrived in Carolinas carrying settlers from London, mostly Huguenots.

1677 Huguenots purchased land on which New Platz, NY, established.

1678 Peace of Nijmegen. Attacks on Huguenots across France.

Apr. 30, 1680 Ship "Richmond" arrives from England at Charles Town, SC, with 75 French Protestants.

1681 William Penn Jr. receives grant of Pennsylvania England's King Charles II. Collections made in England for needy French refugees.

1682 Pierre Daile sent to minister to American Huguenots.

Oct., 1682 Penn made Philadelphia the capital of the Province of Pennsylvania.

1683 Dragonnardes organized to harass Huguenots in France.

Apr. 18, 1685 Landgrave Charles of Hesse-Cassel was the first of the German princes to offer asylum to the Huguenots from France.

Oct., 1685 Revocation of the Edict of Nantes by King Louis XIV. Many more Canadian Huguenots escaped to New England, from where they continued to trade with Canada. After Revocation, some 80,000 French manufacturers and workmen fled to the British Isles, bring such industries as paper making, silk makers, tanners, furniture making, silver smithing. England became an exporter, rather than an importer of such items as velvets, satins, silks, taffetas, laces, gloves, buttons, serge cloth, beaver and felt hats, linen, ironware, cutlery, feathers, fans, girdles, pins, needles, combs, soap, viengar and many more items manufacturered by the new Huguenot citizens. But life in another country was not without its problems, not only of language but also when the hard-working, frugal Huguenots came into competition with the citizens.

Oct., 1686 Group of French Huguenots established Frenchtown, RI, 10 miles inland from Narragansett Bay. By 1691, their neighbors had driven all but two families from the town.

1687 Huguenot Relief Committee in London aided 600 Huguenots in their move to VA.

1687 Huguenots granted permission for Huguenot church in Boston on Nov. 24, 1687. Was completed in 1716. It later became an Anglican Church and later a Roman Catholic Church and the site now is occupied by a Boston bank.

1687 Huguenots had built their church in Charlestown, SC.

1690 French Huguenots from VA established permanent settlement on the Pamlico River in NC.

1692 William Penn Jr. was given land which became Delaware by the Duke of York.

1700 Some 700 emigrants led by Marquis de la Muce landed in Virginia and started Manakintown settlement. First ship to land was the "Mary Ann," which cleared from London on April 19, 1700, and arrived at Hampton, VA, on July 23. The "Peter and Anthony" landed Oct. 6, 1700; and the fourth was the "Nassau" or "Nasseau," which landed March 5, 1701. Little is known of the third ship.

1704 French Huguenots founded town of Bath, NC, on Pamlico River.

By 1707 400 refugee Huguenot families had settled in Scotland. Helped establish the Scottish weaving trade.

1710 Huguenots settled on the Trent and Neuse Rivers in NC and other Huguenots from Switzerland and Palatine Germany established New Bern, NC, soon thereafter.

Jan. 1733 Gen. James Oglethorp, chief trustee of Georgia, arrived with 120 settlers, many of whom were Huguenots, at Yamacraw Bluffs on the Savannah River. Within four years the population had grown to 1,000.

1740 By act of English Parliament, alien immigrants into the colonies receive British citizenship.

1755 Acadians expelled from Nova Scotia.

1763 Treaty of Paris gave Britain control over 13 colonies.

1775 British government suspends emigration upon outbreak of hostilities in the colonies.

1790 First official census in the United States was 3,277,000 inhabitants.