Question about a huguenot

Question

Hi everyone! 

I'm currently working on the profile of a French Huguenot, Jérémie de Pourtalès, who emigrated to Switzerland because of religious persecutions.

I wanted to put a Huguenot sticker on the profile, but I'm a bit confused about the categories. The Huguenot Migration Project page states:

This Project seeks to acknowledge people who self-identified as religious Huguenots, sometimes called "French Huguenots," who lived between 1540 and 1790, spoke French, or a language associated with French, were Protestant or "Reformed" Christians, and were somehow persecuted or discriminated against so that they chose to leave their home (either within France or a mixed-language borderland such as Wallonia, Flanders, Artois, Hainaut, Franche Comte, or Alsace-Lorraine ...), and find a better life abroad.

Many of these men and women and their families fled first to other, more tolerant, European countries, notably the Netherlands and England, and then from there to the Americas, South Africa and even Asia. The term "Huguenot Emigrant" applies only to the 1st generation, who left their French or borderland Homeland for a non-French destination.

I'm confused at what "French or borderland Homeland" and "non-French destination" means here. My guy fled France (where Protestants were persecuted) for Switzerland (where they were the norm.) That being said, the part of Switzerland he went to and several generations of his descendants stayed is French-speaking (Neuchâtel.) Does that mean it does not count as "not-French"? The "mixed language borderlands" list both actual French regions (Artois, Franche-Comté, Alsace...) and non-French ones (Wallonia) so I'm honestly confused about what this mean. I'm surprised Switzerland isn't even mentioned at all on the Project page, given it was a very popular destination for French Huguenot because it was nearby, francophone (at least in those areas), and mainly Protestant.

 Can I use the "Huguenot emigrant" sticker? Or should I use the "Huguenot non-emigrant"? What does "Huguenot ancestor" even mean?

Answer 1

Those detailed definitions are largely intended to support decisions on whether and why the project will co-manage a profile.

The description of the Huguenot emigrant sticker is simpler. It is for Huguenot Protestants who left their French-speaking homeland during the applicable time period for another country in search of religious freedom. It doesn't say they had to go to a place where a different language was spoken. Emigrating from France to Switzerland qualifies.

Note: I am not part of the Huguenot project, but as a Project Leader for projects that intersect with it, I think I have a pretty good idea what they intend for the sticker to do.

Comments

I believe that the mention of "borderland Homelands" refers to French-speaking places that some Huguenots left due to concerns about lack of tolerance for Protestants.

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Ok, thank you for the confirmation

Answer 2

Now there's a nice conundrum.  He was baptized in a Catholic church, and from the bio, his family were persecuted by the Protestants.  So Huguenot Migrant designation appears totally wrong for him.

Comments

He was probably baptised as a catholic because of societal pressure (many French Protestants were) and left because of the persecutions of Protestants, not by Protestants. I see how the wording can be confusing though, so I'll change that.

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The persecutions may have gone both ways, Languedoc did have a large portion of protestants if my memory serves me well.  He may have converted to the Protestant faith later.  You'd have to find his parents' marriage to see where they married.  

Meanwhile, the Huguenot Migrations category and structure is a bit misleading.  There were a fair number of migrants to New France who were Huguenots to start with, but few of them came here due to religious persecution.  Many were soldiers (the armed forces didn't seem to care too much what their religion was), and others came here on work contracts, so economic migrants rather than from persecution for their religion.  They abjured the protestant religion, either before leaving France or when they decided to settle here, as only Catholics were allowed (at least technically).

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In regard: https://museeprotestant.org/en/notice/the-first-canadian-colony-acadia/

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I know about those fellows.  There is still disagreement about Samuel de Champlain 's reported baptism in a Protestant temple.  And there were lots of Protestant merchants in La Rochelle who dealt with the colonies.  But few of them lived here, and those that did got turned into Catholics.  

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Lol ..  and as time went on in Nouvelle France, [and Louisanne] and as more people arrived more turning took place .. Catechism does bring us together .. I always enjoy your insight Danielle .. C'est Bon