A Petition to Reinstate the Edict of Nantes

To the fair King Louis XIV of France,

                Recently, we in the denomination of Protestant Christians have become displeased with one of your decisions of late- to revoke our past King Henri IV’s much-respected document the Edict of Nantes, to which it is referred, which grants us (The French Protestant Huguenots) freedom to practice our religion in our home country of France. Because of this uninstating of the document, we are given a very simple choice- convert to your (not our) chosen religion of Catholicism and claim to believe things that we do not in fact agree with, or to leave the country that we hold so dear in our hearts. I myself made the decision to leave France, taking my beliefs, and my skills as a reputable silversmith, with me.

                However, I do not like the Netherlands quite as much as I hold my homelandfor  close to my heart. Although I have become a part of a church which allows me to practice Protestantism with their congregation, and I have come across several individuals whose situation is similar to that of my mine, my life is drastically changed, especially in that there are less opportunities in the Netherlands for a smith such as myself, seeing as myself, seeing as already-established silver refineries have an intimidating monopoly on the silver-buying customers in what seems to be the entirety of the region of Holland. As such, I have prepared this petition, and received the backing of several of my peers who agree with me, in the hopes that you will reinstate the edict which grants the Huguenots such sweet freedom. 

                The Huguenot denomination begs you to look at the disadvantages of removing us in our entirety from your country. Most significantly, by forcing us to leave, you lose many talented craftsmen, scholars, authors, soldiers, leaders, et cetera who would be of good use to you in the future. I myself have been asked on occasion to prepare a piece for one of your many elaborate ceremonies, or for a noble serving under you who wished to appeal to your good graces. In fact, on one occasion, you visited my village, and my shop, personally, in the hopes that I could prepare for you an ornate necklace for a meeting with a Spanish leader (a task which I performed, and satisfactorily, as well). By revoking this beneficial statement, you will also lose the full support of the Huguenot forces and votes, a mass which would definitely help move along any bills or movements that you might seek to pass. By persecuting our religion in its entirety, you lose 400,000 votes which, as of a few months previous, were in your favor. I will leave on this note- that you, a great leader for whom the Huguenots formerly had great respect, have disappointed us.

Sincerely,

Hugo Despereaux

 

“The Edict of Nantes, 1598”. Columbia College.

https://www.college.columbia.edu/core/content/edict-nantes-1598