Jean-Paul Perrin (1580-?), sometimes incorrectly called Jean Paul Perrin Lionnois as he was originally from Lyon, was a French preacher and Protestant historian in the 16th and 17th centuries, and pastor of a congregation at Nyons in Dauphiné.

Works

He is best known for his ''Histoire des Vaudois'', commissioned by the Provincial Synod of the Reformed Church of Dauphiné in March 1605, completed around 1609 and published on January 1, 1618, in Geneva. Histoire des Vaudois Perrin

This 596-page work, also known as ''Histoire des Chrestiens Albigeois'', is based on numerous sources gathered mainly between 1602 and 1603 by

Calvinists Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

(including some Waldenses) with a view to defending the thesis that the Roman Catholic Church is not descended from the

primitive Church The history of Christianity concerns the Christian religion, Christian countries, and the Christians with their various denominations, from the 1st century to the present. Christianity originated with the ministry of Jesus, a Jewish teache ...

, but has departed from it, unlike the Albigenses and the

Waldenses The Waldensians (also known as Waldenses (), Vallenses, Valdesi or Vaudois) are adherents of a church tradition that began as an ascetic movement within Western Christianity before the Reformation. Originally known as the "Poor Men of Lyon" ...

and other groups before them, who, according to Perrin, would have maintained the true faith particularly in the Alpine valleys and would have mostly rallied to the Protestant Reformation or Anabaptism in the 16th century. Despite the fact that most of these original sources disappeared following the

dragonnades The ''Dragonnades'' were a French government policy instituted by King Louis XIV in 1681 to intimidate Huguenot (Protestant) families into converting to Catholicism. This involved the billeting of ill-disciplined dragoons in Protestant households ...

, this work is considered highly credible by historians for several reasons: it was revised by numerous Protestant pastors from

Southern France Southern France, also known as the South of France or colloquially in French language, French as , is a defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi ...

over a period of 9 years; it often overlaps with the writings of Jean Crespin,

Nicolas Vignier Nicolas Vignier (1530–1596) was a French lawyer, historiographer and theologian. Life He was born in Bar-sur-Seine, in the modern-day department of Aube, in 1530. He died in 1596. He initially trained to be a doctor; but after conversion t ...

and Philips of Marnix; it served as a reference for the writings of Thieleman Van Braght ( Martyrs Mirror, 1660),

Jean Léger Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Jean ...

(Histoire générale des Églises Évangéliques des Vallées du Piémont ou Vaudoises, 1669) or Antoine Monastier (Histoire de l'Église Vaudoise, 1847).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:SMITH, JOHN 1580 births Year of death unknown Clergy from Lyon 17th-century French historians 16th-century French historians 16th-century French male writers 16th-century French clergy 17th-century French clergy French Protestant ministers and clergy