The massacre at Agau mill was a massacre of Huguenots near

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; oc, Nimes ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the prefecture of the Gard department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. Located between the Mediterranean Sea and Cévennes, the commune of Nîmes has an estimated population of 148,5 ...

on 1 April 1703 perpetrated by Royal French forces during the War of the Camisards. The incident took place during the War of the Camisards, a Protestant Huguenot uprising against the persecutions that followed the edict of Fontainebleau in 1685. __TOC__

Massacre

A few hundred

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

were celebrating Palm Sunday in secret at a wooden watermill on the Agau canal, which was owned by a man named Mercier. A nearby spy heard someone singing a hymn, leading to his discovery of the festivities. He rushed to the marquis of Montrevel. The marquis ceased his lunch and gathered his soldiers, who were led to the mill. Instead of arresting the people present, the Marquis told his men to set fire to all four corners of the wooden mill and to kill anyone who tried to escape. A mother holding her baby son tried to escape the burning building, but the soldiers blocked her way so she could not leave. At least twenty-one people, all of them women, old children or children, died in the flames.

It was no combat which ensued, for the Huguenots were incapable of resistance, it was simply a massacre; a certain number of the dragoons entered the mill sword in hand, stabbing all whom they could reach, whilst the rest of the force stationed outside before the windows received those who jumped out on the points of their swords. —
Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas (, ; ; born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (), 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where '' '' is French for 'father', to distinguish him from his son Alexandre Dumas fils), was a French writer ...
, ''Massacres of the South''

The only survivor was a sixteen-year old girl who escaped through the

palisade A palisade, sometimes called a stakewall or a paling, is typically a fence or defensive wall made from iron or wooden stakes, or tree trunks, and used as a defensive structure or enclosure. Palisades can form a stockade. Etymology ''Palisade' ...

and was saved by the marquis' valet who felt uncomfortable killing her. She was caught the next day and hanged. The valet was arranged to be executed but was freed at the requests of the Sisters of Mercy. On 2 April, the day following the incident, royal troops burned down the watermill. The area where the mill stood is now 1 rue Colbert.

Aftermath

The massacre caused a massive outcry that included several of Louis XIV's ministers and even the king's secret consort,

Françoise d'Aubigné Françoise () is a French feminine given name (equivalent to the Italian Francesca) and may refer to: * Anne Françoise Elizabeth Lange (1772–1816), French actress * Claudine Françoise Mignot (1624–1711), French adventuress * Françoise Adnet ...

. The bishop of Nîmes, Esprit Fléchier, described the massacre as " Estimates of the number of fatalities are controversial. F. Rouvière wrote in 1893 that only a maximum of 21 people could have died in the massacre and pointed out inconsistencies with the traditional narrative. In 1920 another scholar criticized Rouvière's report as downplaying the massacre and being an act of

historical revisionism In historiography, historical revisionism is the reinterpretation of a historical account. It usually involves challenging the orthodox (established, accepted or traditional) views held by professional scholars about a historical event or times ...

In popular culture

The French writer

Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas (, ; ; born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (), 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where '' '' is French for 'father', to distinguish him from his son Alexandre Dumas fils), was a French writer ...

recounted the massacre in his essay, ''Massacres of the South''.

Notes

References

{{coord missing, France 1703 in France Conflicts in 1703 Massacres committed by France Massacres in France Massacres of Huguenots War of the Camisards 1703 murders in Europe Massacres in 1703

Massacre

Aftermath

In popular culture

See also

Notes

References