The Secretary of State for Protestant Affairs (french: link=no, Secrétaire d'État de la Religion Prétendue Réformée, or R.P.R., the "So-called Reformed Religion"), was the secretary of state in France during the "

Ancien Régime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for "ancient, old" ** Société des anciens textes français * the French for "former, senior" ** Virelai ancien ** Ancien Régime ** Ancien Régime in France ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for ...

" and Bourbon Restoration in charge of overseeing French Protestant affairs. From 1749 on, the position was combined with the position of

Secretary of State of the Maison du Roi The Secretary of State of the Maison du Roi (french: Secrétaire d'État à la Maison du Roi) was the secretary of state in France during the Ancien Régime and Bourbon Restoration in charge of the Département de la Maison du Roi. The exact comp ...

History

During the preparation and implementation of the

Edict of Nantes The Edict of Nantes () was signed in April 1598 by King Henry IV and granted the Calvinist Protestants of France, also known as Huguenots, substantial rights in the nation, which was in essence completely Catholic. In the edict, Henry aimed pr ...

(finalized in 1598), an administrative department was created to oversee

Protestant 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 ...

affairs. By a royal decision in 1588, one of the four secretaries of state of Henry III, Forget de Fresne, was given the responsibility of negotiating with the provinces which had large

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

populations (

Languedoc The Province of Languedoc (; , ; oc, Lengadòc ) is a former province of France. Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately ...

, Dauphiné, Orléanais,

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...

, Anjou,

Poitou Poitou (, , ; ; Poitevin: ''Poetou'') was a province of west-central France whose capital city was Poitiers. Both Poitou and Poitiers are named after the Pictones Gallic tribe. Geography The main historical cities are Poitiers (historical c ...

, Saintonge, Angoumois). Trusted by Henry IV, Forget de Fresne became the principal author of the Edict of Nantes (which he co-signed), and organizer of the department of Protestant affairs. From 1610 to 1775, this position was held by members of the Phélypeaux family. Until the

revocation of the Edict of Nantes The Edict of Fontainebleau (22 October 1685) was an edict issued by French King Louis XIV and is also known as the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The Edict of Nantes (1598) had granted Huguenots the right to practice their religion without s ...

(1685), the secretary – whose oversight covered a huge geographical area – was especially concerned with communicating with provincial governors, intendants and bishops regarding real or imagined violations of the provisions of the Edict, and disputes concerning the demolition of temples and religious freedom. As public opinion in the 17th century became increasingly hostile to the Huguenots, the secretaries fulfilled their duties in applying more rigorous measures on the Protestants. In 1685, the then-secretary, Balthazar Phélypeaux, countersigned the

Edict of Fontainebleau The Edict of Fontainebleau (22 October 1685) was an edict issued by French King Louis XIV and is also known as the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The Edict of Nantes (1598) had granted Huguenots the right to practice their religion without s ...

. The department continued to exist after the revocation, although its purview changed. Other than the uprising of the

Camisards Camisards were Huguenots (French Protestants) of the rugged and isolated Cévennes region and the neighbouring Vaunage in southern France. In the early 1700s, they raised a resistance against the persecutions which followed Louis XIV's Revocation ...

, the secretaries' duties were focused on two areas: managing the spoliated goods of fugitive Huguenots (which could be transferred to their nearest relatives, provided they were Catholics, but only after extensive legal examination and with the approval of the "Conseil des dépêches") and – at the request of provincial intendants – the removal of children from families suspected of not having fully converted and of placing them in foster care in convents or in homes for new Catholics. Louis Phélypeaux, secretary for 50 years, was famous for the severity with which he fulfilled his duties. Disagreeing with the tolerant policies of the last years of the reign of

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached ...

, and with those that the arrival of Turgot to power seemed to predict, he resigned from the post in 1775. After 1749 the department of Protestant affairs was attached to the department of the

. Named to the secretary position in 1775, Guillaume de Lamoignon de Malesherbes espoused values which were in direct opposition to those of his predecessor, and he wished above all to prepare for the return of Protestants to the country. Although his brief tenure (10 months) did not allow him to fulfill his wishes personally, he continued to lobby for this during the tenures of his successors. In 1787, an edict gave Protestants the right to be legal citizens in France.

List of Secretaries of State for Protestant Affairs

* 1598–1610: Forget de Fresne * 1610–1621: Le Seigneur de Pontchartrain * 1621–1629: Le Seigneur d'Herbault et de La Vrillière * 1629–1681: Le Marquis de Châteauneuf et Tanlay * 1669–1700: Balthazar Phélypeaux * 1700–1725: Le Marquis de La Vrillière * 1723–1775: Le Duc de La Vrillière After 1749, the position was united with the position of

: * 1775–1776: Guillaume de Lamoignon de Malesherbes * 1776–1785: Amelot de Chaillou * 1785–1787: Le Baron de Breteuil * 1787–1789: Laurent de Villedeuil

References

*''This article is based on a translation of the article Secrétaire d'État de la Religion prétendue réformée from the

French Wikipedia The French Wikipedia (french: Wikipédia en français) is the French-language edition of Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia. This edition was started on 23 March 2001, two months after the official creation of Wikipedia. It has articl ...

on 28 August 2006.''

History

List of Secretaries of State for Protestant Affairs

References

See also