Élie Benoist (20 January 1640 – 15 November 1728), was a French

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

minister, known as a

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

of the

Edict of Nantes The Edict of Nantes () was an edict signed in April 1598 by Henry IV of France, King Henry IV and granted the minority Calvinism, Calvinist Protestants of France, also known as Huguenots, substantial rights in the nation, which was predominantl ...

. Benoist was born in

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to parents who were servants of the Protestant family of La Trémoille. He displayed an early fondness for the

classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

, and supported himself tutoring in divinity while he studied at Montaigu College and at the Collège de La Marche (in the

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

) after the Huguenot college at

Montauban Montauban (, ; ) is a commune in the southern French department of Tarn-et-Garonne. It is the capital of the department and lies north of Toulouse. Montauban is the most populated town in Tarn-et-Garonne, and the sixth most populated of Oc ...

was disbanded on protest from the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

. He was ordained in 1664 from Puylaurens. In 1665 he was called to

Alençon Alençon (, , ; ) is a commune in Normandy, France, and the capital of the Orne department. It is situated between Paris and Rennes (about west of Paris) and a little over north of Le Mans. Alençon belongs to the intercommunality of Alen� ...

, where the original temple of the

Huguenots The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

had been ordered demolished the previous year. He served for twenty years as Protestant minister on the outskirts of the city, with as much prudence as capacity, under the watchful eye of the authorities. He married a difficult wife. He met with much opposition from the

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, especially from the Jesuit de la Rue, who attacked him and even incited a riot against him in August 1681. He was already in hiding in Paris at the time of the

revocation of the Edict of Nantes The Edict of Fontainebleau (18 October 1685, published 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 pra ...

. Benoist immediately went to

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...

, and was called as minister to the Walloon church of

Delft Delft () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, ...

, which worshiped in a chapel adjacent to the Prinsenhof; there he stayed thirty years, followed by an actively participating retirement. In 1687 he engaged on his massive project of the history of the Edict of Nantes, published from 1693 to 1695 and rapidly translated into English as it appeared. "To this undertaking Benoist brought the advantages of a solid education, a capacity for meticulous detail and painstaking research, integrity in the use of his sources, and a desire to be fair while acknowledging his ardent desire to vindicate his people," is the conclusion of his biographer Charles Johnston.Charles Johnston 1986, p. 468. He died, aged 88, in

Notes

Works

* ''Lettre d'un pasteur banni de son pays à une Église qui n'a раs fait son devoir dans la dernière persécution'' (Cologne, 1686), an open letter to his former parishioners at Alençon, exhorting those who had denied their Reformed faith under pressures of the dragonnades, and to abjure their hypocrisy. * ''Histoire et apologie de la retraite des pasteurs à cause de la persécution de France'' (Frankfurt, 1687), a defense of the flight abroad of the pastors of Alençon, where some elders had been imprisoned. *

References

* G. Bonet-Maury, '' Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge'', vol. 2, New York and London: Funk and Wagnalls Company, 1908. * P. Pascal, ''Élie Benoist et l'église réformée d'Alençon'', Paris, 1892. * E. and É. Haag, ''La France protestante'', ii, 269 sqq. 2d éd. by Bordier, Paris, 1877 sqq. * ''Bulletin de la société d'histoire du protestantisme français'', 1876, p. 259, 1884, pp. 112, 162. *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Benoist, Elie 1640 births 1728 deaths University of Paris alumni French Calvinist and Reformed ministers 17th-century French historians 17th-century Calvinist and Reformed ministers 18th-century Calvinist and Reformed ministers 18th-century French historians