Congénies (; ) is a commune in the

Gard Gard () is a department in Southern France, located in the region of Occitanie. It had a population of 748,437 as of 2019;department in southern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. It is situated between

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Located between the Med ...

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

, the

Cévennes The Cévennes ( , ; ) is a cultural region and range of mountains in south-central France, on the south-east edge of the Massif Central. It covers parts of the '' départements'' of Ardèche, Gard, Hérault and Lozère. Rich in geographical, ...

and the

Camargue The Camargue (, also , , ; ) is a coastal region in southern France located south of the city of Arles, between the Mediterranean Sea and the two arms of the Rhône river delta. The eastern arm is called the Grand Rhône; the western is the ''P ...

and has a strong

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

history. Congénies possesses the only and oldest purpose-built

Meeting House in France.

History

Wars of Religion

Le Desert. From 1661 onwards, the Catholic King Louis XIV used various incitations to re-convert French Protestants to

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. In 1681 he started using troops to force these conversions. In 1685, the

Edict of Fontainebleau 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 prac ...

outlawed

Protestantism 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 ...

everywhere in the

Kingdom of France The Kingdom of France is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the Middle Ages, medieval and Early modern France, early modern period. It was one of the most powerful states in Europe from th ...

. A lot of pastors had already either converted or emigrated and the king was under the false impression that there remained almost no Protestants in France. In fact among the plain people, chiefly farmers, farm workers and small crafters, a lot had stayed in France, complying in a minimal way with the king's demands. In 1685, the religion moved completely underground and visits by clandestine pastors became the only and very rare way to relate to the Reformed faith. In times of exasperation due to the intensity of repression, "inspired" lay ''prophets'', claiming they took their instructions directly from God, stood up and took the lead of the "small (protestant) flock". La Guerre des Camisards (1702–1711) From July 1702, some of the prophets led peasants into an armed revolt which spread mainly in the

mountains. Le low country, where Congénies is located, was much less affected although on 17 December 1703, Jean Cavalier, a

Camisard 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 Revocati ...

leader came down into the low country and torched the Catholic church. The people of Congénies and the surrounding region, the Vaunage, are believed to have remained faithful to the general non-violent line which prevailed in other French Protestant regions. Congénies was affected a second time between 19 and 27 May 1704 when peace negotiations were organised between the Royal troops commander Marshall de Villars and Jean Cavalier in the neighbouring village of Calvisson. During these eight days there was a general truce in which allowed the Cévennes' prophets to interact freely with the population. Numerous public Protestant worships were organised at this occasion. The local religious tradition was thus principled and relied on an inner spirit, the ''Inspiration''. This history set the stage for the ensuing religious developments in Congénies, among which the development of a local

quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

community, wholly unrelated to any other quaker group, and the blossoming of a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

mission under the leadership of the English pastor Charles Cook.

Quaker connection

In 1715, Jean Bénezet of Calvisson was exiled 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 then to London. His son,

Antoine Antoine is a French language, French given name (from the Latin ''Antonius'' meaning 'highly praise-worthy') that is a variant of Danton (name), Danton, Titouan, D'Anton and Antonin. The name is most common in France, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada ...

, made it to Philadelphia. Both joined the Society of Friends. Paul Codognan, born in Congénies, walked to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1768 and returned on foot to Congénies with Quaker literature. In 1785, the ''Inspiré'' made formal contact with the

Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

in London. The Meeting house and cemetery was built on land purchased from Georges Majolier in 1822. It remained in the ownership of the Societes des Amis, until 1907, when the group was too small to maintain it. This was caused by young men emigrating as they could not accept military service, and the young women marrying out of the Society. The Meeting House served as a hospital in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and was owned in recent years by two English Quaker families and was sold back to the French Friends in 2003. The building has been gutted and is being rebuilt with the interior in the modern style. The exterior is being maintained, and the future of the cemetery is safe. The name Congénies appears in many Quaker biographies (e.g., that of John Yeardley,) giving evidence of frequent visits.Chronique de la vie Quaker française 1750-1938, van Etten, pub SOCIÉTÉ RELIGIEUSE DES AMIS (QUAKERS)12, rue Guy de la Brosse, PARIS (Ve) 1938 Congénies possessed also a méthodist chapelle between 1869 and 1968.

Population

Pronunciation and spelling

The name ''Congénies'' stems from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''Congeniæ'' and is spelt ''Coungènio'' in local

Occitan language Occitan (; ), also known by its native speakers as (; ), sometimes also referred to as Provençal, is a Romance language spoken in Southern France, Monaco, Italy's Occitan Valleys, as well as Spain's Val d'Aran in Catalonia; collectively, ...

- knowing that the final "o" is mute in Occitan. Therefore, in spite of the ornamental final "s" which was added, the right pronunciation is "congéni" and the pronunciation with an accent on the final "e" (''congéniès'') is a sure marker of a non-native. Only the resemblance with names which do have a final "ès" instead of the rarer "es" (e.g. Saint-Geniès-des-Mourgues) can explain this confusion, which, strangely, became official when a ministerial decree of 12 July 1878 dealing with the construction of the train station reproduced the mistake in print. The mistake then appeared on the train station itself and on many documents, postcards, etc. since then. Only in the early 1960s was the correct spelling reestablished... which didn't prevent the "accent of division" to reappear when new road signs were put in place in 1994, nor did it prevent the inhabitants of the wider region to continue to pronounce ''congéniès''. Alain Pierrugues et Édouard Ravon are for instance propagating this error in a recent book, adding the theory that it is a sign that original Languedoc French has been replaced by a more standardised Northern French. Local usage of the "congéni" pronunciation remained however unchanged.

Sights

The gothic catholic church ( XIIème-XVIIème ) with the " Nogaret bell" The Protestant temple was built between 1817 and 1818, the

menhir A menhir (; from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large upright stone, emplaced in the ground by humans, typically dating from the European middle Br ...

of Peyra Plantada ( 2500 BC ) is considerably older and there are many capitelles in the garrigues.

Personalities

* Christine Majolier- b. 1805 Congénies, Joined Society of Friends in 1828, died 19 June 1879. Tireless Quaker activist, she often acted as interpreter to other well known Quakers visiting France. As a friend of Mme Rollande, governess to Queen Victoria's children, Christine was often visited by them and invited to meet the Queen. Naturally they spoke French, and in the Quaker manner, Christine wore simple dress addressed her using the ''tu'' form, to which the queen took no offence. * Robert Charleton, visited in the 1821/2 when a child.Memoir of Robert Charleton, Compiled Chiefly from his Letters. Edited by his sister in law Anna F. Fox. published Samuel Harris and Co London 1876. Facsimile reprint Kessinger Publishing 2007, *

Elizabeth Fry Elizabeth Fry (née Gurney; 21 May 1780 – 12 October 1845), sometimes referred to as Betsy Fry, was an English prison reformer, social reformer, philanthropist and Quaker. Fry was a major driving force behind new legislation to improve the tr ...

, the prison reformer, visited in 1839 while on a campaigning visit to Nîmes. She celebrated her 60th birthday in the village. *Henry Newman, a fine watercolourist and from a Quaker family in Leominster, visited Congénies in 1864, and produced an album of watercolours which remain in private hands.

Present

Congénies celebrates its Languedoc heritage with the traditional bull running. Over three days each year there are Abrivados and Bandidos, and bandido de nuit, this occurs over the weekend of 14 July.