Why did King Louis XIV persecute the Huguenots?
First off, the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, which took place between 24 August and 3 October 1579, resulted in the deaths of at least 3,000 Huguenots, so Louis XIV wasn’t the first French king to persecute French Protestants–he merely renewed the process. Ministers Mazarin and Richelieu had earlier protected the Huguenots’ religious liberties as long as they remained politically obedient. But Louis, who was perpetually short of funds, took grants from the Roman Catholic Church on the condition that he accepted their anti-Protestant views. Originally, he sought to re-convert French Protestants, imposing severe penalties upon them and closing Protestant schools. Eventually, however, Louis revoked the Edict of Nantes and declared Protestantism in France to be illegal. Upon their forced conversion at gunpoint, the majority of Huguenots abandoned their homes and fled France. Huguenots included members of the French nobility as well as many middle class merchants and skilled workers, so
