Description
These chapters explore how a religious minority not only gained a toehold in countries of exile, but also wove itself into their political, social, and religious fabric. The way for the refugees’ departure from France was prepared through correspondence and the cultivation of commercial, military, scholarly and familial ties. On arrival at their destinations immigrants exploited contacts made by compatriots and co-religionists who had preceded them to find employment. London, a hub for the “Protestant international” from the reign of Elizabeth I, provided openings for tutors and journalists. Huguenot financial skills were at the heart of the early Bank of England; Huguenot reporting disseminated unprecedented information on the workings of the Westminster Parliament; Huguenot networks became entwined with English political factions. Webs of connection were transplanted and reconfigured in Ireland. With their education and international contacts, refugees were indispensable as diplomats to Protestant rulers in northern Europe. They operated monetary transfers across borders and as fund-raisers, helped alleviate the plight of persecuted co-religionists. Meanwhile, French ministers in London attempted to hold together an exceptionally large community of incomers against heresy and the temptations of assimilation. This is a story of refugee networks perpetuated, but also interpenetrated and remade.
Table of Contents
Introduction Vivienne Larminie 1. Thinking with Calvinist Networks: From the “Calvinist International” to the “Venice Affair” (1608–1610) Mark Greengrass 2. London, Nerve Centre of the Huguenot Diplomatic Network in the Later Sixteenth Century Hugues Daussy 3. The Herbert Connection, the French Church and Westminster Politics, 1643–1661 Vivienne Larminie 4. Abel Boyer and Other Huguenot Reporters of Parliament: Hansard avant la lettre? Charles G. D. Littleton 5. Information Professionals: Huguenot Diplomats in Later Stuart London and Their European Context Michael Schaich 6. Overcoming the Conformist/Nonconformist Divide: Huguenot Networking in Later Stuart London Robin Gwynn 7. Choosing the Path to Exile: Networks, Destinations and Determinants Yves Krumenacker 8. Alexandre Sasserie of Paris, London and Thorpe-le-Soken: A Man of Trust in the Refuge Barbara Julien 9. Huguenot and Nonconformist Networks: Philip Dupont in Late Stuart Suffolk Philippa Woodcock 10. West Coast Connections: The Correspondence Network of Élie Bouhéreau of La Rochelle Ruth Whelan 11. Financial Networks and the Payment of Military Pensions, 1692–1720 Marie Léoutre 12. The Early Huguenot Community of Dublin and Its Networks Jane McKee 13. English Relief Activities for Continental Protestants in the Eighteenth Century: Perpetuating Religious Networks in the Age of Reason Sugiko Nishikawa
