Emigration of the Huguenots, 1566

The present work depicts the emigration of French Protestants to Antwerp in 1566. Despite being persecuted relentlessly for their religious belief system, the Huguenots (a nickname for Lutheran protestants that became popularised circa 1560) grew steadily more numerous and their reform movement flourished, becoming increasingly widespread. As early as 1534, however, placards condemning the Catholic Mass appeared on the walls of Paris and even on the door of Francis I's bedchamber at Amboise, resulting in an edict ordering the extermination of all heretics. It was this proclamation alone that precipitated the emigration, an ongoing process of relocation in the face of intolerance that did not cease until the middle of the 18th Century. In 1562 civil war broke out and was to last on and off until 1629. The present work, focussing on the separation of the family group caused by the renewed war of 1565/6, depicts the very individual suffering caused by an essentially impersonal religious and political conflict.