Condemned for Their Faith

In 1685, King Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes, and Protestantism was banned in France.a About 1,500 Protestants were condemned to the galleys because they refused to convert to Catholicism or tried to flee the country. Punishing “heretics” this way had been tried in 1545, when in one week 600 Waldensesb were sent to the galleys by order of King Francis I. Under Louis XIV, the so-called very Christian king, the persecution took on new dimensions.

Why were Protestants sent to the galleys? An official of the king indicated the reason: “There is no other way to bring back the heretics besides force.” A historian adds: “The king hoped that as soon as they breathed the ‘galley air,’ most of the condemned Protestants would abandon the religion for which they had made so many sacrifices.” Most, however, refused to abjure their faith so as to be set free. As a result, they were often subjected to horrific public beatings at the instigation of the ships’ Catholic chaplains. Some died; others bore scars for the rest of their lives.

Despite this cruel violence, Protestants actively shared their faith with others. As a consequence, some, including at least one Catholic chaplain, became Protestants. Those considered the most dangerous, the educated Protestants, were taken off the boats and thrown into dungeons to die. This did not, however, stop the Protestant galley rowers from helping one another, even to the point of arranging literacy classes for their fellows who could not read.

The condemned kept sight of why they were being persecuted. “The more I suffer, the more I love the truth that makes me suffer,” Protestant Pierre Serres wrote. Many countries were appalled to hear of France’s religious persecution. In 1713, Queen Anne of England successfully pressed for the release of many who had been condemned. Ironically, Protestants who had previously been banned from leaving France were now expelled.

Galleys still haunt French consciousness. Faced with hardship, French people will often exclaim: “Quelle galère!” or literally in English, “What a galley!” We owe much of what we know about life on the galleys to personal accounts written by Protestant rowers. In the face of blatant religious discrimination, they formed an organization of mutual aid and moral support. Endurance and hope were important to their survival, and compromise was out of the question.

[Picture on page 15]

The caption in French above the picture reads: “Certain and honest ways to bring heretics back to the Catholic faith.” The picture is dated 1686