什麼是胡格諾派

16～17世紀法國新教徒（Protestant），其中許多人因自身信仰而遭受嚴重迫害。第一個法國胡格諾派團體建立於1546年，1559年首次集會中起草的信仰告白（confession of faith）受到了喀爾文理念的影響。胡格諾派成員的數量迅速增多，成為一股政治力量，由科利尼領導。跟羅馬天主教政府、吉斯家族（House of Guise）等的衝突，造成宗教戰爭（Wars of Religion, 1562～1598）。為爭取宗教與公民自由，一個胡格諾派政黨於1573年成立。1576年，強勢的反胡格諾派組織神聖聯盟成立。1593年，亨利四世放棄新教（Protestantism）改信天主教，終結了內戰，但1598年他頒佈「南特敕令」（Edict of Nantes），授予新教徒權利。1620年代內戰再起，胡格諾派喪失政治勢力，繼續遭受折磨並被迫改宗。1685年，路易十四世（Louis XIV）廢除南特敕令；接下來數年，有超過四十萬名的新教徒離開法國。

Huguenots

French Protestants of the 16th-17th century, many of whom suffered severe persecution for their faith. The first French Huguenot community was founded in 1546, and the confession of faith drawn up by the first synod in 1559 was influenced by the ideas of John Calvin. Their numbers increased rapidly and they became a political force, led by Gaspard II de Coligny. Conflicts with the Roman Catholic government and others, including the House of Guise, led to the Wars of Religion (1562-98). A Huguenot political party was formed in 1573 to fight for religious and civil liberties. The powerful anti-Huguenot Holy League was formed in 1576. Henry IV ended the civil wars by abjuring Protestantism in 1593 and converting to Catholicism, but in 1598 he promulgated the Edict of Nantes, granting rights to Protestants. Civil wars occurred again in the 1620s, the Huguenots lost their political power, and they continued to be harassed and forcibly converted. In 1685 Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes; over the next several years, more than 400,000 French Protestants left France.