Jean Marteilhe

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Jean Marteilhe (* 1684 in Bergerac ; † November 6, 1777 in Culemborg ) was a Huguenot who had been sentenced to life in the galley for his evangelical beliefs .

Life

childhood

Jean Marteilhe was born in 1684 as the son of a merchant couple. His parents were staunch Evangelical Reformed Christians and passed this belief on to their children.

persecution

In 1700 an attempt was made to forcibly dissuade the Protestant French from their faith. The Edict of Nantes had given the Huguenot families protection from persecution; it was revoked on October 18, 1685 by the Edict of Fontainebleau . In October 1700 Jean Marteilhe's father was imprisoned, two of his brothers and a sister were forced to enter monasteries.

Escape to Paris

Jean Marteilhe, who was only 16 years old, was able to flee his parents' house before the dragoons came into the house to carry out the arrests. The whole city and all entrances were occupied by the dragoons to prevent the inhabitants from escaping. Marteilhe managed to escape from his hometown together with his friend Daniel Legras at night. They walked through the woods all night and the next morning they reached Mussidan , a place four Leugen (15 miles) away. They tried to flee to the Netherlands . After vowing never to renounce their evangelical faith, even if punished with galleys or the death penalty , they headed the main street into Paris . At that time, their entire fortune consisted of ten pistols , which is why they stayed in the worst accommodations every day.

After traveling without incident, they reached Paris on November 10th. There they wanted to explore the simplest and safest route across the border from friends. They received a plan from a good friend and convinced Protestant. The plan was to lead them to Mézières , a garrison town on the Meuse , which at that time formed the border with the Spanish Netherlands and was on the edge of the Ardennes forest . The acquaintance told them that the only danger is when entering the city. This danger should be taken seriously, since every stranger appears suspicious. Anyone found without a passport will immediately be brought before the governor and arrested. But nobody is prevented from leaving the city. The forest will favor their journey to Charleroi , about six or seven leagues (about 39 km) from Mézières. They are safe there because they would then have left France. There is also a Dutch garrison in Charleroi and a commanding officer who will protect them.

Onward journey to Mezieres

So Jean Marteilhe and his friend set out for Mézières. The trip was uneventful as only the roads across the border were monitored. They reached a hill about a quarter of a Leuge (about 1.5 km) from Mézières at 4 p.m. one afternoon, from which they could see the city and the gate. They discovered that a bridge over the Meuse, which was heavily frequented because of the fine weather, led to the gate and decided to mingle with the residents in order to avoid the eyes of the guard. In order not to be identified as travelers, they emptied their satchels, put on all their shirts and put the satchels in their pockets. Then they cleaned their shoes and combed their hair. They did not carry swords as it was forbidden in France at the time. They went to the bridge and paced up and down with the residents until a drum beat announced the closing of the gates. The crowd in which the two refugees were hiding hurried back into town. So they got into town unseen as planned.

Overnight in and escape from Mézières

Jean Marteilhe and his friend could not leave the city immediately through the gate opposite, as this was also closed. So they had to spend the night in town, which they did in the nearest hostel. Since the innkeeper was not present, his wife received her. They ordered their dinner. The landlord arrived at 9 p.m. His wife informed him about the two strangers. They heard from their room how the landlord asked his wife if they had a permit from the governor. When the woman said no, he said, “Jade, do you want to ruin us? You know the rigorous persecution of lodged strangers without permission. I have to go to the governor with you immediately. ”He went into the strangers' room and politely asked them if they had spoken to the governor. They replied that they did not know that this was necessary for a single night. The innkeeper said: “It would cost me 1,000 kronor if the governor knew that I have accommodated you without permission. Do you have a passport that allows you to enter the border towns? ”They replied that they were well equipped with papers. The landlord replied: “That changes the whole matter and saves me from the shame of having sheltered you without permission; you still have to go to the governor with me to show your passports. ”They replied that they were very tired and exhausted and would like to accompany him the next morning. The landlord agreed.

They finished their dinner and could not sleep despite the good bed. The whole night they spent, first with fruitless suggestions about what to say to the governor, then with prayers that God would give them the strength to confess fearlessly if He did not want to save them from captivity. They got up early at dawn and went down to the kitchen, which was on the first floor near the street door and where the innkeeper and his wife slept. The two refugees acted as if they wanted to leave the house before the host woke up. He asked her what the reason for her getting up early was. They replied that they wanted to have their breakfast immediately so that they could continue their journey as soon as they visited the governor. The innkeeper agreed, told his servant to fry some sausages and got up. When they saw the servant opening the street door, they asked to go outside for a moment. The innkeeper didn't suspect anything, so the refugees escaped without saying goodbye or paying their bill. They saw no other option. On the street they found a little boy whom they asked for the way to the Charleville gate through which they were going to leave town. They were nearby and could easily pass through the gate when it opened.

Onward journey to Couvé

Jean Marteilhe and Daniel Legras entered Charleville , a small town without a gate or garrison, a shot from Mézières. They quickly had their breakfast there and left the place to enter the Ardennes forest. It had frozen in the night, which made the forest look inhospitable. It was crossed by numerous streets. The refugees did not know which one would lead to Charleroi, so they asked a passerby. He advised them not to continue the journey through the forest, as the roads would branch out further and they would not reach any villages for a long time. He estimated that they would wander around as strangers for 12 to 15 days. Furthermore, they could encounter predators in the forest and are in danger of dying of cold and hunger. They offered him a Louis d'or in case he took them to Charleroi. The passer-by refused to help them, recognizing them as fugitive Huguenots, but showed them a safer way outside the forest. They thanked them and followed the advice. In the evening they reached a village he had named them and stayed there overnight.

The next morning, as described, they followed the path to the right, leaving the town of Rocroy on the left. The stranger had concealed from them, perhaps out of ignorance, that the path would lead them here through a very narrow gorge called Guet du Sud between two mountains. There was a guard of French soldiers there who stopped all foreigners who did not have a passport and took them to the Rocroy prison. Without knowing of this danger, the two refugees entered the bottleneck when it was raining so hard that the guard on duty withdrew to his guard house. So you could pass the guard without being noticed.

So they reached the small town of Couvé completely drenched . This meant that they were temporarily safe, as this city did not belong to France, but to the Prince of Liege . There was a castle there that was occupied by Dutch troops. Their governor granted safe passage to Charleroi who asked for it. Marteilhe and his friend were not aware of this fact. They went into an inn to dry themselves and get something to eat. When they sat down, they were served a mug of beer with two handles without glasses. When they asked for them, the landlord replied that he had observed that they were French and that it was the custom in their country to drink from jugs. The refugees confirmed it. This conversation, seemingly harmless and irrelevant, was to have serious consequences, since two men were in the same room, one was a resident of the village, the other a gamekeeper for the Prince of Liege. The latter began to examine them carefully, finally spoke to them and said that he would make any bet that they would not carry rosaries in their pockets. Marteilhe's companion took a pinch of snuff, showed the gamekeeper the can and said it was his rosary. This confirmed their identity as a fugitive Protestant for the ranger. He decided to betray Marteilhe and Legras as the personal belongings of captured refugees had been turned over to the informer.

arrest

The passerby whom Jean Marteilhe and his friend had met in the forest had advised them to turn left when leaving Couvé so as not to end up on French territory. When they followed this advice, however, a mounted officer met them. Scared as they were, they preferred to evade the officer and turn back so that he could not stop them. So they got on another street near the small town of Mariembourg , which belonged again to France. Since the city only had one gate, it was not possible to pass through. So they decided to leave it on the right and, keeping to the left, travel on to Charleroi, according to their earlier plan. The gamekeeper had secretly followed them from a distance.

When they arrived at dusk before Mariembourg, a Leuge (about 6 km) from Couvé, they decided to stop at an inn opposite the city gate to spend the night there. They were given a room and could dry themselves on a good fire. Half an hour later a man came in who they took to be the innkeeper. He greeted them very politely and asked where they were from and where they were going. They replied that they were from Paris and were going to Philippeville . The man informed them that they had to go to the governor of Mariembourg and speak to him. They tried to pacify the man in a similar way as the landlord in Mézières. But he insisted that they should follow him immediately. Marteilhe told his friend in patois so that the man could not understand them, that they could escape in the dark between the inn and the city. So they followed the man who turned out to be a sergeant in the city guard. A detachment of eight soldiers with bayonets attached awaited them in the courtyard, at the head of the rangers. Marteilhe and his friend were arrested after escaping more than 200 Leugen (almost 800 km). Escape was now impossible.

They were brought before Governor Pallier, who asked them about their nationality and their destination. They professed their French citizenship, but pretended to be hairdressers' apprentices on the tour of France who wanted to return to their homeland via Philippeville, Maubeuge , Valenciennes and Cambrai . The governor had them examined by his servant, who knew a lot about hairdressing. First, this interviewed Marteilhe's friend, who was actually a hairdresser. The servant was convinced that the two were apprentice hairdressers. Now the governor asked her about her denomination. They openly admitted their Reformed beliefs as they did not want to be untruthful on this point. When the governor asked them if they really wanted to leave the country, they denied it. The survey lasted a good hour overall. The governor ordered the major to escort them safely to the prison, which he carried out with the same escort that had carried out the arrest.

On the way from the government building to the prison, the major de la Salle asked Jean Marteilhe if they were really from Bergerac and said: “I was also born half a league away from Bergerac.” After de la Salle found out Marteilhe's name and family he exclaimed, “Why is your father my best friend; be calm, my children. I will get you out of this unfortunate affair and you will be free in two or three days. ”When they arrived at the prison, the gamekeeper asked the major whether he had searched the detainees, as he suspected a large amount of money. But the two only had one pistol. The major asked them to hand them over to him without searching them. A larger amount of money would have confirmed that they were refugees, while migrant apprentices were usually short of money. This was probably the reason why the apparently well-meaning major refrained from a search, in addition to a possible antipathy towards the ranger. The gamekeeper said: “This is not the way the Huguenots who fled to Holland were treated. I know how to find your money. ”And tried to search them roughly on my own. The major drove him away with the words: “Crook, if you don't see that you are getting away, I'll give you a lot of blood. Do you think you can teach me my duty? "

Imprisonment in Mariembourg

Marteilhe and his friend were imprisoned in a dungeon. With tears in their eyes they asked the major: “What crime have we committed, sir, that we are treated like criminals who deserve the gallows or the wheel?” The major replied: “These are my orders, children, but I'll make sure you don't sleep here! ”He immediately went to the governor and reported to him that he had given orders to search the detainees carefully, but that only a pistol had been found, which would clearly show that there was no intent to leave the country. There is also no other evidence of evacuation. So it is justified to release the prisoners. But it was the evening of the day on which the courier left for Paris. While those arrested were being taken to the prison, the governor had already sent a letter to the court informing them of the arrest. A release without an order from the court was no longer possible.

The major asked the governor to at least have the prisoners moved from the dungeon to the prison guard's house, he would have a guard posted in front of the door and, if necessary, vouch for the two prisoners with his head. The governor agreed. Marteilhe and his companion were only in dungeon for an hour when the major returned with a corporal and a guard to whom they were entrusted. The major gave the order that the two prisoners were free to move around the house and chose a place to sleep for them. The money he received from them he gave to the prison guard to use to provide them with food. Nobody could claim that it was criminals who were fed by the government. He told them that the arrest notice had already been sent, but that he wanted to ensure that the interrogation protocol was as positive as possible for them. The minutes sent by the governor actually lived up to that promise.

A few days after Marteilhe's arrest, at the request of the Dutch governor of the castle of Couvé, the prince of Liège dismissed the ranger for his behavior towards him and Legras and banished him from his property.

Attempts at conversion

The interrogation protocol had been drafted in favor of the two prisoners, but it contained the statement that they were of Protestant faith. For Louis Phélypeaux, marquis de La Vrillière , the Secrétaire d'État de la Religion prétendue réformée (State Secretary for the allegedly reformed religion), this was probably the decisive factor and not the note that the prisoners obviously had no intention of leaving the country. In any case, he instructed the governor of Mariembourg to convict Jean Marteilhe of attempting to flee the country to do lifelong slave labor on the galley "La Grande Réale", a punishment that was only serious offenses.

The pastor of Mariembourg left no stone unturned to dissuade the two prisoners from their Protestant faith. In the event of conversion to Catholicism, they were promised their release after instruction and a formal revocation of their previous faith. You would then have been brought back to Bergerac. The major had to read these instructions from the Secretary of State to the two prisoners and said to them: “I am not to give you instructions as to what to do, your faith and your conscience must decide. All I can tell you is that your retraction will open the door of your prison for you immediately, and that if you don't do it, you will most certainly go to the galleys. ”They replied that they put all their hope in God who wanted to bow to his will, did not expect human help, and would never, as they put it, give up the divine and true principles of their sacred religion. They thanked the major for his efforts and promised to pray for him.

Her pistol, which had been unloaded, was handed over to the prison guard. They received 1½ pounds of bread per day as the official ration, but they received sufficient additional food from the governor and the major. The pastor who wanted to convert the prisoners and the nuns of a town monastery also occasionally sent them food. This enabled the prisoners to support the prison guard and his family.

The pastor visited them almost every day and gave them a controversial catechism that was supposed to prove the correctness of the Roman Catholic denomination. The prisoners opposed the Drelincourt catechism which they had at their disposal. The pastor gave up this attempt at conversion. Then he gave his interlocutors the choice of discussing on the basis of tradition or scripture, whereby they chose the latter and he could not refute them. After three or four such conversations, the pastor gave up this attempt too. Then he tried worldly temptations. He had a young and, according to Marteilhe, beautiful niece, whom he brought with him one day on the pretext of a visit out of charity. He promised to give her to Marteilhe as wife, with a large dowry if he would join her denomination, and expressed the assumption that the other prisoner would then probably follow his example. Marteilhe refused, although, as he himself wrote, his contempt for priests and their families became clear. The pastor got angry and said that he would tell the governor and the judge that he had no hope of the prisoners' conversion, that they were stubborn fellows who could not be convinced by evidence and reason, and that they were villains who are under the influence of the devil.

Based on this statement, it was decided to bring her to justice. The local judge and his registrar came to interrogate the two of them in prison.

judgment

The verdict was pronounced two days later (in 1701) and read: "After the named Jean Marteilhe and [his companion] Daniel Legras were convicted by us (...) of professing to the alleged Reformed religion and of having submitted to them, to escape from the kingdom in order to profess their religion freely, we condemn them as a punishment for life in the galleys of the king. ”In addition, there was the deprivation of their property. The only reason was that they had been picked up near the border without a passport.

After reading out the verdict, the judge asked whether the convicts wanted to appeal to the Parliament in Tournay , which included Mariembourg. They replied that they only wanted to appeal to the tribunal of God against what they saw as a shameful verdict that all people were against them and that they only trusted God, who was a just judge. The judge asked not to hold him responsible for the severity of the sentence, as he had only obeyed the king's orders. Marteilhe replied that the king did not know that he was being accused of wanting to leave the kingdom and that the gospel confession was not punishable by galleys. The judge justified the judgment with the attempted escape from the kingdom, without corresponding evidence or even the search for it. The judge responded by saying that it was only a formality to carry out the king's orders. Marteilhe said that then he would not be a judge, but only an executor of royal orders. The judge again recommended the appeal to the parliament, which the convicts again refused, knowing that the parliament was subject to the king's orders and that it would not appreciate evidence better than the judge. He decided to appeal to parliament on behalf of the convicted. The prisoners were already aware of this, as no junior judge could pass a sentence that included corporal punishment without ratification by parliament. The judge advised them to prepare to leave for Tournay. They replied that they were ready for anything.

On the same day they were again detained in the dungeon, which they did not leave until the trip to Tournay. Four archers accompanied them there, who tied their hands and tied them together with ropes. They had to walk the distance, which Marteilhe described as very painful. They traveled to Tournay via Philippeville , Maubeuge and Valenciennes . Every evening they were incarcerated in poor conditions and given only bread and water. They were given neither a bed nor straw to rest on. Marteilhe felt that if they had been sentenced to cycling or hanging out, they would not have been treated worse. When they arrived in Tournay, they were detained in Parliament's prison.

The appointment failed.

Galley penalty

The attempts at conversion continued on the galley, on which there were over 40 other evangelical slave workers. Initially, the convicts were forced to attend the Catholic mass, kneeling, in a deferential manner. Those who refused had to Bastonade endure; Marteilhe later described this disciplinary measure as follows:

“The unfortunate man who is condemned to do so is stripped from his belt to the top, completely naked. Then you lay him with his stomach across the quiver of the galley, so that his legs hang down to his bench and his arms to the opposite bench. Two convicts hold his legs and two others hold his arms. Behind him stands an overseer who runs a strong Turk with a rope, so that he can hit the poor delinquent's back with a strong rope with all his might. "

The mortality rate of these 1550 Protestant galley slaves in French history was almost 50%, most of them died in the first three years. Some swore and were released; others endured the penalty for their belief for many decades before they were released.

Detention in Dunkirk and Marseilles

Jean Marteilhe was seriously wounded in a sea battle and was henceforth physically restricted. Since he could no longer work as a rowing slave, he had to work as a clerk in Dunkirk for four years instead . When the city was besieged by the English, Marteilhe was driven to Marseille along with other galley convicts , a march that few survived.

Release and exile

The English Queen Anna II finally enforced the release of all Protestant galley slaves. Jean Marteilhe was released in the summer of 1713 after 13 years of imprisonment on the condition that he leave France forever. With the help of Protestant friends, he was able to build a new life in Amsterdam .

Jean Marteilhe died in exile in the Netherlands at the age of 93.

plant

  • Daniel de Superville (the younger) (ed.): Commemorative writings van eenen protestant, veroordeelt op de galeijen van Vrankryk, ter oorzake van den godsdienst. Jan Daniel Bemann en zoon, Rotterdam 1757 (Dutch), in French under the title Mémoires d'un protestant, condamné aux galères de France pour cause de religion. Société des Écoles du dimanche, Paris 1865.

It is the only known autobiography of a galley slave to date.

Remembrance day

Jean Marteilhe is remembered in the Evangelical Name Calendar on July 19 as a substitute for all Huguenot galley convicts.

A complete list of all known cases can be found on the website of the Musée du Désert in Mialet , Cevennes , which is dedicated to the Huguenots.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Les Galériens Protestants - museedudesert.com

swell

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Marteilhe, Jean
BRIEF DESCRIPTION evangelical witness and galley slave
DATE OF BIRTH 1684
PLACE OF BIRTH Bergerac
DATE OF DEATH November 6, 1777
Place of death Culemborg