Musée du Désert

Musée du Désert 1685-1787 of the Société de l'histoire du protestantisme français (SHPF)

Assemblée du Désert in the open air at the museum in Mas Soubeyran, which took place for the first time on September 24th (on an old postcard)

Assemblée de Protestants surprise par des troupes catholiques ( Karl Girardet )

The Musée du Désert is a museum dedicated to the history of the Huguenots in France , particularly in the Cevennes area .

museum

The name of the museum refers to the Désert , i.e. H. the period between the repeal of the Edict of Nantes by that of Fontainebleau (1685) and the Edict of Tolerance (1787), during which Protestantism was banned in France. It is located in the Occitan town of Mas Soubeyran in the municipality of Mialet in the Gard department , not far from the cities of Alès and Nîmes

The museum, founded in 1910 - the birthplace of the camisard leader Roland Laporte, called Rolland - presents documents and artefacts from that time in a typical landscape setting. The exhibition provides information about life in the persecution, illegally held church services, galley and prison sentences , and also about the civil war in the Cevennes from 1703 to 1706. Several hundred villages in the area were destroyed under Louis XIV .

The museum is open from March 1st to November 30th.

Assemblée du Désert

Every year on the first Sunday in September many thousands of Protestants from all over France, the neighboring countries, but also from overseas come to the museum for the Assemblée du Désert , a meeting that took place for the first time on September 24, 1911. After the morning communion, the afternoon is filled with panel discussions on various topics, depending on the year, and often reminds of an event or a person. In 2009, for example, the theme was the 500th birthday of Jean Calvin , and in 2010 the 250th anniversary of Antoine Court's death .

The day traditionally ends with the hymn La Cévenole (1885).

Publications of the museum (selection)

• Vingt complaintes sur les prédicants des Cévennes martyrisés au XVIIIe siècle . (Introduction by M. Verseils). 1932.
• Gaston Tournier: Les galères de France et les galériens protestants des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles . 3 volumes. 1943-1949.
• André Ducasse: La guerre des camisards 1702–1704 . 1952.
• Sabine Malplach: Lucrèce de Salgas. Contes du désert de France . 1956
• Samuel Mours: Les galeriens protestants (1683-1775) . 2nd Edition. 1986.

See also

• Maréchal de Montrevel
• War of the Spanish Succession
• La Cévenole (French)
• Société de l'histoire du protestantisme français (French)

References and footnotes

1. ↑ museeprotestant.org
2. ^ Musée du Désert: Histoire des Huguenots et des Camisards en Cévennes
3. ↑ sound sample

Web links

• Museum website (also in English / German)
• Le Musée du Désert on a tourism site (French)

Coordinates: 44 ° 5 ′ 45 "  N , 3 ° 57 ′ 25.8"  E