Le Refuge huguenot: assimilation et culture by Myriam Yardeni Eckhard Birnstiel (review)

Abstract

194 Reviews Le Refuge huguenot: assimilation et culture. By Myriam Yardeni. Paris: Champion. 2002. 232 pp. ISBN 2-7453-0537-9. La Diaspora des Huguenots: les Refugies protestants de France et leur dispersion dans le monde (xvf-xvnf siecles). Ed. by Eckhard Birnstiel with the assistance of ChrystelBernat. Paris: Champion. 2001. 208 pp. ISBN 2-7453-0425-9. The exodus of Huguenots from France over some 250 years has generated, especially since the nineteenth century, an impressive array of accounts and explanations, the titles of which appear in the comprehensive footnotes to Myriam Yardeni's work, as well as in the bibliography provided by the editors ofthe proceedings ofa conference held in 1995. Six years from delivery to publication seems a long time to have to wait. This may,however, seem inconsequential in relation to the scale ofthe problems faced by Protestant exiles outlined in these two interesting books, which both point to se? veral changes of direction forstudies of the Church of the Refuge. Clearly, both terms in the latter expression should now be in the plural form,since a homogeneous history of Protestant emigration no longer stands the test of evidence, if it ever did. Indeed, the second term determines the firstin the range ofsolutions required to accommodate the immense variety of situations and the differingroles ofthe churches encountered in contact with the host communities. Yardeni (who also appears in the collective vo? lume) and others emphasize the creativity of Huguenot refugees in coming to terms with their new geography, in Europe and beyond. The specificities of the German churches, as well as the choices faced by Protestants finding asylum in the British Isles (different according to residence in England, Scotland, or Ireland), provide a portrait of collectivities initially sharing a common culture but rapidly assimilating in differentways. Not the least of problems in the course of time was the erosion of identity in an emigre community, whose ambition was a return to the France they had left under duress. This raised problems with new arrivals who, despite the existence of welcoming networks, did not always find what they expected. With the birth of new generations, while 'Frenchness' remained an element of their upbringing, ties loosened and identities dissolved. The German churches demonstrate the difficulties of holding onto one language as a religious identifier,while speaking another for all practical purposes. England as a place of refuge was especially crucial, since, afterthe Restoration, all Huguenot churches had to sign up to the Anglican rite. An additional pressure here was the need to distance themselves from regicide, not an issue in other places. These books also indicate the degree to which the Refuge offered opportunities , particularly at the cultural level. Yardeni argues that pastors found intellectual liberation and that immobilism was simply not an option under the influence of dif? ferentcultures. Refugees also played a key part in disseminating French culture, thus serving an idea of France differentfrom that of the kingdom of Louis XIV, and, in Germany developing journalism. Thus while in many ways the Refuge allowed for the evolution of mentalities, on the other hand the role of the Refuge in maintaining Protestantism in France, as shown by the mission of Antoine Court, cannot be underestimated . An important contribution of Yardeni and others is the dispelling of certain myths surrounding the Refuge. It is now almost universally recognized that the economic disadvantage to France of enforced exile of Protestants turned out to be much less than early historians of the Refuge had calculated, along with the economic advantage to host communities. Another contribution is undoubtedly the horizontal approach now required in Huguenot studies, where comparison and contrast across refugee communities, e.g. on ethnographic and socio-political lines, uncover a rich seam of possibilities in terms of the inevitable diversity of solutions and attitudes adopted towards emigration, and even return, and the differentspeeds at which com? munities changed. This is especially the case with the wider dispersal of Protestants in the New World, where Protestants further loosened attachment to their place of MLR, 99.1, 2004 195 origin by participating willingly in colonial ventures (which included collusion in the slave trade). Overall, the Protestant refugee experience, completed...