Preaching the Place of Huguenots in France: The Sermons of Jean Daillé and Huguenot Identity under the Edict of Nantes

Abstract

Abstract This paper examines the career and homiletics of Huguenot pastor Jean Daillé (1594–1670) and what his example reveals about how Huguenots understood their place in France under the Edict of Nantes. Daillé’s career began at Saumur, but he soon became one of the pastors at Charenton, ministering to Paris’ Reformed population. Over the course of a career that lasted for more than four decades, Daillé became a leading figure among his co-religionists, and left behind a sizable list of published works, including sermons. Based primarily on a reading of those printed sermons, this paper highlights the important role that preached and printed sermons played in negotiating the religious particularism and political loyalty to the crown that, together, informed Huguenot confessional identity during Daillé’s lifetime. Sermons were integral to this process by offering a vocabulary of images and arguments in support of the Huguenot position, especially since their message was directed both to the Huguenot faithful and to the crown.