Aux origines de la Réformation cévenole

The Origin ofthe Reformation in Cévennes Wills and marriage certificates, which constitute one of the main sources of this survey, show that in 1560 the Reformation had brought about a radical change in the Cevennes, apoor and rugged region of Languedoc. Upon a doser analysis ofthe documents however, this transformation becomes less apparent. After the period 1530-1540, religious awareness wavered between undeclared, concealed heresy and an esthablished confession searching for its identity. In this milieu where religiosity had always played an active part, onefinds various causes for this evolution: the influence in the episcopalian reform that originated in the diocesan chieftowns of Lower Languedoc, the micro-feudality's strong opposition to the "Universalist kingdom", the strong cohesion of a society where family organization was conglomerate in character and whose economie strength was horizontally structured. Besieged by the king and surrounded by thefirst elements of the Counter-Reformation stemming from the Council of Trent, the Cevennes remained impregnable and after 1570, together with the new churches founded by Geneva, was to become a shelter and refuge for the Reformation.Molinier Alain. Aux origines de la Réformation cévenole. In: Annales. Économies, Sociétés, Civilisations. 39ᵉ année, N. 2, 1984. pp. 240-264