Journal Article

French Protestantism and Its Historiography

Bauberot, Jean

1984

Overview

A review essay on Jean Carbonnier's Coligny ou les sermons imaginaires, lectures pour le protestantisme francais aujourd'hui ([Coligny or the Imaginary Sermons, Readings for French Protestantism Today], Paris: PUF, 1982); Pierre Chaunu's, Francois Georges Dreyfus's, et al Les Protestants ([The Protestants], H-Histoire, No. 7, Jan-Mar, 1981); Les Protestants dans les debuts de la Troisieme Republique (1871-1885) ([The Protestants at the Beginning of the Third Republic (1871-1885)], Encreve, Andre & Richard, Michel [Eds], Paris: Societe de l'Histoire du Protestantisme Francais, 1979); Janine Garrisson-Estebe's Les Protestants du Midi (1559-1598) ([The Protestants of the Midi (1559-1598)], Toulouse: Privat, 1980) & L'Homme Protestant ([The Protestant Man], Paris: Hachette, 1980); Philippe Joutard's, Robert Mandour's & Daniel Robert's et al Histoire des protestants en France ([History of Protestants in France], Toulouse: Privat, 1977); Roger Mehl's Le Protestantisme francais dans la societe actuelle (1945-1980) ([French Protestantism in Contemporary Society (1945-1980)], Geneve, Switzerland: Labor & Fides, 1982); Robert Poujol's Histoire d'un village cevenol: Vebron ([History of a Cevennes Village: Vebron], Aix-en-Provence, France: Edisud/Club Cevenol, 1981); Jean-Pierre Richardot's Le Peuple protestant francais aujourd'hui ([The French Protestant People Today], Paris: Robert Laffont, 1980); Les Protestants au miroir d'un sondage ([Protestants in the Mirror of an Inquiry], Vincent, Gilbert [Ed], Strasbourg, France: CSP, 1983); & Jean-Paul Willaime's Les Pasteurs d'Alsace et de Moselle ([The Pastors of Alsace and Moselle], Strasbourg, France: CSP, 1980) & Les Pasteurs de France (sauf Alsace-Moselle) ([The Pastors of France (Excluding Alsace-Moselle)], Strasbourg: CSP, 1982. Protestants are a small religious minority in France & have been engaged in conflict throughout their history. Awareness of this history appears to have diminished greatly among Protestants in the last fifty years. The idea that Protestant history is being largely written by non-Protestant academics today & the possible effects of this historiographic alteration are explored in an examination of a variety of recent works dealing with Protestant historiography. It is argued that the current situation of Protestantism in France is not as bleak as is pictured by some & that a resurgence of interest is occurring in some areas, notably in the evangelical groups. 5 References. B. Annesser Murray

• Subject: France/French / Historiography / Protestant/Protestants/Protestantism