Élie Benoist
Encyclopedia
Élie Benoist was a French
Protestant minister, known as an historian
of the Edict of Nantes
.
His parents were servants of the Protestant family of La Trémoille
. He early displayed fondness for the classics
, and supported himself tutoring in divinity while he studied at Montaigu College
and at the Collège de La Marche (in the University of Paris
) after the Huguenot college at Montauban
, was disbanded on protest from the Jesuits, so he was ordained in 1664 from Puylaurens
.
In 1665, the year after he was ordained, he was called to Alençon
, where the original temple of the Huguenots had been ordered demolished the previous year. He served for twenty years as Protestant minister on the outskirts of the city, with as much prudence as capacity, under the watchful eye of the authorities. He married a difficult wife. He met with much opposition from the Roman Catholics, especially from the Jesuit de la Rue
, who attacked him and even incited a riot against him in August 1681.
He was already in hiding in Paris at the time of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes
. Benoist immediately went to Holland, and was called as minister to the Walloon church of Delft
, which worshiped in a chapel adjacent to the Prinsenhof; there he stayed thirty years, followed by an actively participating retirement. In 1687 he engaged on his massive project of the history of the Edict of Nantes, published from 1693 to 1695 and rapidly translated into English as it appeared. "To this undertaking Benoist brought the advantages of a solid education, a capacity for meticulous detail and painstaking research, integrity in the use of his sources, and a desire to be fair while acknowledging his ardent desire to vindicate his people," is the conclusion of his biographer Charles Johnston.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Protestant minister, known as an historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
of the Edict of Nantes
Edict of Nantes
The Edict of Nantes, issued on 13 April 1598, by Henry IV of France, granted the Calvinist Protestants of France substantial rights in a nation still considered essentially Catholic. In the Edict, Henry aimed primarily to promote civil unity...
.
His parents were servants of the Protestant family of La Trémoille
La Trémoille
Members of the House of La Trémoille, were part of an old French family which derives its name from a village in the department of Vienne....
. He early displayed fondness for the classics
Classics
Classics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...
, and supported himself tutoring in divinity while he studied at Montaigu College
Collège de Montaigu
The Collège de Montaigu was one of the constituent colleges of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Paris. The college, originally called the Collège des Aicelins, was founded in 1314 by Giles Aicelin, the Archbishop of Rouen...
and at the Collège de La Marche (in the University of Paris
University of Paris
The University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...
) after the Huguenot college at Montauban
Montauban
Montauban is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department in the Midi-Pyrénées region in southern France. It is the capital of the department and lies north of Toulouse....
, was disbanded on protest from the Jesuits, so he was ordained in 1664 from Puylaurens
Puylaurens
Puylaurens is a commune in the Tarn department in southern France.-References:*...
.
In 1665, the year after he was ordained, he was called to Alençon
Alençon
Alençon is a commune in Normandy, France, capital of the Orne department. It is situated west of Paris. Alençon belongs to the intercommunality of Alençon .-History:...
, where the original temple of the Huguenots had been ordered demolished the previous year. He served for twenty years as Protestant minister on the outskirts of the city, with as much prudence as capacity, under the watchful eye of the authorities. He married a difficult wife. He met with much opposition from the Roman Catholics, especially from the Jesuit de la Rue
Charles de La Rue
Charles de La Rue , known in Latin as Carolus Ruaeus, was one of the great orators of the Society of Jesus in France in the seventeenth century...
, who attacked him and even incited a riot against him in August 1681.
He was already in hiding in Paris at the time of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes
Edict of Fontainebleau
The Edict of Fontainebleau was an edict issued by Louis XIV of France, also known as the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The Edict of Nantes of 1598, had granted the Huguenots the right to practice their religion without persecution from the state...
. Benoist immediately went to Holland, and was called as minister to the Walloon church of Delft
Delft
Delft is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland , the Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam and The Hague....
, which worshiped in a chapel adjacent to the Prinsenhof; there he stayed thirty years, followed by an actively participating retirement. In 1687 he engaged on his massive project of the history of the Edict of Nantes, published from 1693 to 1695 and rapidly translated into English as it appeared. "To this undertaking Benoist brought the advantages of a solid education, a capacity for meticulous detail and painstaking research, integrity in the use of his sources, and a desire to be fair while acknowledging his ardent desire to vindicate his people," is the conclusion of his biographer Charles Johnston.
Works
- Lettre d'un pasteur banni de son pays à une Église qui n'a раs fait son devoir dans la dernière persécution (Cologne, 1686), an open letter to his former parishioners at Alençon, exhorting those who had denied their Reformed faith under pressures of the dragonnadeDragonnade"Dragonnades" was a French policy instituted by Louis XIV in 1681 to intimidate Huguenot families into either leaving France or re-converting to Catholicism.- History :This policy involved billeting ill-disciplined dragoons in Protestant households...
s, and to abjure their hypocrisy. - Histoire et apologie de la retraite des pasteurs à cause de la persécution de France (Frankfurt, 1687), a defense of the flight abroad of the pastors of Alençon, where some elders had been imprisoned.
- Works of Elie Benoist in Post-Reformation Digital Library