Antoine Court (1696-1760) was a French reformer called the "Restorer of Protestantism in France." He was born at Villeneuve de Berg, in Languedoc, March 27, 1696. His parents were peasants, adherents of the Reformed church, which was then undergoing persecution. When but 17 years old, Court began to speak at the secret meetings of the Protestants, held literally "in dens and caves of the earth," and often in darkness, with no pastor present to teach or counsel. Coat of arms of the province of Languedoc, now being used as an official flag by the Midi-Pyrénees region as well as by the city of Toulouse Languedoc (Lengadòc in Occitan) is a former province of France, now continued in the modern-day régions of Languedoc... March 27 is the 86th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (87th in leap years). ... The year 1696 had the earliest equinoxes and solstices for 400 years in the Gregorian calendar, because this year is a leap year and the Gregorian calendar would have behaved like the Julian calendar since March 1500 had it have been in use that long. ... In a detail of Brueghels Land of Cockaigne (1567) a soft-boiled egg has little feet to rush to the luxuriating peasant who catches drops of honey on his tongue, while roast pigs roam wild: the 16th century was a good time for European peasants A peasant, from 15th... The Reformed churches are a group of Christian Protestant denominations historically related by a similar Calvinist system of doctrine, which first arose especially in the Swiss Reformation led by Huldrych Zwingli, but soon afterward appeared in nations throughout Western Europe. ... Look up Persecution in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Protestantism is one of three primary branches of Christianity. ... Main article: Minister of religion A pastor is the head minister or priest of a Christian church. ...

Proposals

He entertained a great desire to build up the church so ruthlessly persecuted; and to this end he proposed four things:

• (1) regular religious meetings for teaching and worship;
• (2) suppression of the fanaticism of those who professed to be inspired, and of the consequent disorders;
• (3) restoration of discipline by the establishment of consistories, conferences, and synods;
• (4) the careful training of a body of pastors.

To the performance of this great task he devoted his life. From audiences of half a dozen meeting in secret, he came to address openly 10,000 at one time. In 1715 he convoked the first Synod of the Desert. // Events July 24 - Spanish treasure fleet of ten ships under admiral Ubilla leave Havana, Cuba for Spain. ...

Resistance

In 1724 further fury was hurled at the Protestants in a decree which assumed that there were no Protestants in France and prohibited the most secret exercise of the Reformed religion. A price was set on Court's head, and in 1730 he fled to Lausanne, Switzerland, where an academy for Protestant ministers had been founded in 1537. There, after great exertion, he founded a college for the education of the clergy, of which, during the remaining 30 years of his life, he was the chief director. This college sent forth all of the pastors of the Reformed church of France until the close of the eighteenth century. He died at Lausanne, June 13, 1760. Events January 14 - King Philip V of Spain abdicates the throne February 20 - The premiere of Giulio Cesare, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel, takes place in London June 23 - Treaty of Constantinople signed. ... Decree is an order that has the force of law. ... Events Pope Clement XII elected September 17 - Change of emperor of the Ottoman Empire from Ahmed III (1703-1730) to Mahmud I (1730-1754) Anna Ivanova (Anna I of Russia) became czarina Births April 16 - Henry Clinton, British general (d. ... Lausanne is a city in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, situated on the shores of Lake Geneva (French: Lac Léman), and facing Évian-les-Bains (France) and with the Jura hills to its north. ... Events January 6 - Alessandro de Medici assassinated August 25 - The Honourable Artillery Company, the oldest surviving regiment in the British Army, and the second most senior, was formed. ... June 13 is the 164th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (165th in leap years), with 201 days remaining. ... 1760 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...

Works

Court intended to write a history of Protestantism and made extensive collections for the purpose, but he did not live to do the work. He wrote, however,: Protestantism is one of three primary branches of Christianity. ...

• An Historical Memorial of the Most Remarkable Proceedings Against the Protestants in France from 1744-51 (English translation, London, 1832)
• Histoire des troubles des Cévennes ou de la guerre des Camisards (1760; new edition, three volumes, Alais, 1819)
• Autobiography, edited by E. Hugues (Toulouse, 1885)
• Letters, from 1739, edited by C. Dardier (Paris, 1885; 1891)

After the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, a revolt by the Camisards (Occitan camisa, smock or shirtsleeves) broke out in 1702, in the rugged and isolated Cevennes region of south-central France, the traditional heartland of religious heterodoxy (see Cathar). ...

Publications

• E. Hugues, Antoine Court (Paris, 1872)
• E. Hugues, Les synodes du désert (three volumes, Paris, 1885-86)
• H. M. Baird, The Huguenots and the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes (New York, 1895)
• Bulletin de la Société de l'Histoire du protestantisme français (Paris, 1893-1906)

Henry Martyn Baird (1832-1906), American historian and educationalist, a son of Robert Baird (1798-1863), a Presbyterian preacher and author who worked both in the United States and in Europe for the cause of temperance, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on January 17 1832. ... The Edict of Nantes was issued on April 13, 1598 by Henry IV of France to grant French Protestants (also known as Huguenots) substantial rights in a nation still considered essentially Catholic. ...

His son

His only son, Antoine Court de Gébelin (born at Nimes, January 25, 1725, died in Paris, May 10, 1784), who took the name of his grandmother, was a literary man of recognized rank, and rendered excellent service, first as his father's amanuensis and assistant and afterward as a scholar at the capital. He is remembered in connection with the famous case of Jean Calas by his work Les Toulousaines, ou lettres historiques et apologétiques en faveur de la religion réformée (Lausanne, 1763). Antoine Court who named himself Antoine Court de Gébelin ( ca. ... Location within France Nîmes is a city and commune of southern France, préfecture (capital) of the Gard département. ... January 25 is the 25th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events February 8 - Catherine I became empress of Russia February 20 - The first reported case of white men scalping Native Americans takes place in New Hampshire colony. ... May 10 is the 130th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (131st in leap years). ... 1784 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... A secretary is a person who performs routine, administrative, or personal tasks for a superior. ... Jean Calas (1698 - 1762) was a merchant living in Toulouse, France, famous for having been the victim of a biased trial due to his being a Protestant. ...

• This article incorporates text from an edition of the New International Encyclopedia that is in the public domain.