political
Revocation of the Edict of Nantes — Huguenot Exodus
Louis XIV signs the Edict of Fontainebleau, revoking the Edict of Nantes and ending legal protection of Huguenot Protestants. Between 200,000 and 400,000 Huguenots flee France for England, Prussia, the Dutch Republic, and South Africa, taking skilled artisans, merchants, and intellectuals with them. The economic damage to France is severe; historians debate whether this represents Louis XIV's greatest policy mistake.
Sources
- T1 Archives nationales – Édit de Fontainebleau, original Official western
- T3 Warren C. Scoville, The Persecution of Huguenots and French Economic Development Institutional western