How I got a French name

"The Wars of Religion began in France in 1562 between the Roman Catholics and the French Protestants called Huguenots. Though he had to convert to Catholism to ascend to the throne, Henry IV did not forget his Huguenot roots, and in 1598 issued the Edict of Nantes, which gave the Huguenots freedom of religion, civil equality, and fair administration of justice…the first time freedom was granted to two religions to coexist in a nation.

Louis XIV shared none of his grandfather's empathy for the Huguenots, and on October 18, 1685, he revoked the Edit of Nantes. All Huguenot worship and education were forbidden, and all Huguenot churches were either destroyed or turned into Catholic churches.

Mounted soldiers were housed in the homes of Huguenots. The troops were given license to do anything they pleased, short of murder, leading to horrendous acts of torture and humiliation.

Of the 1.5 million Huguenots living in France in 1660, over the next decades 400,000 risked their lives by escaping across the guarded borders into countries across Europe. Many also fled to the American colonies.

At the height of the Reformation nearly half of the population of France was Huguenot. But as a result of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes and the intense persecution that followed, today less than one percent of the French share the faith of the Huguenots, making France a mission field for the gospel.

Someone in my family fled to Holland to escape persecution. That is why my father was Dutch, but had a french name; du Pre.