Cévennes

In ancient times, Gauls lived here. The ridge Cevenna is mentioned in the Notes on the Gallic War by Julius Caesar . In the "Geography" of Strabo, these mountains are called: "Κέμμενων" ^[2] .

In the XVI — XVII centuries. the steep Sevennes mountains became a strong Huguenot stronghold. King Henry IV of Bourbon - even after his formal conversion to Catholicism - continued to morally support the Cevenoles. However, his immediate descendants led a completely different policy - prudish and shortsighted ...

Even before the abolition of the Nantes Edict (révocation de l'Edit de Nantes), which followed on October 18, 1685, Louis XIV launched a systematic campaign to humiliate and (in the long term) destroy the Huguenots. Robbery “dragonnades” (dragonnades) of the 1660s entered the proverb, becoming the scourge of the Sevennes foothills ...

In 1702, royal despotism in general and, in particular, the bloody affairs of the Mandate Catholic Archbishop Francois du Shel de Langlan ^[3] (François de Langlade du Chayla) forced the Sevennes Huguenots to take up arms: the uprising of the Camizars began. The field commanders Laporte and Esprey Séguier attacked the archbishop's residence, freed six Huguenot prisoners (subjected to inhuman torture by order of Shelz) and cracked down on the savage ... Spontaneous partisan detachments smashed the royal dragoons.

Soon the talented nugget Jean Cavallier took charge of the rebel army. He achieved discipline in partisan units and won a number of glorious victories. On April 15, 1704, the grateful people proclaimed the peasant son of Cavallier, the Duke of Sevens . On that day, Cavalier solemnly entered the city of Kaverak (located not far from Nimes ). He rode on a thoroughbred trophy horse, in the shadow of battle flags, ten guardsmen in red uniforms rode ahead. So on the map of Europe arose - not for a long time - another sovereign power, a participant in the War of the Spanish Succession ... The fighting went on with varying success, not giving a decisive advantage to either side. The government has replaced a number of governors and commanders in the south. Meanwhile, the royal troops committed terrible atrocities against civilians. With the approval of Pope Clement XI , who issued a bull on the excommunication of the Kamizars, the soldiers of the king destroyed more than 450 villages, sometimes killing everyone in a row ^[4] . There was a case of the burning of 300 Huguenots in one barn.

However, cruel measures did little to help the king and his libels. In 1704, Marshal Villard entered into negotiations with Cavallier, promising him to make concessions. The negotiations were conducted in a nervous and tense atmosphere of mutual distrust. But, in the end, making sure that it was impossible to get real help from the Netherlands or England (allies in the Anti-Bourbon Coalition), the Duke of Sevennes considered it best to lay down his arms on the condition of religious tolerance. Before making the final decision, Cavallier visited the field commanders Alais and Ribaute, unsuccessfully trying to persuade them to accept Villar’s ​​conditions. The ex-duke was followed only by a small part of his people. On June 21, 1704, Cavallier, with 130 camizars, appeared in Nimes ^[5] , where he entered the royal service. Louis XIV granted him the rank of colonel and allowed him to form a special regiment from the former camizars. Soon, this regiment was sent by marching order from Nimes to the Alsatian city of Neu-Brisach. From there, through Dijon, Colonel Cavalier proceeded to Paris , where he received an audience with Louis. The arrogance of the monarch unpleasantly struck the ex-duke. The hypocrisy and suspicion of the royal government soon manifested themselves fully. Colonel Cavallier was under moral pressure to convert to the Catholic faith. Meanwhile, the detachments of the disobedient camizars snapped, retreated and died: the Sevennes duchy founded by Jean Cavalier disappeared from the face of the earth. The ex-duke of Cavallier regretted his surrender ... From Dijon, with a handful of followers, Jean Cavallier made a march to the Principality of Montbéliard , and then to Lausanne . Cavallier offered his sword to the Duke of Savoy - and soon his kamizars clashed with the royal troops in the Val d'Aosta region ...

In the Cévennes, in 1705, the remnants of the Kamizar army were defeated by the royal troops. In 1710 he was captured and committed suicide by the Huguenot prophet and field commander Abraham Mazel . Two partisan detachments, however, surrendered in 1715: in the year of the death of the persecuting king. The Duchy of Cevennes ceased to exist.

During the French Revolution , during the Jacobin Administrative Reform, the Cévennes region was divided into several departments - but retained its unique flavor. Among the Sevennes highlanders and still (the beginning of the XXI century) there is a large percentage of Huguenots. During the Vichy era, they saved a few hundred southern French Jews.

In the 1960s-70s, many villages of the Southern Cévennes were completely empty: driven by low land and unemployment, the farmers of Cévennes began to move to nearby and distant cities.

• Cévennes (National Park)

• Official site of the Cévennes National Park (French)
• Cévennes Park on the Futura-sciences website (French)