A Walloon church (French: Église Wallonne; Dutch: Waalse kerk) describes any Calvinist church in the Netherlands and its former colonies whose members originally came from the Southern Netherlands and France and whose native language is French. Members of these churches belong to the Walloon Reformed Church (French: Réformé wallon; Dutch: Waals Hervormd or, from 1815, Waals Gereformeerd), a demonination of the long-distinguished Dutch-speaking Dutch Reformed Church.
The French Calvinists, known also as Huguenots, were persecuted in France by the Roman Catholic Church. In 1598, King Henry IV of France issued the Edict of Nantes, which was to relieve the persecution and allow rights to freely worship. Later in 1685, His grandson Louis XIV issued a Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and persecution returned. Most fled France to other countries offering safe harbor. Many of these would later settle in Ulster, New Zealand, Australia, and the in New World in the colonies of the Carolinas, New York and Pennsylvania. Many of the technical skilled workers of the silk weaving industry left France with little or nothing, re-establishing their trades elsewhere. Many of these who left were also of French nobility, and it is said that little of the industry of France remained after this period.
Famous quotes containing the word church:
“That poor little thing was a good woman, Judge. But she just sort of let life get the upper hand. She was born here and she wanted to be buried here. I promised her on her deathbed she’d have a funeral in a church with flowers. And the sun streamin’ through a pretty window on her coffin. And a hearse with plumes and some hacks. And a preacher to read the Bible. And folks there in church to pray for her soul.”
—Laurence Stallings (1804–1968)