Die van de religie. Protestanten op Grand Tour in Frankrijk in de zeventiende eeuw

Abstract

The French Loire valley was one of the main attractions on the Dutch Grand Tour in the 17th century. It had prestigious academies, private tutors of aristocratic skills such as fencing and formal dancing, and religious communities of Huguenots. This article examines how Protestant Dutch elite travellers expressed their interest, empathy, and connection to these groups of like-minded individuals. Travellers reflected both on past events of the 16th-century French Wars of Religion and on current difficulties. Focusing on the years leading up to the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, which drastically changed France’s religious situation in 1685, this article discusses how travellers presented the Huguenots’ troubles.