Little known in the United Kingdom, the European cultural route 'Sur les pas des Huguenots et des Vaudois', has, in 2023, reached a level of development which means it can no longer be ignored. The result of a long cooperation between countries of the diaspora and of the refuge, the history of its creation is worth exploring - and its paths worth walking, in the steps of our Huguenot ancestors ....

Well before the setting up of various relief funds to assist Huguenot refugees fleeing France in the 1680s, English parishioners were being exhorted to contribute towards Church appeals in favour of groups of persecuted Protestants abroad, notably the Waldensians. This proto-Protestant community, driven into the Italian Piedmont valleys by Louis XIV's cousin, the Duke of Savoy, suffered a cruel martyrdom, but their cause was championed by England's Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell....

The previous post explored the various career paths followed by Élie Bouhéreau as he sought to earn a living as a Huguenot refugee. Having trained as a medical doctor before the Revocation, he regularly recorded in his diary medical curiosities and incidences of disease encountered during his eventful life ....

After the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, Huguenot refugee Élie Bouhéreau from La Rochelle led a life of unsettled exile, including travel on the Continent as secretary to British diplomats for nearly a decade, before putting down roots in Dublin, Ireland. His career too, was manifold: a medical doctor, tutor, administrator, clergyman and librarian, he was also a committed husband and father ....