The Huguenot Bartholomew Dupuy and his descendants

introd.
38 RISE AND PROGRESS OF HUGUENOTS.
ligion's Sake. Their meetings for public
worship in the city of Paris were often very
large, amounting to thousands, protected by
armed men, the women being placed in the
centre.
Finally, a council was called by the Queen
Edict of Mother, and an edict published January 17,
^tJoi* 1562, which conceded to the Huguenots the
1562. liberty to meet for worship, without arms in
all places outside of the walled towns. That
Edict was the first recognition of the ^' New
Religion" in France, giving it some degree of
protection under the laws. It was the Magna
Charta of Huguenot rights, and is known as
' '
' '
the famous Edict of Januar}^ At this time,
there were not less than 400,000 Huguenots in
the kingdom, of whom only one thirtieth were
the common-folk, and one-third were of the
nobles— their strength being in the 7ioblesse.
Their two centers were Languedoc in the
South, and Orleannois in the middle of the
country. A line drawn northwest to southeast,
through a point half way between Paris
and Orleans, would nearly give the northern
limit of their success. In Normandy (northwest),
Orleannoise (central), and Burgundy
(Southeast), they had many churches, while
north of the line they also had some churches
in the Isle of France, and in Champagne. In
Guyenne (southwest) , and throughout western
France they had numerous communities. The
little independent principality of Beam (extreme
southwest), through the influence of
Jean D'Albret, was entirely Huguenot. They
had thus spread over considerably more than
half of the country.