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Notre Dame de Bon Port (Our Lady of Good Port) is indeed
of the Gothic style, but it was not built in the Middle Ages.
During the Renaissance, one of the great new forces that penetrated
Europe was that of the Protestant Reform. Under the leadership of
the Frenchman Jean Calvin (John Calvin), the reform penetrated France
with great force. Les Sables, like much of the west of France, was
very influenced by Protestantism. Soon the country was torn by
civil wars that often opposed Catholics and Protestants of the same
family. It was the "Good King" Henri IV, a Protestant
who converted to Catholicism, who finally put an end to the wars by
signing the Edict of Nantes, just a few miles north of here. Soon
after Henri's assassination in 1610, his son Louis XIII chose a minister
that would change the face of France.
The great Cardinal Richelieu would bring all the force of the royal army to bare against the Protestants here and elsewhere. |
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This page last updated on 5/26/2001 4:30:17 PM.