New Books In Intellectual History

The revocation of the Edict of Nantes led more than 200,000 Huguenots to flee France after 1685. Many settled close to the country's frontiers, where their leaders published apologetic texts arguing for their right to return to France and be recognized as French citizens. By framing their refugee experiences intentionally, even using the term "refugee" to describe their diaspora, Huguenots profoundly influenced Enlightenment debates on citizenship and religious tolerance.  Write to Return: Huguenot Refugees on the Frontiers of the French Enlightenment (McGill-Queen's, 2024) is a cultural history of these Huguenot apologetics in which Bryan Banks examines the work of four authors: Pierre Jurieu, Pierre Bayle, Antoine Court, and Jean-Paul Rabaut Saint-Étienne. Each author advanced his arguments using key ideas of the Enlightenment, appealing to reason to argue for freedom of conscience all while appealing to emotion in his descriptions of Huguenot victimhood. The authors' campaign succeeded. In 1789, France's