Les communautés protestantes en France : représentations, symboles et mimésis

The identity of French Protestant communities during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries may be defined above all as a communion of faith. On its own, however, this is not a sufficient criterion : an anthropological point of view interrogating the reflexive aspect of these communities, that is, the way they represented themselves, can further help us to trace the symbolic relations that allowed them to maintain their cohesion (unity in diversity). Moreover, during the Wars of Religion and later the “intolerant tolerance” inaugurated by the Edict of Nantes, representations of French Protestants evolved in response to the monarchy and changes in its attitude towards them, up until the revocation of the Edict in 1685.