elston_ on Nostr: The persecution of Huguenots contributed to the atmosphere of religious intolerance & ...

The persecution of Huguenots contributed to the atmosphere of religious intolerance & fanaticism during the era in which Voltaire lived.

In 1685, Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes (which had granted French Protestants some rights), leading to widespread persecution & forced conversion of Huguenots to Catholicism. This persecution created an environment of fear & religious repression, which Voltaire rightly saw as oppressive & contrary to principles of freedom of belief.