The revocation of the Edict of Nantes and the role of the Intendants in the Dragonnades

The notorious dragonnades that brought about conversion of the Huguenots before the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes are widely considered to have been an instrument of repression whose use was instigated by central government. This article argues, conversely, that the dragonnades were probably not a deliberate, centrally driven strategy to reduce the number of practising Huguenots but, rather, the outcome of attempts by agents at the periphery to enhance or protect their careers. The evidence suggests that it was the intendants, acting in defiance of instructions from the centre, who were responsible for the dragonnades that facilitated the Revocation. An examination of intendants’ actions, in the context of the circumstances which governed their lives, shows how the principal actors made independent and opportunistic use of their powers to billet troops. Three factors—dynasticism, patronage and place—appear to have exerted a major influence on events.