| * 31 October 1517: |
Martin Luther nails his 95 Theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg. |
| * 1533: |
The new Rector of the University of Paris (Sorbonne), supported the doctrine of Justification by Faith in a speech written for him by Jean Calvin. King Francis I moved to remove heretics from France. Jean Calvin flees Paris. |
| * 1536: |
John Calvin became pastor in Geneva (not yet part of Switzerland). Monasteries dissolved, celebration of mass abolished and Papal authority renounced. |
| * 1536-1545: |
Numerous edicts issued in France to suppress persons and publications which supported the Reformation. Francis I orders crusade against the Waldensians or Vaudois resulting in a massacre. |
| * 1540s: |
Huguenots began settlements in Kent and Sussex, England. |
| * 1550: |
Church of St. Anthony's Hospital in Threadneedle Street, London, given to French Huguenots. |
| * 1550s: |
Calvinism comes to France with thousands of converts |
| * 1555-1567: |
Some French try to colonize Brazil (Fort Coligny) as a haven for Huguenots. Was known as France Antarctque. Destroyed by Portuguese. |
| * 25 May 1559: |
First Synod of the French Reformed Church held in Paris. Confession of Faith written. This was followed by persecutions and issuance of Edict prohibiting “heretical” worship. |
| * 1559-1560: |
King Henry II killed and succeeded by Francis II, still a boy. Attempt to replace Catholic Guises with Huguenot Condé as regent failed. Catherine d’Medici became Queen Regent of France with death of Francis II in |
| *1560: |
Edict of Romorantin (May, 1560) gives Roman Catholic bishops criminal jurisdiction over heresy equated with Protestant faith. |
| * 1561: |
Huguenots petitioned for church reformation, asked that churches be assigned to Protestant clergy or granted permission to build new churches. Edict of July issued which forbade worship other than Roman Catholic, punishable by imprisonment or loss of property. |
| * 1561: |
Colloquy of Poissy failed to bring any resolution of growing divided between Huguenots and Catholics. |
| * 1 March 1562: |
Massacre at Vassay of Huguenots lead by the Duke of Guise, began French Wars of Religion. |
| * 1562-1564: |
Arrival at St. John's River, in Florida, of Huguenot expedition. Brief settlement on Parris Island, S.C., and then founding of Fort Caroline in Florida. (1564) |
| * 27 May 1564: |
Death of John Calvin. |
| * 1565: |
Huguenot colony massacred at St. John, FL. |
| * 1569: |
Louis, Prince of Condé was killed at Battle of Jarnac during Wars of Religion. |
| *24 August 1572: |
St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre in which tens of thousands of Huguenots were killed in Paris and in the countryside. Duc de Guise (Henri I de Lorraine) killed Admiral Gaspard de Coligny. Slaughter continued until October. |
| * 1585: |
Treaty of Nemours cancelled all previous edicts and “heretics” were banned from public office. Protestant clergy banned. Wars of Religion resumed. |
| * 27 February 1594: |
After converting back to Catholicism, Henry IV of Navarre crowned King of France though he had been King for almost 5 years. |
| * 13 April 1598: |
Edict of Nantes by Henry IV which granted religious and civil liberties to the Huguenots and promised protection. |
| * 1605-1613: |
Huguenots began to settle in Dublin, Ireland. |
| * 1610: |
Henry IV assassinated. |
| * 1628: |
La Rochelle taken by Louis XIII after a lengthy siege, during which three-quarters of the population died from famine, disease and wounds. The concluding Peace of Ales stripped Huguenots of political and military rights. |
| * 1628: |
Huguenots began to arrive in New Amsterdam, now New York. |
| * 1650s: |
Huguenot emigration to North American steadily increased with substantial numbers arriving in New York, Maryland and Virginia. |
| * 1661: |
On the death of Cardinal Mazarin, Louis XIV takes control of France. |
| * 1670: |
Huguenot settlement in South Carolina began but increased after 1680 in area of Charleston. |
| * 1681: |
Dragonnades begin. Troops were billeted in Protestant homes to intimidate Huguenots into conversion to Roman Catholicism or exile. |
| * 18 October 1685: |
Revocation of the Edict of Nantes by Louis XIV which was published 22 October 1685 and resulted in persecution of the Huguenots. An estimated 200,000–600,000 Huguenots flee France to other countries...about 44,000 to North America. |
| * 1686: |
Huguenots settled in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, though some arrived much earlier into Massachusetts. Huguenot colony at Oxford, MA founded. |
| * 1690: |
Huguenots from Virginia establish settlement on Pamlico River, NC. |
| * 1700: |
Settlement of Manakin Towne in the James River in Virginia. Huguenots in Virginia colony since at least 1619. |
| * July 1702-1710: |
Not all Huguenots in France fled or were killed. The Cévennes War or War of the Camisards began in southwestern France. Response was wholesale burning of villages and killing of suspected Protestants. |
| * 1704: |
Bath, NC settled in part by Huguenots from Virginia. |
| * 1707: |
Huguenots settled on the Trent and Neuse Rivers in NC near New Bern. |
| * 28 November 1787: |
Promulgation of the Edict of Toleration. |
