- François Langlade
François Langlade (François de Langlade du Chayla) (c.1647-July 24, 1702) was the French Catholic "Abbot of
Chaila " (or "Chayla"), "Archpriest of the Cevennes" and "Inspector of Missions of theCevennes ". His brutal repression of French (Protestant)Huguenot s by means of torture caused his assassination and sparked the War of the Camisards.A missionary in his youth in Siam (modern
Thailand ), he there suffered near-martyrdom at the hands of Buddhists, was left for dead, but survived and returned to France. His house inLe Pont-de-Montvert served as a prison for Protestants who were tortured. AsRobert Louis Stevenson said, Chayla "..closed the hands of his prisoners upon live coal, and plucked out the hairs of their beards, to convince them that they were deceived in their [religious beliefs] ."References
* [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/2743 Massacres of the South (1551-1815)] , by
Alexandre Dumas, père - chapter II has an excellent account of the life and martyrdom of abbe de Chayla.
* [http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.camisards.net%2FTT240-abbe-du-chaila-fr.htm&langpair=fr%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF8 "The murder of the abbot of Chaila"] , English translation. [http://www.camisards.net/TT240-abbe-du-chaila-fr.htm Original page in French] .
*"Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes ", by Robert Louis Stevenson. See chapter for a brief account.
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