Blood & belief : family survival and confessional identity among the provincial Huguenot nobility /

Mentzer's microhistory of the provincial elite of early modern France draws on more than 400 years of private family archives. The relationship between a durable kinship network and persistent religious conviction allowed the Lecger family of Castres to prosper and survive despite the persecution they suffered as Protestants in Catholic France. Prudent investments in judicial offices, army commissions, land, and annuities, plus shrewd marriages and biological luck in producing sufficient male heirs were the ingredients for many a family of robe nobility in the ancien r'egime. What adds color and drama to this story is the quiet adherence to Protestantism of the Lecgers. Even when, following the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, some family members outwardly professed Catholicism, the core remained Protestant. In crisp prose, Mentzer provides excellent definitions and descriptions of institutions and points of law as well as an accurate context for his close examination of economic, social, and political themes. The result is a most welcome and valuable contribution to early modern social and family history. All levels. J. E. Brink; Texas Tech University