The French Prophets: The History of a Millenarian Group in Eighteenth-Century England

What happens when a prophetic tradition is translated from one culture into another? How do apocalyptic expectations change as believers are torn between different visions of the end of the world? How do prophets and their followers come to terms with failed prophecy and a receding millennium? In 1706 three prophets appeared in London. They were Huguenots from southeastern France, heirs to a prophetic tradition which had taken root among French protestants during the persecution by Louis XIV. The three men first prophesied to French refugees but soon found support and new prophets in English audiences. English followers, however, brought with them culturally distinct millenarian visions and patterns of religious behavior. As the group grew and became known collectively as the French Prophets , it was transformed by those it attracted. Later, reaching out to Scotland and the continent, missionaries from the group made enduring contact with quietists and pietists, whose ideas about inspiration affected the outlook of the prophets themselves. By the 1730s, in their waning years, the French Prophets were akin to the Moravians, Methodists and Shakers who inaugurated the evangelical revival in 18th century England. Using archival materials from seven countries the author reconstructs the internal history of the French Prophets, tracing social, sexual and cultural tensions. He describes the interplay of four kinds of millenarian ethos in prophecy and ritual and he follows the process by which the French Prophets lost vitality and coherence. This book is devoted to a study of millenarianism from within. Through the fascinating narrative of day-to-day problems of an exuberant religious group, one comes to appreciate the paths linking mid 17th century sectarianism and the pan-European religious revival a century later.