Ferrières
Nowadays the castle is there to see from the outside but overgrown, and the museum is up the road. Also up the road is the most amazing collection of protestant books et al, 13000, looked after as well as possible in difficult conditions, with hope of a more up-to-date home some time in the future. Lots of early Bibles. The oldest one in the museum is 1564, which is pretty early for personal Bibles.
The museum gives us displays about the resistance of the protestants in this area - and the dangers – giving a real meaning to the phrase c’est la galère (it’s really hard or awful) in the form of a model galley, to which protestants were ‘shipped’, if I may use the word. There is also on display a mirror, with a niche in behind for the Bible - the Protestants used to hide their Bible in specially-designed niches of various sorts, according to their ingenuity. Hiding in the forest was quite a skill and a ‘school of resistance’. It is interesting to note that during Hitler’s time in power, this area successfully hid a lot of Jewish children.
With such a long history of clandestine activity, this area became a natural centre for the resistance during the second world war, for people from all walks of life. The most interesting display of photos concerns the Jewish children mentioned above, girls and boys, who lived deep in the forest together with their (Jewish) scout/ girlscout leaders, who formed part of the maquis.
The museum of Protestantism in Haut-Languedoc is situated well into the high country in the east of the Sidobre, in Ferrières, one of the stronger bastions of Protestantism during the wars of religion and after and a protestant community for 450 years without a break. The forest was large enough and deep enough to shelter the Protestants, whose daily activities were Catholic but who held risky clandestine services. 
The preacher would travel to the depths of the forest, together with a portable pulpit and the congregation would take their places where they could to listen to the lesson. The communion cup could be dismantled to hide its shape. Watchers were present on all sides, to avoid discovery. However, there were also strongholds, and Ferrières, with its castle, was one of these. (Actually, after the revocation of the edict of Nantes
The preacher would travel to the depths of the forest, together with a portable pulpit and the congregation would take their places where they could to listen to the lesson. The communion cup could be dismantled to hide its shape. Watchers were present on all sides, to avoid discovery. However, there were also strongholds, and Ferrières, with its castle, was one of these. (Actually, after the revocation of the edict of 
Nowadays the castle is there to see from the outside but overgrown, and the museum is up the road. Also up the road is the most amazing collection of protestant books et al, 13000, looked after as well as possible in difficult conditions, with hope of a more up-to-date home some time in the future. Lots of early Bibles. The oldest one in the museum is 1564, which is pretty early for personal Bibles.
The museum gives us displays about the resistance of the protestants in this area - and the dangers – giving a real meaning to the phrase c’est la galère (it’s really hard or awful) in the form of a model galley, to which protestants were ‘shipped’, if I may use the word. There is also on display a mirror, with a niche in behind for the Bible - the Protestants used to hide their Bible in specially-designed niches of various sorts, according to their ingenuity. Hiding in the forest was quite a skill and a ‘school of resistance’. It is interesting to note that during Hitler’s time in power, this area successfully hid a lot of Jewish children.
Because the Catholic church forbade the burial of protestants in the cemeteries, the protestant houses had, and still have, personal plots at the end of the garden, as it were.
Although the revocation of the edict of Nantes
However, the museum also gives us a look at the more positive side of the coin.
A number of churches were restored or rebuilt in the 19th century, often subsidised by the state, and the training and salary of pastors undertaken by the state at this time. The protestant ethic is also credited for the success of capitalism in the whole region, with textiles, paper, wool and especially leather (often made from Australian sheepskins!) transforming the economy.
With such a long history of clandestine activity, this area became a natural centre for the resistance during the second world war, for people from all walks of life. The most interesting display of photos concerns the Jewish children mentioned above, girls and boys, who lived deep in the forest together with their (Jewish) scout/ girlscout leaders, who formed part of the maquis.
Footnote: Hautpoul, the mountain village mentioned elsewhere, (built up along a ridge behind Mazamet), was used as a final refuge in 1628, and remained impregnable, whilst the town below was pillaged and burnt, in yet another of these wars related to religion.
So much history in such a small area!
Photos at:
