Conference held on 14 September 2024 at the Société d'Histoire du Protestantisme Français (SHPF)
As part of the commemoration of the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the death of François Guizot, the SHPF and the François Guizot Association wanted to highlight the importance of Guizot within French Protestantism.
Descended from a family deeply rooted in Protestantism, Guizot embodied a Reformed faith tradition marked by a commitment to freedom of conscience, moral rigour and education. However, under the Second Empire, French Protestantism faced a series of internal and external challenges. The rise of authoritarianism under Napoleon III, with increased state control over religious institutions, combined with the increasing secularisation of society, led to tensions within Protestant communities. The latter split between a liberal current, more open to modern ideas and a rationalist interpretation of the faith, and an evangelical current, attached to a more orthodox and conservative theology.
André Encrevé's lecture presents these challenges and the role Guizot played in them.
President of the Society for the History of French Protestantism
Chairman of the François Guizot Association
Emeritus professor of contemporary history, former editor-in-chief of the Bulletin de la SHPF
Introduced by Henri Zuber, President of the SHPF and Stéphane Coste, President of the Association François Guizot, this conference entitled « François Guizot and French Protestantism under the Second Empire »was presented by André Encrevé, Emeritus Professor of Contemporary History and former editor-in-chief of the Bulletin de la SHPF.
Read the speech by Stéphane Coste, chairman of the association François Guizot
Read the speech by André Encrevé. «François Guizot and French Protestantism under the Second Empire.»