Demographic changes in France at the turn of the 16th-17th centuries

Novoderzhkin Nikolai

After the peace of Westphalia, France became the leader of the European States. However, its dominant role did not last long. Subject to European trends, and despite serious upheavals-plague epidemics and the Hundred years war, the population growth of France in the 16th-17th centuries was gradual and in 1600 exceeded 19.0 million people. Information about the religious composition of the Kingdom differ according to different estimates, but the number of Huguenots ranges from 800 to 900 thousand people, which is less than 10% of the total population. The policy towards Protestants pursued during the reign of Louis XIV, which ended with the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, led to the "Exodus" of part of the Huguenots from The French Kingdom. Such importance is attached to the departure of Protestants and because migration is not peculiar to the society of the 17th century. According to various estimates, the number of emigrated Protestants ranged from 150 to 230 thousand people. The loss of the population of France from the departure of Protestants amounted to about 1%, which is less than from epidemics of plague or wars. There is no evidence that the Exodus of Protestants from France is a major factor in the country's economic lag. Rather, it is evidence that the constitutional monarchy in England and the Republican system in the Netherlands and Switzerland were more in line with the economy of Modern times. The transition of leadership in Europe from France to the Anglo-Saxon world is the result of the superiority of government with a limited monarchy, before the absolute monarchy.

Keywords:French Protestants, revocation of the edict of Nantes, leadership of the Anglo-Saxon world, demography of France.