Posted in Reformation Day
Marie Durand
The Tower of Constance
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In 1730 a fifteen-year-old Huguenot girl was arrested and taken from her home. Her name was Marie Durand; her crime was to have a brother who was a Protestant minister.
In 1729 soldiers raided a neighbours’ home where a group had gathered to worship. The house was destroyed, and Marie’s mother was taken away, never to be heard from again. Her brother, who was leading the service, escaped and eventually entered Switzerland, where he studied for the ministry.
Unable to lay hands on Pierre, the government arrested Marie's father in 1728. Before he was taken to prison, Etienne Durand married his daughter to Matthew Serres, whom he hoped could protect her. But both Marie and Matthew were arrested, and Matthew was imprisoned with his father-in law at a fort. In 1732, after a sizeable reward was put on Pierre’s head, Pierre was betrayed and arrested. He was recorded to have walked to his execution singing Psalms.
The Tower of Constance had been transformed into a woman’s prison. The prisoners were kept in the upper room. A little light and air came through narrow windows. In the center of the floor was an opening onto the guardroom below. The authorities thought this the perfect place to hold and torture heretics.
But at least one prisoner refused to yield. Inscribed on the wall is "Resister," meaning "Resist!"
Marie became the tireless Christian focus of the Tower and remained the spiritual leader of the prisoners for thirty-eight years. She nursed the sick, wrote letters for those who couldn’t write, and encouraged her fellow-prisoners to sing Huguenot hymns. Not all the women were Christians. But the prisoners knew her family; they sympathized with her youth and they respected her for her piety. All were blessed through her.
Marie wrote to churches and government officials with appeals for better prison conditions. Her appeals were even relayed to the philosophers Voltaire and Rousseau. Thanks to her efforts, the prisoners were allowed a copy of the Psalms and permitted to take air on the rooftop.
Disgusted with prison conditions, the governor of Languedoc ordered the captives released despite the objections of King Louis XV. In 1767, after 38 years in the tower, she was released. Her father, brother and husband were dead. A church supported her until she died in 1776.
Scratched on the stone floor of the prison next to Marie's name were these words:
"Her faith has not changed".
http://www.photoblog.com/charmagne/2009/10/28/marie-durand.html
In 1729 soldiers raided a neighbours’ home where a group had gathered to worship. The house was destroyed, and Marie’s mother was taken away, never to be heard from again. Her brother, who was leading the service, escaped and eventually entered Switzerland, where he studied for the ministry.
Unable to lay hands on Pierre, the government arrested Marie's father in 1728. Before he was taken to prison, Etienne Durand married his daughter to Matthew Serres, whom he hoped could protect her. But both Marie and Matthew were arrested, and Matthew was imprisoned with his father-in law at a fort. In 1732, after a sizeable reward was put on Pierre’s head, Pierre was betrayed and arrested. He was recorded to have walked to his execution singing Psalms.
The Tower of Constance had been transformed into a woman’s prison. The prisoners were kept in the upper room. A little light and air came through narrow windows. In the center of the floor was an opening onto the guardroom below. The authorities thought this the perfect place to hold and torture heretics.
But at least one prisoner refused to yield. Inscribed on the wall is "Resister," meaning "Resist!"
Marie became the tireless Christian focus of the Tower and remained the spiritual leader of the prisoners for thirty-eight years. She nursed the sick, wrote letters for those who couldn’t write, and encouraged her fellow-prisoners to sing Huguenot hymns. Not all the women were Christians. But the prisoners knew her family; they sympathized with her youth and they respected her for her piety. All were blessed through her.
Marie wrote to churches and government officials with appeals for better prison conditions. Her appeals were even relayed to the philosophers Voltaire and Rousseau. Thanks to her efforts, the prisoners were allowed a copy of the Psalms and permitted to take air on the rooftop.
Disgusted with prison conditions, the governor of Languedoc ordered the captives released despite the objections of King Louis XV. In 1767, after 38 years in the tower, she was released. Her father, brother and husband were dead. A church supported her until she died in 1776.
Scratched on the stone floor of the prison next to Marie's name were these words:
"Her faith has not changed".
http://www.photoblog.com/charmagne/2009/10/28/marie-durand.html
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