abjuration

Definition: When you’ve given up your old ideas about something, or retracted a statement you made earlier, you can call it abjuration.

Many people experience an abjuration of their religious beliefs, renouncing one faith for another or dropping religion from their lives altogether. When you abjure something, you give it up or renounce it. The Latin root is abiurare, “deny on oath.”

The above abjuration is taken from the blog of Guy Perron (posted November 9th, 2014) entitled Les abjurations a Quebec de 1662 a 1757.

The document: Register of Abjurations is a  guide to a microfilm available at Drouin that lists the numerous church records of abjurations.  This document may assist those who have traced their French Canadian ancestors to France and their research has led to the possible  conclusion that at some point in time members of their family or families in New France may have been Protestants in France.

Note: In New France in order for Protestants to marry French Canadian Catholic women, they had to become members of the Catholic Church.

Click on the following link: Register of Abjurations