Modern-day Ardennes – Aube – Marne – Haute-Marne

 Champagne-Ardenne, with its capital Troyes, was located within the northeast region of France near the borders with Belgium and Germany. This large province was first established as a territory in the 11^th century. In 1284, Champagne was unified with France under the leadership of King Philippe IV.

This research guide is a comprehensive tool for researching French Protestant ancestors from this region.

Caveat: much of it is in French.

Champagne – The ancient, or pre-French Revolution, province of Champagne was subdivided into many territories; Champagne (Troyes) – Rhemois (Reims) – Rethelois (Rethel including Porcien) – Perthois (Vitry-le-François) – Vallage (Joinville) – Bassigny (Val-de-Meuse) – Senonais (Sens) – Sedan (Sedan) – Tonnerrois (Tonnerre) – Chalonnais (Châlons-en-Champagne) – Barrois (Barrois-sur-Aube) – Brie Champenoise (Meaux) – Arcy (Arcy-sur-Cure) – Dieulet (Vaux-en-Dieulet) – Pays de Der (Montier-en-Der)  – Clermontois (Argonne)

Following the French Revolution, the province was divided into four départements: Ardennes – Marne – Aube – Haute-Marne.

Please note the ancient province of Ardenne (without an ‘’s’) and modern-day Ardennes (département) are basically the same region. Ardenne was located primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, but stretched well into Germany and France (lending its name to the Département of Ardennes and the former Champagne-Ardenne.) The primary towns or cities of the Ardenne of France were La Roche-en-Ardenne, Libramont, Neufchâteau, Bouillon, Bastogne, Spa, Saint-Hubert, Chimay, Sedan, Charleville-Mézières, Givet, Revin.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Musée Protestant (France), a leading historical society in France, places modern-day Aisne within the ancient Champagne-Ardenne region. The Government of France in past centuries had placed modern-day département of Aisne within the region of Hauts-de-France – See https://genealogyensemble.com/2020/03/15/hauts-de-france-the-protestants-of-artois-calaisis-flandre-picardie-of-the-16th-and-17th-centuries/   I also added the département of Aisne to this dossier. See page 7

On pages 3, 4 and 9, I have added additional texts in regard to Protestantism in France. These resources can be accessed at various Archives départementales de France.

This region of Champagne-Ardenne was home to exceptional individuals during the 16th and 17th centuries including:

• Françoise de Bourbon – Vendôme
• Henri-Robert de la Marck
• Many professors at the Académie de Sedan, a Protestant college in the city of Sedan from 1559 to 1681. There are articles on the Academy of Sedan and some of its professors on the English and French-language versions of Wikipedia, and at BnF (Bibliothèque nationale de France.

Click here to view the 43-page PDF research guide:   The Protestants of Champagne-Ardenne

Included are links to records concerning Protestants in French archives;  collections on familysearch.org; Histoire des protestants en France by Patrick Cabanel; research guide to family history in France by Gildas Bernard; towns in this region where Protestants resided between 1565-1721; Protestant church and civil registers in France;, links to the Académy de Sedan; books about the history of Protestants in this region; historical societies; online resources; BnF; archives; archives départementales; archives municipales; old Protestant newspapers; genealogy in France, regional; publishers; links to Genealogy Ensemble articles.