A Peddler's Tale

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A Peddler's Tale" tells the story of Jean Giraud, a Protestant merchant-peddler who lived in the French and Swiss Alps in the late seventeenth century. Drawing on livres de raison (account books), municipal, parish, and consistory records, and death inventories, Wirts has crafted a compelling microhistory about a Huguenot individual and the communities he shared in the wake of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, which made Catholicism the only recognized religion in France. Wirts narrates the historical events in Giraud's French village of La Grave during the revocation, providing a detailed account of the persecution of his fellow church members and their flight across the Alps. Giraud, too, made the difficult trip to Switzerland. Like most refugees, Giraud faced numerous challenges when he arrived at his final destination of Vevey in January 1687. Not all were greeted with open arms. Huguenots without social connections or financial resources frequently were forced to move on, those allowed to stay worked diligently to reestablish their lives and fortunes. Once settled in Vevey, Giraud and his extended family supported themselves by micro-lending and peddling books, watch parts, and lace products (the latter two of growing importance to the proto-industrial economy of western Switzerland). In contrast to past studies on the Huguenot diaspora that tend to depict those fleeing France in heroic terms, A Peddler's Tale exposes the harsh economic realities many refugees faced, as well as the importance of social connections and financial resources in securing passage and sanctuary. Wirts contends that, although a socially diverse group, Huguenot refugees who succeeded in obtaining permanent residency in Vevey shared one important element: many derived their economic livelihood from new kinds of economic ties and social bonds that emerged with the rise of capitalist markets. Commercial networks such as Giraud's helped preserve religious community by extending credit and employment to Huguenot refugees producing or working for the market. Huguenot refugees sought the social approval of their Swiss neighbors through strategies of marriage and godparenthood, and by conforming to Vevey's consistory regulations. A Peddler's Tale illustrates the role and power of informal networks in sustaining and fostering early modern communities"--