Antoine Court

Who was Antoine Court?

Antoine Court was a French reformer called the "Restorer of Protestantism in France." He was born at Villeneuve-de-Berg, in Languedoc, March 27, 1696. His parents were peasants, adherents of the Reformed church, which was then undergoing persecution. When but 17 years old, Court began to speak at the secret meetings of the Protestants, held literally "in dens and caves of the earth," and often in darkness, with no pastor present to teach or counsel.

In 1685, Louis XIV of France revoked the Edict of Nantes, referred to as the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, aka the Edict of Fontainebleau. This caused mass exodus of Protestants. There were those who stayed and continued to secretly practice Protestantism; called “The Church of the Desert”, or "Christians of the Desert". His followers were always hounded, persecuted, and put to death.