On Tue, November 11, 2008 5:05 pm, arlene wrote: > Possibly of interest to the current interests of the listers? > > "The major part of Alsace became French after the Treatises of Westphalia > (1648), however some territories and towns did so later (Strasbourg 1681, > Mulhouse 1799). The French King Louis XIV thought it was better "not to > touch to Alsatian affairs", even though he favored the Catholics wherever > he > could and the Protestants were subjected to much vexation and injustice > (but > no real persecution as in "old" France). Even though Alsace was French in > 1685, the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes had no dramatic effects in > Alsace, apart of course that many French Huguenots crossed Alsace to flee > to > Germany and many of them even settled down in Alsace (especially > Bischwiller > and Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines)". Let us not forget that at the end of the Thirty Years' War (i'e' the Peace of Westphalia) much of the Alsatian and other territories were devastated and there was considerable immigration into this fertile region. My ancestors immigrated during this time from Switzerland. Also, the recurring plagues help to decimate the population too. There were a great many plague outbreaks in the 1600s. It's not unusual in these years to see cousins (of varying degrees) marrying each other with church dispensations. Lastly many rulers tried to subdue the Alsatian's sense of community (for lack of a better word at 1 am). It took the atrocities of the Nazis to make them want to identify as French. The Nazi's were especially hard on the Alsatians, from what I've read.