Hello to everyone -- In her post today (21 Sept), new subscriber Michele <mthomas@mail.win.org> asked why we discuss Huguenots as well as Walloons on this list. Michele, you're correct in saying that Huguenots were Protestants and you're also correct in saying that Walloons -- and it's present-day Walloons in Belgium, I presume you mean -- are mainly Catholic. We have had several previous posts to the list on this topic, because it sometimes causes confusion. The most recent one was on 13 Aug with subject line: Walloons: modern vs historical. There was also a previous one on 13 April and an even earlier one on 7 Feb with subject line: Walloons: who were they? All of these posts would be accessible in the list archives. In discussions on this list, Walloons are viewed in a historical perspective of the 1500-1600's. Like the Huguenots (with which they are often confused and/or combined), they were Protestants who were persecuted for their beliefs, fleeing their homelands to other parts of Europe or to the UK, Ireland and/or North America. Here is what Mr. Stephen Massil -- the Librarian at the Huguenot Library (of the Huguenot Society of Great Britain and Ireland) in London -- has to say on this subject: "....The Walloons were amongst the earliest and initially dominant group of refugees.....In terms of the Reformation and the persecution of Protestants, the Walloons were the French-speaking Protestants of the Low Countries (Netherlands) under Spanish control in the 16th and 17th centuries along with the Protestant Flemings (i.e. Dutch people)......With the Edict of Nantes in 1598......(there were) gradually increasing numbers of refugees, now predominantly Huguenots, leaving France (rather than the Low Countries since from there they could migrate to 'free' Holland) during the 17th century culminating at the period of the Revocation of the Edict. In practical terms, the Huguenot Society of Great Britain and Ireland makes no distinction between Walloons and Huguenots and our records do not distinguish them and nor should you in your developments." Does this clear things up? Hope so! Andrea