Petition to the Sun King

Dear almighty Sun King Louis XIV,

I have recently been informed of your ever-so-important revoking of the Edict of Nantes. This Edict or decision was originally created by  the previous King, Henry IV, who we all have come to realize was French protestant before converting to Catholicism in order to cause no trouble while taking the throne of France. You are obviously the best king of all though, and I’m sure that you have very good and important reasons for revoking such a long-lasting document.

 The real reason for me to write this letter, or petition, to you is to present to you the idea that you should consider bringing back the edict entirely. Now, I’m sure that this fact of me having the tenacity to suggest such a thing may be frustrating, but I promise you that I shall not waste your time as I tell you the reasoning behind my thinking. There are several people in France that I know of that practice French Protestantism such as I do, and we believe that it is unfair that you would force us, Huguenots, to leave the country of France due to the judgment of the dominant religion, Catholicism.

   

Not to mention that fact that if we do abide by this religion even so, you as a King has declared that we may not sell our properties or any of the objects we own in order to gain some sort of profit while entering into new lands. I think that you do this in vain in order to prevent us from leaving your beloved country and so that we are left with the one option of converting to the dominant religion.

One flaw in your thinking is that the majority of the people you are forcing to leave are not only hard-working but have managed to compile enough wealth to leave your country with ease, regardless of whether or not you are allowing for their properties to be sold. Even if you did have the Edict revoked, that is not going to stop the French Protestants of France from moving in order for them to avoid persecution.

And with that, I propose to you this petition that, from the amount of people to sign this, will prove to you that you need to keep the Edict in effect so that your people will not only stay but be loyal to you. The choice is yours all powerful one, and I mean no harm or harshness throughout what I have said. I only wish for what is best for all of the people in France, including yourself. So if you’d be so kind and consider heeding my words that is all I ask of you.

Sincerely,

One of your educated Huguenots

Pictography: "Edict of Nantes." Wikipedia Commons. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/31/Edit_de_Nantes_Avril_1598.jpg/330px-Edit_de_Nantes_Avril_1598.jpg