Museum Collections

The Edict of Nantes, allowing substantial political independence for Calvinist Protestants (Huguenots), was signed by Henry IV of France in 1598 and was registered in 1599. Subsequently, under Louis XIV, the Catholic clergy sought to remove Protestant power and successfully urges the King to revoke the edict in October 1685. The persecutions that followed led many Hugenots to emigrate, primarily to England, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, and America. The dedication at the bottom of the window reads as follows: "In commemoration of the Huguenots who fled to America owing to the revocation of the privileges accorded by the Feby 1599 Edict of Nantes Oct 1685." The lower left corner is marked with the copyright of the artist. The lower right displays the line "Mary Tillinghast fecit 1908." Mary Tillinghast (1845-1912), a student of John LaFarge, was a painter who specialized in designs for stained glass.