Today, I again took advantage of some fine weather to visit the wine producing region around Cape Town which is centered around the interior towns of Stellenbosch, Franschhoek (French Corner), and Paarl. Franschhoek, just in case it's name nor the imposing 1948 Huguenot Monument of a woman standing on a globe with her feet touching France does not give it away, has a significant connection to France.
While the Edict of Nantes of April 1598 bestowed equal religious rights for French "Protestants" following Martin Luther, A German monk protesting against the corruption within the Catholic Church, violence and persecution of French Protestants in predominantly Catholic France continued. Indeed, in 1685, the Edict was officially revoked through the Edict of Fontainebleau. On fear of execution and/or imprisonment, many French Huguenots, as French Protestants were now being called, left France for more tolerant and/or other Protestant nations. Many were welcomed openly in the Netherlands. In an effort to encourage immigration to their new Cape Colony (now the Western Cape Province of South Africa), the Dutch East India Company offered these Huguenot refugees land and loans of farming equipment with favorable terms of repayment. Eventually, by 1720, some 270 French Huguenots would come to the Cape Colony settling around the area of Franschhoek. Given that the Dutch government was firm in demanding that the children of French refugees learn Dutch, as part of their education, and only temporary allowed church sermons to be conducted in French, by the mid 1700s, the Huguenots were fully intergrated into the Dutch community in the Cape colony. Although only 270 in number, many Afrikaaners and others now carry surnames that were originally French.
Some of the Cape wineries were started by French Huguenots but, as elsewhere, were very much developed on the labor of indentured servants and local mixed slaves and those from East Asia. Today, I visited, for example, the winery of Boschendal (Wood Dale) which lies half-way between Stellenbosch and Franschhoek. In 1685, it was one of the first deeded properties. Started by Jean de Long, a Huguenot, it was then purchased by fellow French refugee Abraham de Villiers and remained in the de Villiers family until 1879. After this, the property was purchased by mining magnate and philanthropist Cecil John Rhodes to be run as an agricultural pilot program. Having changed hands many times, today, the estate is run by a consortium of companies and cooperates with the national government in ensuring that the historical legacy of this farm will remain intact.
While the Edict of Nantes of April 1598 bestowed equal religious rights for French "Protestants" following Martin Luther, A German monk protesting against the corruption within the Catholic Church, violence and persecution of French Protestants in predominantly Catholic France continued. Indeed, in 1685, the Edict was officially revoked through the Edict of Fontainebleau. On fear of execution and/or imprisonment, many French Huguenots, as French Protestants were now being called, left France for more tolerant and/or other Protestant nations. Many were welcomed openly in the Netherlands. In an effort to encourage immigration to their new Cape Colony (now the Western Cape Province of South Africa), the Dutch East India Company offered these Huguenot refugees land and loans of farming equipment with favorable terms of repayment. Eventually, by 1720, some 270 French Huguenots would come to the Cape Colony settling around the area of Franschhoek. Given that the Dutch government was firm in demanding that the children of French refugees learn Dutch, as part of their education, and only temporary allowed church sermons to be conducted in French, by the mid 1700s, the Huguenots were fully intergrated into the Dutch community in the Cape colony. Although only 270 in number, many Afrikaaners and others now carry surnames that were originally French.
Some of the Cape wineries were started by French Huguenots but, as elsewhere, were very much developed on the labor of indentured servants and local mixed slaves and those from East Asia. Today, I visited, for example, the winery of Boschendal (Wood Dale) which lies half-way between Stellenbosch and Franschhoek. In 1685, it was one of the first deeded properties. Started by Jean de Long, a Huguenot, it was then purchased by fellow French refugee Abraham de Villiers and remained in the de Villiers family until 1879. After this, the property was purchased by mining magnate and philanthropist Cecil John Rhodes to be run as an agricultural pilot program. Having changed hands many times, today, the estate is run by a consortium of companies and cooperates with the national government in ensuring that the historical legacy of this farm will remain intact.
No comments:
Post a Comment