Protestantism in France 10% of the French population on the eve of the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre, declining to 7-8% by the end of the 16th century, and further after heavy persecution began once again with the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes by Louis XIV of France. Protestants were granted a degree of religious freedom following the Edict of Nantes, but it ceased with the Edict of Fontainebleau. Protestant minority has been persecuted, and a majority of Huguenots fled the country, leaving isolated communities like the one in the Cevennes region, which survives to this day. Today Protestants in France number over
Paris in the 16th century Ages. It was run by the Church and had been enlarged over the centuries, but it was not large enough for the thousands of patients who came there; each bed held several patients. It could provide very little in the way of actual medical care, but it did offer food and regular religious services for the sick. Several other more specialized hospitals were established in the 16th century, including hospitals for orphans, patients with syphilis, and hospitals for wounded soldiers. Each church, convent and abbey had its own small cemetery, many as small as ten square meters. The largest cemetery