Abraham Mazel (5 September 1677 – 17 October 1710), was a French

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

from the

Cévennes The Cévennes ( , ; ) is a cultural region and range of mountains in south-central France, on the south-east edge of the Massif Central. It covers parts of the '' départements'' of Ardèche, Gard, Hérault and Lozère. Rich in geographical, ...

region and

Camisard Camisards were Huguenots (French Protestants) of the rugged and isolated Cévennes region and the neighbouring Vaunage in southern France. In the early 1700s, they raised a resistance against the persecutions which followed Louis XIV's Revocati ...

revolutionary, known for leading the insurrection that led to the

War of the Camisards The War of the Camisards () or the Cévennes War () was an uprising of Protestantism, Protestant peasants known as Camisards in the Cévennes and Languedoc during the reign of Louis XIV. The uprising was a response to the Edict of Fontainebleau, ...

(1702-1704).

Biography

Abraham Mazel was born to a Huguenot family at

Saint-Jean-du-Gard Saint-Jean-du-Gard () is a commune in the Gard department in southern France. History This city of the Cévennes, first mentioned in a 12th-century papal bull (''San Johannis de Gardonnenca cum villa''), was very much influenced by Protestant ...

Languedoc The Province of Languedoc (, , ; ) is a former province of France. Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately . History ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, on 5 September 1677. His father was David Mazel (1648-1719), a woolcomber, and his mother was Jeanne Daudé (1650-1680). In October 1701, Mazel was visited by "the spirit of prophecy" urging him to free his fellow Huguenots imprisoned by abbot François Langlade, archbishop of the

. The archbishop was well known in the Cevennes for his brutal repression of French Protestants. On 24 July 1702, about fifty peasants, led by Mazel and Ésprit Séguier, marched onto the archpriest's residence at

Le Pont-de-Montvert Le Pont-de-Montvert (; ) is a former commune in the Lozère département in southern France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Pont-de-Montvert-Sud-Mont-Lozère. It is located in the heart of the Parc National des Céve ...

, to inflict vengeance upon him, and release the imprisoned Huguenots. During the night they raided Langlade's residence, released the prisoners from their underground cells, and then set the house on fire. While trying to flee from a window, Langlade fell and was injured. He was then killed by the peasants. On October 17, 1710, Mazel was taken prisoner and killed at Mas de Couteau, near

Uzès Uzès (; ) is a commune in the Gard department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. Uzès lies about north-northeast of Nîmes, west of Avignon, and southeast of Alès. History Originally ''Ucetia'' or ''Eutica'' in Latin, Uzès wa ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mazel, Abraham 1677 births 1710 deaths French revolutionaries Huguenots