of Chalencon and of Privas, and in 1566 the barony was divided between her two daughters, the elder retaining the honour of Privas, in the French Wars of Religion Privas remained a major centre of Huguenots, called the "Rampart of Reform", and the "Geneva of the country", a symbol of resistance to the Catholic monarchy. The seigneurie was sold to Jacques de Chambaud, a head of the Protestants, who became the first Huguenot seigneur of Privas. In the Huguenot rebellions of 1621–29, Privas was besieged in 1629 by royal forces, with Louis XIII in attendance. Defended by Montbrun with 800 men, the city was taken and destroyed. During the siege of 1629, the town of Privas was well defended by walls and ditches. Privas also has gorges to its south, east and north that provide a natural defence. Given this topography, the Huguenots in the town did not believe that a strong attack from the east was possible. Nevertheless, on 22 May, the Swiss mercenaries of the attacking Royalist Catholic army of Cardinal Richelieu managed to haul by hand six huge pieces of artillery, each weighing about four tons, from Tauléac across the Ouvèze river and up the zig-zag path onto the plateau of Le Vanel, to the east of the town walls. From this decisive vantage point they bombarded the town until its surviving defenders were forced to evacuate and take their last stand on Mont Toulon on its west. During the siege, five hundred Royalist attackers and one thousand Protestant defenders were killed. Surviving defenders were executed, imprisoned, or deported to be galley slaves. By fire or cannon, the majority of the buildings in the town were destroyed. Privas was a ghost town for many years after. It is estimated that as a result of the defeat of the Huguenots in the region, one-fifth of the Protestant population of the Ardèche emigrated. After the defeat of the Camisard revolt (1702–1715) a further 50,000 Archèche Protestants left France. Many fled to England or Switzerland. During the French Revolution in the 1790s a guillotine was erected in the Place de la République. A number of clerics were executed. With the administrative reordering of the French Revolution, Privas, in alternation with Annonay, Aubenas, Bourg-Saint-Andéol and Tournon-sur-Rhône, became an administrative centre of Ardèche. After a brief interval as chef-lieu of its district, it was attached to the district of Coiron. Before about