 In the early 18th century, a regional group known as the Camisards (who were Huguenots of the mountainous Massif Central region) rioted against the Catholic Church, burning churches and killing the clergy.It took French troops years to hunt down and destroy all the bands of Camisards, between 1702 and 1709.<ref></ref>

By the 1760s, Protestants numbered about 700,000 in France, or 3% of the population.<ref>Protestant Christianity in France https