How would protestant uprisings in France happen (1928)?

I'm currently writing an alternate history novel in which France is strongly Catholic. There is no religious freedom, but there still are some protestants in France. At some point in the story, the main character (who has been raised as a protestant himself, by his mother, secretly) is confronted with the fact that the protestants start to revolt.

How would this start? I know already that at a certain moment, there will be a demonstration in Narbonne in the south of France, which will be suppressed by violence by an mysterious* army. But the revolt needs to emerge gradually. How would that happen? With what events?

[* It's uncertain whether it's an army of the Church or of the government. It in fact is the Church's.]

Thanks for helping!!!

TD.
 
I don't know how this could work without going back to 1598 and the Bourbon ascension...Henry of Navarre and through Louis 14. There are so few protestants in France after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes that I don't see how a meaningful uprising could happen. It would be as if Jews were allowed no economic or political place in the US and then took up arms.
 
I don't know how this could work without going back to 1598 and the Bourbon ascension...Henry of Navarre and through Louis 14. There are so few protestants in France after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes that I don't see how a meaningful uprising could happen. It would be as if Jews were allowed no economic or political place in the US and then took up arms.

Yes, I know, it definitely sounds impossible and implausible. But I don't want to discuss how it could happen, but instead how it would happen, like what events would happen. Besides, the POD of this story is indeed far back in the Middle Ages, but that's not important.
 
I think your possibilities are pretty endless here, since religious uprisings have started for any number of reasons in the real world.

I don't exactly know what you've got happening otherwise in your alternate time-line, but everything else being equal, a religious uprising could start because...

-the government tries to impose some sort of tax on protestants, maybe a levy to pay for Catholic churches.

-the government promises, than refuses, to give protestants an exemption from paying a particular tax(this is sort of a variation on the last one)

-the government tries to force Catholic religious instruction upon protestant children attending state schools

-some other educational issue eg. protestants want their own schools, but can't have them.

-France gets into a war with some protestant country, and French prots want exemption from military service, lest they end up killing their sectarian brothers, but this is denied by the French government

-The government tries to restrict some rleigious practice of protestants, eg. make it illegal for them to prosletyze or hold public services.

-protestants are outraged by unflattering portrayals of their religion in the media.

Etc etc.

However, looking back at your OP, it seems that most of my scenarios might be hobbled by your requirement that protestants are a secret, presumbaly outlawed group. I'm kind of assuming that they are tolerated, but are subject to severe restrictions(such as religious minorities in many Muslim countries today).

As you've outlined it, protestants who revolt would essentially be "outting" themselves, thus pretty much inviting an upsurge in state persecution. So, the issues they were facing would have to be pretty severe in order for them to take that option.

Perhaps some messianic cleric begins preaching underground, telling protestants that the Second Coming is at hand, and they must rise up against the Whore Of Babylon? A few of them commit sporadic acts of violence against church/state, thus incurring the wrath of authorities.
 
Okay, here's one that fits with your scenrio of protestantism being illegal.

Protestants are an outlawed group, but the French government knows they exist, and are happy to allow them to carry on in secret, as long as they're not too open about their faith, in order to maintain a modicum of social peace.

As part of this wink-and-nod accomadation, in regions known to have a significant number of protestants, the schools avoid using explicitly Catholic prayers for their morning recitals. In other words, no Hail Marys. Protestants grudgingly accept having to recite the Catholic version of the Our Father, because really, it's only one line omitted, and nothing is added.

However, for some reason or other, there is a backlash against protestants in one of those regions(maybe a protestant gets arrested for raping a Catholic woman, and the the police find a whole pile of anti-Catholic literature in his house), and right-wingers in the government demand that the era of unofficial tolerance be brought to an end. The government then orders that schools in the more protestantish districts alternate between the Ave Maria and the Lord's Prayer. A few brave protestants turn out to protest, and it goes from there.
 
overoceans,

I appreciate your help very much. You in fact gave me too many good ideas. In the Netherlands, it's bedtime for me now. Therefore, I'll have to wait till tomorrow to respond to your ideas. Then I also will make up my mind what I'll choose. Probably a combination of multiple suggestions.
 
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