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BIBLIOTHEQUE DU PROTESTANTISME FRANCAIS (PARIS)
The Library of French Protestantism in Paris
SOCIETE DE L'HISTOIRE DU PROTESTANTISME FRANCAIS
Home of the Society of the History of French Protestantism
54, rue des Saints-Peres
75007 Paris
Telephone: (33) 1.45.48.62.07
Fax: (33) 1.45.44.94.87
Hours: Monday through Friday: 2:00 P.M. to 6:00 P.M.
The Library is on Saints-Peres Street in between St. Germain Boulevard and Rue de Grenelle. This is near the churches of St-Germain and St-Sulpice. Metro (Subway) stops that are near are Sevres-Babylone (Line 8), St-Sulpice or St-Germain des Pres (both on Line 4), and Rue du Bac (Line 12). The Library sits kind of in the middle of all these subway stops.
If you aren't used to how some doorbells work in France, then here is a tip. As at the library, you often have to push a buzzer outside the door which then allows you to open the door. Enter the street door of 54 rue des Saints-Peres and walk to the back of that hall. At the top of a set of steps will be the door to the library. Push the bottom buzzer button and pull the door open. You are now in the library. To have full access to the books you'll need to pay a daily fee of 5 euros or a weekly rate of 13 euros. There are also annual rates (54 euros) and trimester rates (23 euros). They can also make copies there for you for a small fee.
They put out a periodical four times a year called the Bulletin de la Société de l'Histoire du Protestantisme Français. It was first published in 1852. Their email address is "shpf at libertysurf.fr". For one year (2002 info), the rate was 44 euros in France and 55 euros outside France. A single issue was 13 euros in France and 16 euros outside France. To subscribe, send your order to the address further above.
They now have a web site as well. The url for their web site is www.shpf.fr/.
There are two hotels that are very close to the library. One is right across the street, Hotel Pas de Calais. For one person it is about 114 euros or 140 euros for two.
Hotel Pas-de-Calais 59, rue des Saintes-Peres
75006 Paris
Email: infos at hotelpasdecalais.com
Phone: (33) 1.45.48.78.74
Fax: (33) 1.45.44.94.57.
The other hotel is also across the street, but it is about a hundred yards down the same street going south. It is called Hotel des Saints-Peres. The rate for one person is about 84 euros or 107 euros for two.
Hotel des Saints-Peres
65, rue des Saints-Peres
75006 Paris
Phone: (33) 1.45.44.50.00
Fax: (33) 1.45.44.90.83
Email: hotelsts.peres at wanadoo.fr
Internet:
http://www.esprit-de-france.com/
Both of these hotels are rated three stars and are a little pricey. The Latin Quarter is not far away. That section of town is a little east on down St-Germain Boulevard. There are many less expensive hotels in that area. One of those is named Hotel Saint-Andre-des-Arts. In 2002, some single rooms went for 52 euros. This included a breakfast of French bread and coffee. It is nothing fancy, but it's fine for a couple of nights. It is near the metro Odeon.
Hotel Saint-Andres-des-Arts 66, rue Saint-Andre-des-Arts
75006 Paris
Phone: (33) 1.43.26.96.16
Fax: (33) 1.43.29.73.34
Email: hsaintand at minitel.net
On January 9 and 10 of 2002, I did some research at the library. Due to limited time, I mainly looked at two publications. The first was the Church records of the Protestant Church in Guisnes. Guisnes is somewhat south of Calais, a city in the northeast part of France in the Department of Pas-de-Calais. Another town mentioned in connection to the Bodines is called Andre. It is just a little east of Guisnes. At the time of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, it was the religious center of Protestantism in northeast France. There was a temple there and Protestants came from towns nearby (and sometimes not so near) to be married, to be baptized, and to bury their dead. It was in Guisnes (or Guines) that the records of the Protestant church were kept. The records date from 1668 to 1685; although, the church probably existed there from at least 1612. Not long after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, the church was demolished and the Protestants were dispersed to the four winds.
The other books I looked at were the indexes to the library's periodical called Bulletin of the Society of the History of French Protestantism. This bulletin dates from 1852 and is still being published. I looked up the names Bodin, Boidin, and Baudin in the indexes and tried to find anything that might apply to the Bodines in America.
Abbreviations: bat. = baptized / N. = born / P. = Godfather / M. =
Godmother
I have not used the abbreviations for Godfather and Godmother below, but
they do appear in the records.
| Reference | Comments |
| Registers of the Church at Guisnes, 1668-1685. This is one of the publications of the Huguenot Society of London, v. III. Lymington: 1891. It was made and edited by William Minet and William Chapman Waller. Note: I made some photocopies of the preface and the map, along with the explanation of the map. Numbers in bold are the page numbers where the info can be found. | Page 66 (Mars, 1673) Jeanne LE MOINE, fille de Jacques et de Judith
de la haye, bat. le 19e. Godfather: Pierre bocquet. Godmother:
Jeanne bodin. N. a andre le 13e.
70 (Juin, 1673) Elizabeth Baudens - seems like nothing important. 93 (Novembre, 1674) Elizabeth DU FOUR, fille de Pierre et de Sara fayen, bat. le 11e. Godfather: Matthias bodin. Godmother: Elizabeth de le Croix. N. a la Commune de guisnes le 8e. 100 (Mars, 1675) Abraham WIBRA (HUIBRA), fils de Claude Wibra et d'Anne Loridan, bat. le 3e. Godfather: Abraham du Ponchel. Godmother: Jeanne Bodin. N. a Andre le 12e Fevrier. 107 (Aoust, 1675) Marie MATTON, fille d'Isaac et de Jeanne de Béevre, bat. le 11e. Godfather: Jean Bodin. Godmother: Marie D'hoy. N. a Andre le 31e Juillet. 132 (Janvier, 1677) Eve GUY, fille de Jean et de Marie Boussemart, bat. le 17e. Godfather: Pierre Morillion. Godmother: Jeanne Boidin. N. a Andre le 3e. 136 (Mars, 1677) Le 28e A Esté beny le mariage de Jean Hurel, Marchand, agé de 38 ans, fils de deff't Jean et de deff'te Elizabeth Boidin, nat. de Fleurbay au pays de Lalleu et demt á Guînes, assisté de Henry et Guillaume Hurel, ses freres; Et Elizabeth de le Becque, agée de 40 ans, veuve de feu Pierre de Lannoy demte aussi à Guînes, assitée de Pierre du gardin, et marie Ris sa femme, ses bon amis. 178 (Avril 1679) Pierre BOIDIN, jeune homme, du pays de Lalleu, agé de 24 ans, dec. a Guisnes le 4e. Witnesses: Jude Vianet et Jean Cazin. 185 (Octobre, 1679) Elizabeth Bauden - seems like nothing important. 196 (Avril, 1680) 197 (May, 1680) Jean GUY, fils de Jean et de Marie Boussemard, bat. ler. Godfather: Jean Boidin. Godmother: Suzanne de Ponchel. N. à Andre le 24e Avril. Led. enfant est decedé agé de 8 jours. 238 (Novembre, 1682) Marie and Phillipe Baudon - seems like nothing important. 268 (Novembre, 1684) Jean HUREL, fils de Henry et de Madeleine Hibon, bat. le 5e. Godfather: Matthias Boidin. Godmother: Marie de Lengaigne, femme de Guillaume Hurel. N. à Guînes le 29e 8bre. 272 (Mars, 1685) Marie Baudon - seems like nothing important. There are some other surnames that occur in these records that could be connected to the Bodines. I only say that based on surnames I've seen connected to the Bodines in America. These are the following: 1669 - Poulain, Billiau, De Fontenay 1670 - Bardin, De Bus, Poullain, Fontaine 1671 - Billau 1672 - Du Bois 1673 - Poullain, Du Bois 1674 - Poullain, Du Bois 1675 - Du Bois (Du Bo also), Bardin, Fontaine 1676 - Du Bois 1677 - Du Bois, Bardin 1678 - Du Bois, Fontaine 1679 - Billiau, Du Bois, De Fontenay, Poillon The most common surnames I found in the records are De la Croix, Jacob, Du Four, Du Mont, De Roy, Sy, Hennin, Six, and Le Cocq. There are many others, but these are the ones I noticed the most. Du Bois was also mentioned a lot (as you notice above). The name Bardin is pronounced "Bar-DAN". I added it above because of its similarity to the name Bodin. The woman who works at the library told me that, in France, the name 'Bardin' is a different surname from 'Bodin.' She said that the names are both very common. However, I noticed that they do sound somewhat similar. I don't know of any connection, but there is always a possibility. As far as the Bardin family is concerned, the information below is what the records show that I was able to look at. There are quite a few more references to the Bardin family in the records at Guisnes that I did not have time to look at, maybe ten more or so. 23 (Janvier, 1670) Pierre BARDIN, fils de Jean et d'anne de L'Ecluze, bat. le 29e. Godfather: pierre Pas. Godmother: anne Sauchell, femme de Simon aymery. N. le 21e dud. mois. 97 (Janvier, 1675) Suzanne BARDIN, fille de Jean et de Suzanne le Clercq, bat. le 13e. Godfather: Louis de le Becque, pere. Godmother: Anne de Groote, veuve de feu de Mesnil. N. a Calais le 21e Decre. 146 (Novembre, 1677) Jean BARDIN, fils de Jean et de Suzanne le Clercq, bat. le 3e. Godfather: Jacques le Clercq. Godmother: Suzanne de le Becque. N. aud. Calais le 31e 8bre. |
| Indexes for the Bulletin de la Société de L'Histoire du Protestantisme Français (1852-1902 A-G, 1902-1927 A-C, 1941-1965 A-Z, and 1990-1999 Provitionary Edition). I took a quick look at the index for the years 1928-1940, but I did not do it justice. There could be something there I missed. The names I looked up in the index were Bodin, Boidin, and Baudin. Later, in 2010, I looked up the towns of Lille, Armentieres, and Bethune. | -----1899 (v. 48) Fugitifs et Nouvezux Convertis Rochelais en
1690, pp. 454-464. Part III of this is titled "Noms des particuliers à
qui on a signifié l'ordonnance de monsieur l'Intendant pour rapporter
certificats de leur catholicité. One of those mentioned is an "Abraham
Bodin-Cramahé" (p. 464). It seems that Abraham Bodin was from Cramahe.
I'm not sure what else this record signifies.
-----1913 (v. 62) Le Protestantisme en Artois au XVIIe siècle, pp. 425-435. This means "Protestantism in Artois up through the 17th Century." I have photocopies of this article. Basically, it lists briefly some cases against Protestants in the area of Artois (northwest France), especially in the old area of l'Alleu. One case stands out. On February 23, 1699, two men, Jacques Antoine and Augustin Le Roy were arrested for preaching Protestantism. This happened in the town of Laventie (or La Ventye). Augustin Le Roy was the son of Antoine Le Roy and Catherine Ballin. Others were arrested with them who had been participating in the meetings. Two of those were Guillaume (William) Boidin and his wife Marie Leroy. It would appear that Marie Leroy was related to Augustin Le Roy. She may have been his sister. Guillaume Boidin and his wife were put in prison. The year 1699 would probably have been at least some fifteen or twenty years after the ancestors of the American Bodines had left France, but there could be some relation there. -----1914 (v. 63) Relevé des Noms des Prosélytes et Refugiés Figurant aux Registres du Consistoire de Genève à partir de 1660, pp. 538-560. On page 550 a "Pierre Bodin, de Moso (Mauzé, Deux-Sevres) pr. la Rochelle, tailleur. Abj. April 28, 1681." -----1916 (v. 65) Relevé des Noms des Prosélytes et Refugiés Figurant aux Registres du Consistoire de Genève à partir de 1660, pp. 313-324. On page 322 is a "Jacques Boudin, d'Issoire, en Auvergne (Puy-de-Dôme). Rep. Janvier 27, 1701." -----1929 (v. 78) La Réforme dans les environs de Lille, spécialement à Armentières, en 1566 - d'après un document inédit, pp. 42-60. This means "The Reformation in the Area of Lille, especially at Armentieres, in 1566 - before it was an unedited document." I made copies of this article. From previous research, it is known that there were several Bodine families in England and Leiden, Holland who had their origin in Armentieres in northern France. For instance, Isaac and Margaret Bodin were received as members in the Church of Leiden on April 3, 1586. An Abraham Bodin married a Maycken Laus, widow of Peter Lau on September 22, 1591 at the Peters Church in Leiden. And a Peter Bodeyn from Armentieres married a Mary Couseijn from Sautrey on June 25, 1594 in a church in Leiden. This shows that there is a connection between the Bodines and Armentieres. This article appears to mention an important Bodine as well. The name is mentioned twice. The first time it is Michel Bordin (p. 53) and the second time it is Michel Boidin (p. 56). Both of these could be a variant spelling of Bodin. He seems to be a member of the Protestants in Armentieres. However, nothing more is known of him. Armentieres was a hotbed of the Protestant Reformation in France. In the month of August 1566, there was an outbreak of hostility against the Protestants of the area. Many of the Protestants were forced to flee to England (especially Sandwich), Holland, and to other cities of France (especially Anvers) where they became fugitives. The article says that Protestantism never again reappears in the area of Armentieres. The area just to the south of Armentieres is also referred to as the old country of l'Alleu or Laleuwe (written "Lalleu" in other articles). It was not a name used any more at the time the article was written in the 1890's. I will put more on this article in another section in Research in France at a later time. -----1957-1958 (v. 103-104) Fermeture et Démolition des Temples de Saint-Christophe-Sur-Roc et de la Mothe-Saint-Heray (1681-1682). It says that "l'ancien Pierre Bodin" and others were infiltrated by spies and condemned by the authorities (or something like that) and the Temple de la Mothe was demolished. It is a short two page article, but it would be worth investigating this some more. From the sound of the article, I think Pierre Bodin was an official elder in the church. |
RESEARCH IN 2010
I checked the latest bulletins in the reference section at the library. These are called Societe de l'Histoire du Protestantisme francais: Cahiers du Centre de Genealogie Protestante (this is the same as the bulletin investigated above). I looked at 1977-2005; 2006, numbers 93-96; 2007, numbers 98-100 (97 was missing); 2008, 101-104; 2009, 105-108. I don't think the latest ones had a good index yet.
Dictionary of Protestant Families from Poitou
I looked at some large books in the reference section at the library. These are called Dictionnaire des families protestantes du Poitou. They were written by hand by a pastor named Jean Rivierre. Poitou was an area of France where many Protestants once lived. It was a hotbed of Huguenot activity. Poitou was a pretty large area made up of many towns in western France along the coast. It was located just north of La Rochelle. La Rochelle was just north of the Medis area of France where many American Bodines have their origin. There could be some connections between the the Bodins of Poitou and those of the Medis area. Here below is a description of what I found in some of those volumes.
Volume I (Aage-Brilland): Rivierre wrote this in 1957-1959. The Bodin information is on pages 294-299. I took some pictures of those pages which I am posting links for below. The even pages are the names in an index format. The notes for each of those names are then on the odd pages. For example, the notes for the names indexed on page 294 are on page 295; the notes for 296 are on 297; and the notes for 298 are on 299. You will have to figure out which notes go with which names. That will take a little bit of concentration.
Volume IX (Ephemeride 1723-1797 Index et cartes): Rivierre wrote this in 1971-1973. The maps are in this volume. These help explain where places are located that he mentions. Here are some links to those images.
Volume XIII (Personnalites Diverses): Rivierre wrote this in 1986-1987. It concerns various Protestants in Poitou and things that happened to them due to persecution or other reasons. There is something about Bodin families on pages 6016 and 6209. The paragraph on 6209 is a little more information on an Arnold Bodin and a Jacques Bodin and what happened to them. They are mentioned also on page 6016. A summary of the people mentioned in the book is on page 6299. See the links to the imagess below.
| Introduction | Bodin names (p6016) | Jacques Bodin (p6209) | Summar (p6299) |
Volume XV (Six cents procedures et arrets antiprotestants en Poitou 1678-1730): Rivierre wrote this in 1956. It concerns legal proceedings and arrests against Protestants in Poitou from 1678 to 1730. On pages 68-69 (case #228), there is a little more information on the Jacques Bodin mentioned above in v. XIII. See the links to the images below.
| Cover Page | Case #228 (p68) | Case #228 (p69) |
Manuscripts at the library
I also went through the catalog of the manuscripts at the library. The manuscripts are pretty rare and old documents stored in some secure area of the library. You have to check these out by call number and you can only look at them in the library. These are called Manuscrits de la bibliotheque de la Societe de l'histoire du Protestantisme francais a Paris (1930).
Manuscript #158 (call number 72402): This had something to do with La Rochelle, l'Aunis, and Saintonge. I can't find any notes I made on this document, but I think I did a quick check thorugh it. I can't remember for sure. It might pay to check this again. I mainly looked at the next manuscript (which might be related to this one).
Manuscript #284 (call number 72571): These are extracts from the civil registers for various towns where many Protestants used to live. The document is described like this: Extraites des registres d'etat civil du village de Douhet (1678-1716), des eglises reformees de Pons (1648-1710), Cozes (1675-1668), Saintes (1570-1684), La Rochelle (1564-1784), Saint-Savinien (1640-1671) et des paroisses catholiques de Saint-Medard du Laval et de Lezay (1630-1697). These are places which are close to Medis, France where many American Bodines have their origin.
My time was running out in Paris when I found this document; so I really did not do it justice. It would take more time to really look at this thoroughly.
I think there is a list of baptisms on pages 40-42 from the church in Saintes for 1570-1684. Somebody had underlined many of the surnames in this list. I don't know if there were any Bodins listed.
There is a fairly large list of baptisms, marriages, recantations, etc. from La Rochelle for 1564-1784. This starts on page 60. There are some Bodin names in this section, but I did not have time to really see how the document worked. I found a couple of Bodin names in records #36 and #40 on page 64 (see link to image below). The records did not seem to be organized well and it would have taken time to really try to figure out the system. I also found in some kind of index a baptism for a Marie Bodin in 1684, but that is all it said. The librarian and I, in the short time I had to ask her, could not figure out if there was more info on Marie Bodin located somewhere else in these records. I took some pictures of Bodin names I found and this index record for Marie. Below is the picture of the Marie Bodin index. As you can see, the record above hers is from Saintes which is very close to Medis. I don't know if that means Marie's record is also from Saintes, but it could be.
And here are some links to the images I have of these records. The title page of the index says something like "The names on pages 111-171 below are not reported in the following table." This may mean that the mention of Marie Bodin is not further explained in any other record, but I'm not sure since I didn't have time to check on this.
| Title Page (p60) | Some Bodin names (p64) | Title Page to Index | Marie Bodin b1684 |
Bodins from La Rochelle
The last image I'd like to post here is a family group sheet Jean Pintard wrote up back in 1978. I found this in the library. It has to do with a certain Bodin family in La Rochelle and some other Bodins that Pintard found in the records there. Click here to see this image.
Documents to check in the future
There is a book called Noms de Famille protestants de Normandie XVI - XVIII siecles. The author was Denis Vatinel. Contact him at denis.vatinel at aliceadsl.fr for more info on those families. The email address seems to be from 1990; so it may not work now. His address in 1990 was 17 rue d'Alsace-Lorraine, 17200 Royan. A Bodin was mentioned in reference 133 B.
A document to check is at the courthouse (hotel de ville) in Armentieres. Actually, I may have already seen some of this when I was there in Armentieres. It is the Registre criminel de la ville d'Armentieres (1561-1567). Plaids tenus par les lieutenants des baills et echevins d'Armentieres: nombreux noms de condamnes. The Protestants from that town might well be mentioned since they were considered criminals at that time.
Another document to check is at Les Archives Departementales du Nord. In the Registres paroissiaux (Parish registers) are some baptisms for Armentieres. There may be 1590 of them or else that is the year they begin. The Provincial Archives are at 22 rue Saint Bernard, 59045 Lille (tel: 20 93 87 17). The telephone must have changed by now since they have ten digits nowadays.
Another place to check on Bodins would be Les Archives departementales du Pas-de-Calais, 1 rue du 19-mars-1962, Dainville 62020 Arras (tel: 21 71 10 90 or 21 71 32 66).
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