Expulsion of the Protestants
| Expulsion of the Protestants | |
|---|---|
| Part of Great Confessional War | |
| Location | Holy Levantine Empire |
| Date | 1575-1588 |
| Target | Levantine Protestants |
Attack type | Forced displacement, Dragonnades |
| Deaths | unknown |
| Victims | 493,000 |
| Perpetrators | Holy League |
The Expulsion of the Protestants, called The Exodus by the Protestants, was a tragic event in the history of the southern Levantia, marking the culmination of the Great Confessional War between the Protestant Union and the Holy League. The conflict, rooted in religious and political tensions, culminated in the signing of the unconditional surrender of the Protestant Union in the Treaty of TBD on August 10th, 1575. With the ratification of the treaty by the allied lords of the Holy League, a devastating clause was enacted, designating all Protestants as outlaws and stripping them of their rights to any form of property, be it land, titles, or other possessions. In the wake of this declaration, a series of draconian policies were implemented, the Dragonnades. These measures were designed to compel Protestant lords, nobles, merchants, and peasants to either embrace Catholicism or face expulsion from the lands they called home.
Over the course of Great Confessional War and the thirteen harrowing years of Dragonnades that followed, the once-flourishing Protestant community, which had boasted tens of millions of adherents as recently as 1551, was systematically decimated. Despite valiant efforts to resist conversion or forced migration, only a fraction of their number, a mere 530,000 individuals, managed to survive or evade coerced religious conversion by 1575, and 493,000 of those had been "transported" by the time the expulsion policy reached its conclusion in 1588.
Forced from their ancestral lands and stripped of their cultural and religious heritage, these 493,000 defiant souls were compelled to embark on a perilous journey through the coastal cities of the Kingdom of Dericania, there they were forced into indentured servitude to various trade companies who took advantage of their forced expulsion to become settler stock for colonial ventures overseas, called Pharisedoms, colonies made up entirely of expelled Protestants. It was under these conditions that they embarked on an unprecedented and arduous exodus that would ultimately lead them to new lands and opportunities far beyond the borders of their homelands.
The exiled Levantine Protestants, now transformed into a determined and resilient group of pioneers, settlers, and administrators, would go on to lay the foundations of the formidable Burgoignesc colonial empire. Their indomitable spirit, resourcefulness, and unwavering commitment to their beliefs would prove instrumental in the establishment and expansion of this vast dominion, leaving an indelible mark on the history and development of the region. Despite the tragic circumstances that precipitated their expulsion, their legacy would endure as a testament to the endurance of the human spirit in the face of profound adversity.