Since the Edict of Nantes had been "rigorously enforced" on the order of King Louis XIV and because obstacles, harassment and bans grew daily for members of the Reformed Church, many of them decided to leave the country even though a royal edict (of 1669, renewed in 1682) forbade them to do so.

As it prohibited Protestant worship, the Edict of Fontainebleau or the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685) caused a massive exodus of Protestants despite the ban on "settling abroad", which was extended to the "new converts" by a declaration of 1686.

In the Edict of Fontainebleau, the pastors had special treatment. If they did not recant, they had two weeks notice to leave the country.

Of the 700 pastors in 1685, 560 went into exile and 140 recanted.

For all other subjects, the total ban on emigration brought with it the following punishments :

• the galley for men
• prison for women
• confiscation of possessions for everybody

The exodus peaked roughly between 1686 and 1689. It slowed down substantially during the War of the League of Augsburgh, (1688-1697) and resumed in even greater numbers after the Treaty of Ryswick.

Despite the increased border controls, the exodus was massive. Somewhere between 200 and 300 thousand left between 1685 and 1715.

To curb this exodus, the death penalty for pastors was instituted in 1687.

Emigration depended on geography. The Huguenots in the north and the west mostly went to England and the United Provinces. Those in Dauphiné, Languedoc and Cévennes generally went to Geneva. During 1687, as many as 350 people a day went to Geneva, a lot of whom went on to the Swiss cantons, the United Provinces or the Protestant States of Germany and particularly Branderburgh (Prussia), which was very welcoming.

Leaving required much preparation. To help the emigrees, there were smugglers or, at least "exit routes". The emigrants found hosts along the way, who could accommodate them secretly in the homes of fellow-believers, in special inns or in the Prussian and Dutch embassies.

In these embassies, they could also get help to transfer funds.

Those who left were craftsmen or worked in the manufacturing sector, (especially in the textile industry), the professional sector, the military or were teachers. There were also those who were excluded from public office.

The high material standard of living in France helped the industrial development of the countries welcoming the emigrants, among them Germany which had been ruined by the Thirty-Years War. As a result, the development of the French economy slowed in sectors such as wood working. Indeed, France had to resort to German cabinet-makers and craftsmen, such as Oesben or Riesener to name but two.