In the first article of the edict of Fontainebleau (1685), protestants were forbidden to leave France. However, in spite of this, many tried to escape in order to avoid religious persecution and never before had so many people emigrated from France : between two and three hundred thousand protestants left the country, that is to say about a quarter of the members of the reformed churches who were in France at that time. In fact, there had already been a first wave of emigrants due to religious persecution in the XVI^th century. They had left for the protestant countries in Europe (especially Geneva) during the religious wars, but it was the Saint Barthélémy massacre (1572) which made many protestants really decide to leave France. In the XVI^th century, the emigrants were not very great in number and tended to come from the higher social classes, but at the end of the XVII^th century there was another massive wave of emigrants, which lasted on into the early XVIII^th century. Other protestants left, too, due to the religious persecution in 1752, in the reign of Louis the XV^th.

According to the part of France from which they had originally come, most protestants tended to emigrate to different countries of refuge : for example, those from the North or the West of France would probably go to England or the United Provinces, while those from the Dauphiné, Provence or Languedoc would make their way to Switzerland and Geneva. Indeed, a great many left France via these two countries ; about 140 000 between 1680 and 1770. Some settled there, especially in the French speaking cantons, but most of them were helped to move on to the German states or the United Provinces, which had better structures for their integration ; some continued further north towards Scandinavia. In fact, initially, French Huguenots went to other European countries nearby but some of them, later on, went as far afield as America, the West Indies or South Africa.

France at that time had a thriving economy, successful industry and a flourishing cultural life. This led to the redevelopment of industry in the countries of Refuge, especially in Germany, which had been ruined by the Thirty Years War (1618-1648). Exiled craftsmen were also successful : they contributed to the development of new workshops and factories. In addition, they spread new techniques, particularly in the realm of textiles.

From the cultural point of view, French Huguenots provided a useful channel of communication between their country of origin and their new adopted country ; in fact, the intellectual elite who had chosen exile nevertheless sought to maintain contact with their native French culture. The French protestant diaspora led to cultural exchanges and influences all over Europe. Thanks to Huguenot exiles, French became the most spoken language in Europe : the literary and political periodicals to which so many of them contributed played a large part in the setting up of the "Republic of Letters". One could say that in the XVIII^th century, French Protestantism and the countries of Refuge depended on each other to their mutual advantage. In Holland, Germany and England, bookshops flourished, most probably due to the influence of Huguenot culture. But let us not forget that this cultural and intellectual activity of protestants living in different European countries was instigated by the continual wave of emigration which took place between the wars of religion and the Revocation. So thanks to the French Huguenots, cultured European society acquired a newcomer in their midst : the cosmopolitan scholar. However, it must be said that many of these enriching cultural exchanges were in fact, quite illegal : in XVIII^th century France pastors travelled in secret and protestant literature was circulated at the cost of people's lives. Soon all kinds of forbidden books were smuggled into the Midi for the protestants to read. There were annotated editions of the Old and New Testaments, sermons, catechisms and other works of reformed literature, in particular studies of history. These forbidden books were mostly published in Holland, Lausanne and Geneva.

Most refugees of the first generation still identified with France and did not question the system of government by the monarchy. They maintained the hope, over many years, of returning one day to their kingdom and on the whole they supported the idea of an idealised French monarchy. Little by little, the Huguenots were assimilated into their countries of adoption, although they always managed to maintain contact with protestants who had remained in France by writing letters and even sometimes paying them short visits.

La Beamelle writes(De l'Esprit, 1801, p ; 62-63) :

"The revocation of the Edict of Nantes scattered French people all over Europe and even in countries so far away that you would be surprised to find a Frenchman there. From the second generation onwards, they do not seem to be like real Frenchmen, but nor do the seem to be like the inhabitants of the countries in which they were born either. They are, apparently, a new race, made up of their former country of origin (from which their parents had fled) and also the positive influence of their new country of adoption."

At the time of the Revolution, the Royal Edict of the 15^th December 1790 allowed them the possibility of regaining French nationality and their former possessions. We do not know how many of them took advantage of this measure, but at any rate, compared to the exodus from France, there were not many of them. What is typical about the exodus to the countries of Refuge is that it was a massive movement of populations, whereas the return of Huguenots to their native country was typically just an affair of individuals.