WALLOON CHURCHES

During the Revolt of the Netherlands against King Philip II of Spain, many Walloon (French-speaking) Calvinists from the southern parts of the Netherlands fled to the North. They constituted separate congregations affiliated with the Calvinist church in the later Republic of the Seven United Provinces. After the persecution of Protestants by King Louis XIV of France and the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, many French Huguenots settled in the Republic and joined the Walloon church. Since the 19th century, the small Walloon community has been part of the Dutch Reformed Church (Nederlands Hervormde Kerk), now Protestantse Kerk in Nederland.