Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Protestant temple of Moncoutant finds its roots in the accession of local noble families to the Protestant Reformation from the Renaissance. The lords of Pugny and Vaudoré, as well as the Calvinist theologian Philippe Duplessis-Mornay, play a key role in establishing worship in the region. The Chapelle-Saint-Étienne, nicknamed the "little Geneva", became a Protestant home until the revocation of the edict of Nantes in 1685. Persecutions intensified under Louis XIV: Pastor Pierre Thalas was imprisoned, and 12 Moncoutant men were condemned to pains. Despite the underground, Protestants such as Élie Coyault (30 years in prison) and Jean Pérochon (punished in 1751) maintained their faith.

The French Revolution of 1789 restored freedom of worship, allowing the Protestants of Moncoutant to organize. A first temple was built in 1806 at the Courtolière, but ransacked in 1815 during the White Terror. In 1858, a Protestant cemetery was inaugurated, reflecting the religious segregation of the time. The community, initially served by a pastor shared with Saint-Maixent-l-École, obtained its own minister in 1839. The restored temple of the Courtolière was re-opened in 1868. The development of the village around the station (1868) also saw the construction of the castle of "Geneva", today a municipal library.

In 1884, traditionalist families built a second temple near the railway station, independent of the concordatory church, called "Free Church". Inaugurated in 1885, it symbolizes the division between liberal and evangelical Protestants, which emerged from the Synod of 1872. In 1901, a stand was added, and a YMCA foyer opened opposite. The two communities merged in 1938 within the Reformed Church of France, formalized at Moncoutant in 1954. The first temple was decommissioned in 1978. Today, the parish, led since 2020 by Pastor Elie Saurel Lafont, also serves the Vendee Bocage.

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