Marteau:Théocratie du verbe incarné

Project Apocalypse: A History of the Théocratie du verbe incarné

Platform by Lionel Laborie and Olaf Simons

This platform is dedicated to the Théocratie du verbe incarné founded by Philippe de Gentil de Langallerie in Amsterdam on 8 October 1715. Langallerie's Theocracy was deeply influenced by the millenarian writings of Pierre Jurieu, Jacques Massard, Claude Brousson and the Camisard Prophets, who all regarded the persecution of French Protestants as a divine trial announcing great things to come, based on their interpretation of Biblical prophecies.

The Theocracy sought to raise a Huguenot army and fleet - financed and protected by the Ottoman Empire - against Rome. Its aim was to overthrow the Pope – the Antichrist – and ultimately precipitate Christ's Second Coming. Thanks to the financial support of Jewish merchants and Reformed dissidents, Langallerie progressively built his own network from 1711, which expanded over Germany, Poland, the Dutch Republic, Switzerland and Turkey,

More than just another Huguenot utopia, Langallerie, the Theocracy's General, formed a religious military order that branched out into an investment scheme: The Theocracy's Admiral "Comte de Linange" sold shares for a Madagascar trade company. A third man joined Theocracy as its Séneschal: Henri de Boisbellaud de Montacier de Lislemarais, an experienced military.

Langallerie and Linange were eventually arrested in Stade and Aurich in June 1716 on an Imperial warrant, thus axing one of the most ambitious, yet little known, millenarian enterprises of the early modern period.

Our platform compiles data from manuscript and printed primary sources in an attempt to reconstruct Langallerie's international, theocratic network, and reconnect hundreds of individuals across national, linguistic and religious boundaries.

Olaf Simons and Lionel Laborie
Vienna, September 2012