Editing Camisards (section)

===Abraham Mazel===
Open hostilities began on 24 July 1702, with the assassination at [[le Pont-de-Montvert]] of a local embodiment of royal oppression, [[François Langlade]], the Abbé of Chaila. Langlade had recently arrested and tortured a group of seven Protestants accused of attempting to flee France.<ref name=".net">{{cite web|last1=Rolland|first1=Pierre|title=La Guerre des Camisards|url=http://www.camisards.net/guerrecami-fr.htm|website=Camisards.net|publisher=Association d'étude et de recherche sur les camisards|access-date=30 August 2016|location=48160 St-Martin-de-Boubaux|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161110141730/http://www.camisards.net/guerrecami-fr.htm|archive-date=2016-11-10|url-status=dead}}</ref> The band of Camisards were led by Abraham Mazel, who peacefully asked for the release of the prisoners, but when this was refused, they commenced the killing.<ref name=Ruff>Pierre-Jean Ruff, 2008. Le Temple du Rouve: lieu de mémoire des Camisards. Editions Lacour-Ollé, Nîmes.</ref> The abbé was quickly lionized in print by the Catholic State as a martyr of his faith.

The Camisards worked independently of each other and during the day most merged back into their village communities. They were predominantly agricultural workers or artisans and had no aristocratic leaders. They knew the paths and the sheep tracks intimately. They called themselves the Children of God – they were inspired by religion, not by patronage or politics.