French Protestantism's Struggle for Survival and Legitimacy (1517-1905) - Hardcoverby Stephen M. Davis (Author) At the dawn of the Protestant Reformation, French Protestants began their struggle for religious equality and civil rights. They faced opposition from the monarchy and the Roman Catholic Church. For centuries the Catholic Church had influenced every aspect of life cultural, educational, social, political, and economic. Protestantism arrived as a foreign invader and disrupted the Catholic monopoly. Protestants did not