ABSTRACT
Urban studies of the Reformation rarely consider the world beyond the town's walls. In the last 30 years the Reformation has been characterized overwhelmingly as an urban event. There are two problems with this assumption. First, urban societies were not hermetically sealed; they depended upon the world outside and to ignore these links is absurd.! Secondly, in the French context, it is less than clear that the Reformation was a wholly urban affair. The rugged and isolated Cevennes region of Languedoc, described by de Beze as 'a harsh and rugged land', provides a clear example of a largely successful rural Reformation.2 This chapter will deal with the way in which the Protestant church of Montauban viewed itself in relation to its neighbouring towns and villages. It will ponder the question of whether the town sensed any responsibility in evangelizing and supporting the scattered remnant of Calvinists beyond its walls.
