ABSTRACT

Anyone unfamiliar with the Thorpe-le-Soken Actes du consistoire is unlikely to have heard of Alexandre Sasserie. References to him in other sources are rare and fragmentary, yet taken with the Thorpe minutes they permit a more rounded study of his impact in the Refuge. A picture emerges of a well-connected man who enjoyed the trust of his London-based compatriots, as well as those who sought refuge within the Essex Huguenot community, where initially he played a pivotal role. He had achieved elevated standing by exploiting all the networks available to him at every stage on his path into exile and had himself become a hub of multiple interlocking networks, of kinship, regional origins, church affiliation and professional ties. At Loudun, sons of Protestant merchants were known to have favoured the legal profession, and about 1670 Alexandre migrated to Paris, ostensibly to follow this calling.