ABSTRACT
In 1665 a former Huguenot minister by the name of LaMothe published a report of his conversion to Catholicism. He dedicated the work to the king by declaring, 'Sire … after having thrown myself at the feet of altars, I now come to throw myself at the feet of your throne. After having paid homage to jesus Christ in [my] heart, … I now come to pay homage to Your Majesty … and to re-enter the church honoured by having you as its eldest son'.1 The declaration of political loyalty in an account of spiritual transformation seems strange when compared to classic Christian conversion narratives or to modern ones. But such statements were common in seventeenth-century accounts of conversions from the Reformed Church to the Catholic. The association La Mothe made between the monarchy and the church and between the king and Christ were an important part of a French model of Catholic conversion. And La Mothe signalled the depth of his sincerity by insisting that the homage he paid Christ, king and the Catholic Church came from his heart. In the language of conversion accounts, a conviction rooted in the heart indicated not just an emotional transformation but also a profound alteration of conscience, which resulted from a carefully reasoned belief that he had found the truth.
