Like most of France the Region was involved in the Wars of Religion between Protestants and Catholics during the 16th and 17th Centuries. There were massacres of Protestants, notably at Catholic leaning Cahors (1562) and trouble at Périgueux (also Catholic) as well as Bergerac (Protestant). These events continued until 1598 when the Edict of Nantes, issued by King Henry IV who had previously converted to Catholicism, granted freedom of worship to the 'Huguenots' as the Protestants were known.

Despite the Edict, the bad feeling between the two religious sects rumbled on and in 1610 King Henry himself was assassinated by a Catholic fanatic. The situation did not improve during the reigns of Louis VIII and Louis XIV (the Sun King) and furthermore the Edict of Nantes was revoked by King Louis himself in 1685.

As a result the Huguenots had to flee France to avoid further persecution and many ended up in the UK, Germany, Switzerland and North America. Indeed a Huguenot diaspora was created and these refugees soon became valued members of their adoptive communities due in part to the skills they brought.

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