September 2003 "These arms are a combination of the arms of the Royal Family, Orange-Nassau, and the arrows and sword from the Dutch Republic in the 17th century. " (Click Image) Rather than fleeing from France as suggested by family memory, the family was already living in the Principality of Orange by 1688 - and had been doing so for almost a century. When matters of religious conflict in France/Orange came to a head at the end of the seventeenth century Protestant ancestor, Jean de Julien (John Jullion) settled in England ... away from the bloodbath that was happening in the southern regions of France and where a 'turncoat' relative had assumed a key role in the subjugation of the Huguenots. The clue to this conjecture may be found by considering the biography of Jacques (James) de Julien - a Page to the Protestant Prince William of Orange but, later, renouncing eveything to become (eventually) Marshall of the Army in the service of the Catholic King Louis XIV of France. Adapted from the work of Maguy Calvayrac Jacques de Julien was born in the Principality of Orange in 1660 and was of an aristocratic family of lawyers and politicians and, like them, he was a Protestant (Huguenot). His great grandfather was Sebastien de Julien who was one of the first and possibly the most courageous (Motto context? "Courage sans Peur") of Reformation pastors - serving from the early days of the establishment of Protestantism (Luther and Calvin) within the Principality of Orange. Sebastien de Julien's nobility
was confirmed by Letters Patent on 2nd October 1607.
"Active participants in the life of the city,
the de Juliens were attached to several delegations and
missions throughout the 17th century and they
participated in all of the historic events of the
Principality."
Viewing the 1994 film, "Queen Margot", will amply demonstrate the violent background to this bloody epoque. A word of warning however: though beautifully filmed and rich in all aspects of its presentation (several awards at Cannes) it is sexually explicit and is not for the squeamish. Produced by Claude Berri (Director of Jean de Florette and Manon of the Spring) and directed by Patrice Chereau, the film concerns the events behind the infamous St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre of 1572 and is based on Alexandre Dumas' written work, Marguerite de Valois. The slaughter of the Huguenots is the backdrop for an unlikely romance between the Queen of Navarre and a Huguenot supporter - La Mole. Margot is "the highly sexed, intelligent and dutiful sister of the doomed King Charles IX of France". She is forced into a marriage of political and religious convenience - to the "repulsive" Henri de Navarre - by her bitterly ambitious mother, Catherine de Medici. For the purist, it has to be said that - whilst the historical outline of the story rings true - there are many discrepancies and anachronisms - mainly because Dumas was himself writng in the 19th century. The original flight of the Huguenots to Amsterdam forms part of this story too but it was not until the later decades of the 17th century that the Jullion (de Julien) ancestors of this site fled to Holland.
Geographical Context "Orange, a county (made a principality of the Holy Roman Empire in 1181), was a relic of the old kingdom of Burgundy, and was originally dependent of the count of Provence or the count of Dauphine. By the 13th century, however, the counts of Orange were claiming sovereignty on their coinage: "princeps Aurasicensis" and "deo gratia princeps Auraice" (the phrase "by the grace of God" indicating that they did not hold their land from anyone)." writes François Velde in the French zone of "heraldica.org". Another source states: "Orange was an earldom probably founded by Charlemagne. It became the capital of a principality (12th cent.) and was passed from family to family and eventually (1554), through inheritance, to William the Silent, of the house of Nassau. Among William's descendants were William III of England and the ruling family of the Netherlands. Orange was conquered (1672) by Louis XIV and confirmed in French possession by the Treaty of Ryswick (1697) and the Peace of Utrecht (1713), although the title remained with the Dutch princes of Orange. Orange, town (1990 pop. 28,136), Vaucluse dept., SE France. " Adapted from the work of Maguy Calvayrac and other sources. Jacques de Julien was
the second son of Gédéon
de Julien whose ten
children were as follows:- Antoine de Julien (1655-1719),
Jacques de Julien, Jean
de Julien (d.1730), Good
de Julien, Isabeau de Julien, Hope de Julien, Olympe de
Julien, Rene-Samson de Julien, Laurent de Julien and
Gédéon de Julien. Apparently married to Gédéon de Julien in 1639 (LDS IGI), their mother was Françoise de Caritat de
Condorcet, daughter of the
ancient and respected family. However, Françoise refused to embrace the faith of the reformed
church and took refuge in Erlanger. She eventually
returned to Orange where she died on March 15th, 1703.
She was the daughter of Antoine de Caritat de
Condorcet and was thus the great great aunt of
the celebrated philosopher, Marie
Jean Antoine Nicolas Caritat, Marquis de Condorcet. Like so many of the sons of noble families, Jacques de Julien and Jean de Julien were placed in the Royal Household as pages - to Prince William of Orange. In 1688, William became King of England (William III) and entrusted Jacques de Julien with command of a regiment in support of the Duke of Savoy in alliance with the Vaudois (Protestant) cause. As a young Lieutenant-colonel, his bravery and decisive command were favourably noted but in 1690, after a dispute with his commanders - possibly over a promotion issue - Jacques de Julien changed sides, foreswore his Protestantism and enlisted in the army of the French King, Louis XIV. Now - in direct opposition to all that his forefathers had established - he served effectively as a Brigadier in the armies of Catinat against the Vaudois. In 1694, he successfully defended the fort of Barcelonnette. In 1697 he was in command of the troops which isolated the Principality of Orange itself - given back to William III after the Peace of Ryswyk and where Protestantism had been able to re-establish itself. At this point, Jacques de Julien was answerable to no one but Basville and to Challimart, the French Minister of War. He was therefore principally responsible for the arrest and execution of many Protestants at that time. In 1701, he was appointed to the army in Germany and took part in the battle of Flanders. On the 13th December, 1702, he received the honour of Knight of the Military Order of St. Louis and was promoted. On the death of King William III of England in that same year, the Principality of Orange became more secure in the hands of Louis XIV and Jacques' eldest brother, Antoine de Jullien - notary - was later appointed as the first 'consul' there. In January 1703, Jacques de Julien served in the high Cévennes under the command of Montrevel. Here, his cruelty towards the Protestant cause was fully demonstrated by the wasting of the Cévennes. To be fair, it is more likely that he took direct orders from Montrevel at this time but some 104 villages were destroyed including Camprieu and l'Espérou whose inhabitants were deported to Vébron. A stark account of his brutality records that on February 23rd 1704, one Jean-Pierre Dortial - an equally barbaric combatant in the Protestant cause - was taken by surprise by Jacques de Julien and his troops in Vivrais. One hundred and thirty five corpses were buried. Afterwards, he occupied the ruins of Franchassis and slaughtered the remaining inhabitants for having given shelter to Protestant factions the night before. A year later - on his own initiative - Jacques de Julien requested and received permission to use wholesale burning in order to speed up the subjugation process. His excesses began to worry his superiors and, after receiving complaints, Minister Chamillart seems to have attempted to call him to heel; but his opponents used guerrilla tactics to good effect. As a result, he maintained his policies of burning, of massive relocation of the local population and of the use of local informers in his attempt to put down the struggle of the Protestant "camisards" (black shirts) - believing that the only way to deal with them was to deal harshly with the whole area in which they operated. He was successful in what he set out to accomplish and, though he was still meeting resistance by cruel means, his superiors could not dispense with him, especially if they wanted to overcome the Protestant threat. For a more detailed account of this bloody conflict link to Massacres of the South, by Dumas, Père - in which, on a biographical note, it is stated: "M. de Julien, born a Protestant, was a member of the nobility of Orange, and in his youth had served against France and borne arms in England and Ireland when William of Orange succeeded James II as King of England. Julien was one of his pages, and received as a reward for his fidelity in the famous campaign of 1688 the command of a regiment which was sent to the aid of the Duke of Savoy, who had begged both England and Holland to help him. He bore himself so gallantly that it was in great part due to him that the French were forced to raise the siege of Cony. Whether it was that he expected too much from this success, or that the Duke of Savoy did not recognise his services at their worth, he withdrew to Geneva, where Louis XIV hearing of his discontent, caused overtures to be made to him with a view to drawing him into the French service. He was offered the same rank in the French army as he had held in the English, with a pension of 3000 livres. M. de Julien accepted, and feeling that his religious belief would be in the way of his advancement, when he changed his master he changed his Church. He was given the command of the valley of Barcelonnette, whence he made many excursions against the Barbets; then he was transferred to the command of the Avennes, of the principality of Orange ... " Jacques de Julien appears to have been constantly seeking promotion - possibly feeling the cut of an earlier refusal that caused him to change sides - and equally feeling that France owed him a debt for the sacrifice he had made in turning against William of Orange and his Protestant heritage. He found his reward in October, 1704, when he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General of the King's armies. As a man, it appears that he was something of a hypochondriac, demanding leave between campaigns in order to cope with stomach or chest complaints and it is reported that he would often drink ass's milk to ease these ailments. He spent the summer of 1704 at Vivarais (Saint-Agrève) where both the altitude and the climate suited him well. He like to stay with the local aristocracy and whilst at the château de Vogué, he arranged his Will (dated July 10th 1705) which was taken down by the notary - Rimbaud. In the coming years, he sought leave to retire and to spend the remainder of his days peacefully - which he did, back in the Principality of Orange where he died in 1711 at the age of 49. From "The Memoirs of Madame de Montespan" (Volume VI - Chapter XIX) "Another day, at the high table, the King, [Louis XIV] seeing four bowls of big oranges brought in, said aloud before the public: "Take away that fruit, which has nothing in its favour but its look. There is nothing more dangerous or unhealthy." On the morrow these words spread through the capital, and the courtiers dared eat oranges only privately and in secret. As for me, with my love for the scent of orange blossoms, the monarch's petulance once more affected me extremely. I was obliged for some time to give it up, like the others, and take to amber, the favourite scent of my master, which my nerves could not endure. Before surrendering the town of Orange to the commissioners of the kinglet of the Dutch, the King of France had the walls thrown down, all the fortifications razed, and the public buildings, certain convents, and the library of the town stripped of their works of art. These measures irritated Prince William, who, on that account alone, wished to recommence the war; but the Emperor and the allies heard his complaints with little attention. They even besought him to leave things as they were. M. d'Orange is a real firebrand; he could not endure the severities of the King without reprisals, and no sooner was he once more in possession of his little isolated sovereignty than he annoyed the Catholics in it, caused all possible alarms to the sisters of mercy and nuns, imposed enormous taxes on the monks, and drove out the Jesuits with unheard-of insults. The King received hospitably all these humiliated or persecuted folk; and as he was given to understand that the Orange Protestants were secretly sowing discontent amongst his Calvinists and French Lutherans, he prepared the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, the famous political measure the abrogation of which took place a short time afterwards. I saw, in the hands of the King, a
document of sixty pages, printed at Orange, after its
restitution, in which it was clearly specified that Hugh
Capet had set himself on the throne irregularly, and in
which the author went to the point of saying that the
Catholic religion was only an idolatry, and that the
peoples would only be happy and free after the general
introduction of the Reformation. The Maréchal de Vivonne
came and told me, in strict confidence, that the Jesuits,
out of resentment, had forged this document, and printed
the pamphlet themselves; but M. de Louvois, who, through
his father, the Chancellor, and his brother, the
Archbishop of Rheims, was associated with them,
maintained that the incendiary libel was really the work
of the Protestants."
Jean de Julien (or Jullien) is noted as being the Captain of a regiment of Marines and as inheriting everything from his brother Jacques - and presumably titles from the eldest brother, Antoine who died in 1719. The question remains, however, as to the allegiance of Jean de Julien. Did he follow his brother's lead and return to serve Louis XIV? Was his regiment a French regiment of Marines? When he died in 1730, the benefits of the inheritance were bequeathed to the Principality's Hospital - by which time, it is presumed, his son and his subsequent heirs - descended from John Jullion who was born in London in 1701 - were well settled in England - possibly retaining the family Protestantism whilst other family members had remained in a 'very' Catholic Orange. The English line of Jullion possibly changed the family name spelling from Julien in order to cover association with their over-zealous, anti-Protestant relative/s. Interestingly, Dumas - quoted above - has this to say about the lot of a Protestant at the time of such conflicts: "As a boy, a Huguenot could enter no public school; as a youth, no career was open to him; he could become neither mercer nor concierge, neither apothecary nor physician, neither lawyer nor consul. As a man, he had no sacred house, of prayer; no registrar would inscribe his marriage or the birth of his children; hourly his liberty and his conscience were ignored. If he ventured to worship God by the singing of psalms, he had to be silent as the Host was carried past outside. When a Catholic festival occurred, he was forced not only to swallow his rage but to let his house be hung with decorations in sign of joy; if he had inherited a fortune from his fathers, having neither social standing nor civil rights, it slipped gradually out of his hands, and went to support the schools and hospitals of his foes. Having reached the end of his life, his deathbed was made miserable; for dying in the faith of his fathers, he could not be laid to rest beside them, and like a pariah he would be carried to his grave at night, no more than ten of those near and dear to him being allowed to follow his coffin."
In England, Jean (de) Julien - son of Jean (of Orange) Julien - must have been known to be of aristocratic descent and known also to be decended from court stock to William III - which is possibly why a son Francis Jullion, (who married Mary Bere) was accorded the privilege of celebrating his marriage in the Royal Chapel in 1747. Additionally, good marriages within the early centuries of the Jullions being in England included alliances with Smith and Danvers families - both holding positions of rank within the English aristocracy and being associated with the government of their epoque. Thus, the written notes of the Jullion family in England, claiming descent from a Dukedom in France may well be true and this branch of the family may well be descended from the above line of de Julien of the Principality of Orange.
It is noted that LDS IGI offers a set of dates which are at variance with - or which omit - some of the main source dates of Maguy Calvayrac whose research and writings have been consulted to compile these biographical details. IGI sources rely on the reportage of interested individuals and, whilst mostly accurate, may not always be so. Maguy Calvayrac concludes the biography of Jacques de Julien with:- "Ces recherches biographiques nous ont permis d'établir des liens de parenté avec la famille DE JULIEN D'ESCAUPON alliée aux - de La Tour du Pin de la Charce - Gouvernet - puis aux Prunet - de Boisset - de Montmoirac. Cette famille possédait de nombreuses seigneuries dans l'Uzège dont Saint-Laurent la Vernède, La Bruguière, la Valus, Malérargues (Thoiras), Mons, Saint-Just, Vacquières, Monteils, Boisset, Gaujac, etc….."
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Often linked with Luther (they never met) John
Calvin was born about sixty miles north east of
Paris - at Noyon in Picardy - on July 10th, 1509. He was
the son of a lawyer. His birth name was, in fact, Jean
Chauvin but this became latinised and then
anglicised to the name by which he is now remembered - as
founder of the Calvinist doctrine which gave impetus to
the Protestant movement in France and which was the seed
for the religious conflicts of this early era. 
The actual words, in a
nineteenth century hand, are as follows:-
