Note 109 — Emmanuel Altham to James Sherley

La Rochelle. This meant that the ship was owned and manned by French Protestants. La Rochelle was a Huguenot stronghold under the Edict of Nantes and became the center of resistance to royal attempts to revise the privileges of Protestants. English public opinion backed the Huguenots and tended to regard the people of La Rochelle as partners in an international religious struggle. When it came to national rights over trade, however, French Protestants were to be treated as foreigners, though with more consideration than Catholics.