Isaac De Baye

9th Great Grandfather, before 1622

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I know very little about Isaac.   He was married to Reyne Legain and he lived in Esqueheries, Picardy, France.   Esqueheries is a village, 25 miles from Saint Quentin.  Above is his son's marriage record which states that his son, also called Isaac, was a 'Mulquinier' or weaver/trader of linens.    It is very probable that Isaac senior was also a Mulquinier. 

 

Isaac was part of a protestant minority, known as Huguenots, living within Catholic France.  There was much religious persecution of protestants, including the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in 1572 and a wave of Catholic mob violence, directed against the Huguenots (French Calvinist Protestants) during the French Wars of Religion.  Whilst we know little about Isaac's life, what we do know is that religious persecution was never far away.  To find out more about the Huguenots click here.

 

Some refugees had fled to Picardy in the late 1500s from the Spanish Netherlands.  Refugees included Armand Crommelin who brought the batiste and linen industry to the town, making Saint Quentin rich. There must have been friendship between the Debays and the Crommelins; Anne Crommelin was godparent to Isaac's grandchild.  

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Isaac and Reyne's son, also called Isaac was born in 1636.  To follow the story and find out about their son, Isaac click here.