Under the Edict of Nantes, issued by Henry IV in 1598, "more and more skilled artisans and members of the bourgeoise became Huguenots, who thus constituted one of the most industrious and economically advanced elements in French society." An upheaval of that unity came with the revocation of the Edict by King Louis XIII in 1621/22. By 1629 the Peace of Alais "stripped the Huguenots of all political power." See <a href=http://www.bartleby.com/65/hu/Huguenots.html>The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2001<a/> .
SOURCES: Family records. The information handed down by my family holds that our d`Estaing lineage (becoming Eastin) was of a family of French Huguenots who intermarried with Swiss, Irish, and English during their long exodus down the Rhine River, fleeing after the Edict of Nantes was revoked. Several other sources agree, but as yet, I have not found him listed on a ship manifest. His sons, however, are well documented.
<a href=http://www.huguenot.netnation.com/general/>The National Huguenot Society</a> .
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(Possibly Joaquim/Jean/John)
It is quite possible that this d'Estaing ancestor is related to Theodore Agrippa d'Aubigny and/or the d'Aubigny lines, given the other d'Estaing members connected to that line and the subsequent marriages of this d'Estaing's descendants (several spouses with d'Estaing ancestors) into the largely prominent political circles of what was then "America becoming". I have a hunch that this d'Estaing ancestor may be a son of Gaspard d'Estaing and Philibert de La Tour Saint-Vidal given time frame, geography, proximity, and the possibility that his son Philip was named after his mother. This would then make him an uncle to Admiral Charles Henri d'Estaing, who was also a French Huguenot; however, I have no documentation as yet to support this, and I am treating it only as a working theory. (vjp 4/2/2004)
Thomas Eastin