(probably from French: camise, a black blouse worn as a uniform)
A sect of French Protestant fanatics influenced by the literature and preaching of the French Calvinists, who originated after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685), and existed in the beginning of the 18th century. In defense of their civiland religious liberties they started an insurrection in the Cevennes, and much suffering and persecution followed. By 1729 no traces of the Camisards could be found in the French Court, and although they fled to England they were soon wiped out. A band of Catholics known as the Cadets of the Cross or White Camisards, organized to check the black Camisards, eventually fell into the same atrocities and were disowned by Montrevel.