Saumur honours William Penn

French Friends celebrate

William Penn was remembered in style in the French town of Saumur at the weekend.

The unveiling of a new plaque to Penn was one of many events marking a day of celebration that included talks and lectures. The town have also re-named the square, which is close to the Protestant church, after the founder of Pennsylvania.

William Penn studied at the Protestant academy, a Calvinist institution, in Saumur, in the late seventeenth century, and he, and his legacy, have been largely ignored in France since then. 

Jeanne-Henriette Louis, the distinguished French Quaker historian, who has been part of a small group responsible for the event, said: ‘We have worked for the event for many years. It is lovely to have a plaque, at last, celebrating the life and work of William Penn and acknowledging his connection with Saumur. The naming of a square after him is wonderful.’

‘It will bring attention,’ she said, ‘to William Penn and, I hope, to Quakers today. We have a very small but active Quaker community in France.’

The lectures and talks, which were given throughout the day, included contributions from leading American Quaker historians Stephen W. Angell, from the Earlham School of Religion, in Richmond, Indiana, and Jerry Frost, from Swarthmore College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Edouard Dommen, former visiting professor of Quaker Studies at the University of Sunderland, and Betty Hagglund, from Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre, also spoke and some texts by William Penn were read.

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