The village of Ménerbes in the Vaucluse department paid a heavy price for the wars of religion that tore France apart in the second half of the 16th century. In 1573, the village was taken by surprise following the betrayal of a priest and occupied by the French Calvinist Protestants, known as the Huguenots. For five years, until 1578, it was besieged by the Catholic forces of the Pope and the King of France.