The Huguenots were a groups of French Protestants that lived from about 1560 to 1629. Protestantism was introduced into France between 1520 and 1523, and the principles were accepted by many members of the nobility, the intellectual classes, and the middle class. At first the new religious group was royally protected, but toward the end of the reign of King Francis I they were persecuted. Nevertheless, they continued to grow.