The St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre (Massacre de la Saint-Barthélemy in French) was a wave of Catholic mob violence against the Huguenots (French Protestants) starting on August 24, 1572, and lasting for several months. It marked a turning-point in the French Wars of Religion by stiffening Huguenot intransigence. Violence is a general term to describe actions, usually deliberate, that cause or intend to cause injury to people, animals, or non-living objects. ... In the 16th and 17th centuries, the name of Huguenots came to apply to members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France. ... Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ... August 24 is the 236th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (237th in leap years), with 129 days remaining. ... Events January 16 - The Duke of Norfolk is tried for treason for his part in the Ridolfi plot to restore Catholicism in England. ... The French Wars of Religion were a series of conflicts fought between the Catholic League and the Huguenots from the middle of the sixteenth century to the Edict of Nantes in 1598. ...

In 1572, four inter-related incidents occurred after the royal wedding of Marguerite of Valois to Henry of Navarre, an alliance that strengthened his claim to the throne of France. On 22 August, Catherine de' Medici's agent, a Catholic named Maurevert, attempted to assassinate Admiral Gaspard de Coligny, leader of the Huguenots in Paris, but succeeded only in wounding him and infuriating the Huguenot party. In the early hours of the morning of 24 August, St. Bartholomew's Day, several dozen Huguenot leaders were murdered in Paris, a series of coordinated assassinations that could only have been planned at the highest level. That was the signal for a widespread massacre. Beginning on 24 August, and lasting to 17 September, there was a wave of popular killings of Huguenots by the Paris mob, as if spontaneous. Admiral Coligny was among the slain, as was composer Claude Goudimel. Events January 16 - The Duke of Norfolk is tried for treason for his part in the Ridolfi plot to restore Catholicism in England. ... Marguerite de Valois (1553 - 1615), Queen Margot, Queen of France and Navarre. ... By Frans Pourbus the younger. ... August 22 is the 234th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (235th in leap years), with 131 days remaining. ... Catherine de Medici (April 13, 1519 – January 5, 1589), born in Italy as Caterina Maria Romola di Lorenzo de Medici, and later queen of France under the French name Catherine de Médicis, was the wife of King Henry II of France, of the Valois branch of the kings of France... Gaspard de Coligny (February 16, 1519 - August 24, 1572), Seigneur (Lord) de Châtillon, admiral of France and Protestant leader, came of a noble family of Burgundy. ... August 24 is the 236th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (237th in leap years), with 129 days remaining. ... Michelangelos The Last Judgement shows Saint Bartholomew holding the knife of his martyrdom and his flayed skin. ... The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... August 24 is the 236th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (237th in leap years), with 129 days remaining. ... September 17 is the 260th day of the year (261st in leap years). ... Claude Goudimel was a French composer and music theorist of the Renaissance. ...

From September to October, similar seemingly spontaneous massacres of Huguenots took place in other towns, such as Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lyon, Bourges, Rouen, and Orléans. Estimates of the number of those murdered range as high as 100,000. Historians generally agree on the figure of 70,000. Contemporary accounts report bodies in the rivers for months afterwards, so that no one would eat fish. Pope Gregory XIII's reaction was jubilant: all the bells of Rome pealed for a public day of thanksgiving, a special commemorative medal was struck, to honor the occasion, and Gregory commissioned Giorgio Vasari to paint a mural celebrating the Massacre. In Paris, the poet Jean-Antoine de Baïf, founder of the Academie de musique et de poésie, wrote a sonnet extravagantly praising the killings. It was not the first such pogrom of the Wars of Religion, nor would it be the last. The Capitole, the 18th century city hall of Toulouse and best known landmark in the city; in the foreground is the Place du Capitole, a hub of urban life at the very center of the city Toulouse (pronounced in standard French, in local Toulouse accent) ( Occitan: Tolosa, pronounced ) is a... City motto: Lilia sola regunt lunam undas castra leonem. ... City motto: Avant, avant, Lion le melhor. ... The vaulted nave of Bourges Cathedral Bourges (pop. ... Location within France Rouen (pronounced in French, sometimes also ) is the historical capital city of Normandy, in northern France, and presently the capital of the Upper Normandy région. ... This article is about Orléans, France; for other meanings see Orleans (disambiguation). ... Gregory XIII, né Ugo Buoncampagno (January 7, 1502 – April 10, 1585) was pope from 1572 to 1585. ... Giorgio Vasari (Arezzo, Tuscany July 3, 1511 - Florence, June 27, 1574) was an Italian painter and architect, mainly known for his famous biographies of Italian artists. ... Jean Antoine de Baïf (1532 - 1589), French poet and member of the Pléiade, was born at Venice. ... The Russian word pogrom (погром) refers to a massive violent attack on people with simultaneous destruction of their environment (homes, businesses, religious centers). ... The French Wars of Religion were a series of conflicts fought between the Catholic League and the Huguenots from the middle of the sixteenth century to the Edict of Nantes in 1598. ...

Background to the massacres

After the third war in 1570, there was a possibility of peace. The fanatic Catholic House of Guise had fallen from favor at the court and had been replaced by Catholic moderates who were more willing to find a solution to the crisis. The Huguenots were in a strong military position as a result of the Edict of Saint-Germain. They controlled the fortified towns of La Rochelle, La Charité, Cognac, and Montauban. Catherine de Medici had hoped that the marriage alliances of her children would support her move for peace, including the proposed marriage of her son the Duke of Anjou (Henry III) and Elizabeth I of England. By 1572, however, hopes of peace were collapsing. In 1571, the Catholic fleet assembled under Don John of Austria defeated the Turks at the Battle of Lepanto. This confirmed to the Huguenots that Catholicism could resurge across Western Europe, led by Philip II of Spain. In April 1572, 'Sea Beggars' took control of Brielle thus taking control of Holland. This meant that there was pressure within France to intervene on behalf of the rebels in the Netherlands to prevent a Spanish intervention in France. Admiral Gaspard de Coligny was the leader of the Huguenots and the main supporter of this intervention. There was then the possibility of another civil war or a major war against Spain, which was at that time western Europe's greatest Catholic power. By 1572 relations between the Huguenots and the Catholics had deteriorated and in Rouen on a Sunday in March 1571 forty Huguenots were killed because they refused to kneel in front of the host (the eucharist) during a Catholic procession. Events January 23 - The assassination of regent James Stewart, Earl of Moray throws Scotland into civil war February 25 - Pope Pius V excommunicates Queen Elizabeth I of England. ... The House of Guise was a French ducal family, primarily responsible for the French Wars of Religion. ... The Edict of Toleration, better known as the Edict of Saint-Germain from the chateau where it was promulgated, was issued by Catherine de Medici in January 1562. ... The entrance to the old La Rochelle harbour, with the two 14th century towers. ... This article is about the city in France. ... Montauban (Montalban in Occitan) is a town and commune of southwestern France, préfecture (capital) of the Tarn-et-Garonne département, 31 miles north of Toulouse. ... Henry III (French: Henri III; Polish: Henryk III Walezy; September 19, 1551 – August 2, 1589) was King of Poland (1573-1574) and subsequently King of France (1574-1589). ... Elizabeth I (7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603) was Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. ... Events January 16 - The Duke of Norfolk is tried for treason for his part in the Ridolfi plot to restore Catholicism in England. ... Events January 11 - Austrian nobility is granted Freedom of religion. ... Don John of Austria (February 24, 1547 - October 1, 1578), also known as Juan De Austria and Don Juan de Austria, was the illegitimate son of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and a military leader whose most famous victory was at the naval Battle of Lepanto in 1571. ... Battle of Lepanto Conflict Ottoman invasion of Europe Date 7 October 1571 Place Gulf of Corinth Result Holy League victory The Battle of Lepanto was a major battle fought off the west coast of what is now Greece on 7 October 1571. ... Philip II of Spain (Spanish: Felipe II) - (May 21, 1527 – September 13, 1598), the first King of Spain understood as the whole peninsula of Hispania (r. ... Brielle, also called Den Briel, (population: 15,948 in 2004) is a town in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. ... Holland is the common name in English referring to the Kingdom of the Netherlands (or exclusively its European part)--although this is incorrect from a Dutch perspective. ... Gaspard de Coligny (February 16, 1519 - August 24, 1572), Seigneur (Lord) de Châtillon, admiral of France and Protestant leader, came of a noble family of Burgundy. ... Location within France Rouen (pronounced in French, sometimes also ) is the historical capital city of Normandy, in northern France, and presently the capital of the Upper Normandy région. ... The Eucharist is either the Christian sacrament of consecrated bread and wine or the ritual surrounding it. ...

The Guise faction had fallen from favor at the French court, and Coligny was readmitted into the king's council in September 1571. The Guises hated Coligny for two reasons: he was the leader of the Huguenots, and they thought he was implicated in the assassination of Francis, Duke of Guise, in February 1563. Jack Ruby murdered the assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, in a very public manner. ... Francis, 2nd Duke of Guise (February 17, 1519 - February 24, 1563) was a French soldier and politician. ... Events February 1 - Sarsa Dengel succeeds his father Menas as Emperor of Ethiopia February 18 - The Duke of Guise is assassinated while besieging Orléans March - Peace of Amboise. ...

book cover of queen margot by dumas ISBN: 0-7868-8082-1 This image is a book cover. ...

The events in fiction

The story was fictionalized by Alexandre Dumas in La Reine Margot, an 1845 novel that is accurate as far as the historical facts go but fills in with romance and adventure between them. That novel was translated into English as Queen Margot and was made into a commercially successful film in 1994. Alexandre Dumas redirects here. ... 1845 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Categories: Literature stubs | Movie stubs | 1845 books | 1994 films | French novels ... 1994 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ...

The massacre was also portrayed in D.W. Griffith's epic silent film Intolerance (1916). David Lewelyn Wark Griffith (January 22, 1875 - July 23, 1948) was an American film director (commonly known as D. W. Griffith) probably best known for his film The Birth of a Nation. ... Intolerance is a silent film directed by D.W. Griffith in 1916. ... 1916 is a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar) Events January-February January 1 -The first successful blood transfusion using blood that had been stored and cooled. ...

A serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve, is set during the events leading up to the Paris massacre. Leonard Sachs appeared as Admiral Coligny and Joan Young played Catherine de' Medici. Sadly, this serial only survives in audio form. This is a list of Doctor Who television serials. ... A broadcast of the long-running and popular British science-fiction series Doctor Who. ... BBC Doctor Who website DMOZ Doctor Who page Doctor Who Cuttings Archive — hosts a large number of press cuttings from the 60s onwards. ... The Massacre of St Bartholomews Eve is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from February 5 to February 26, 1966. ...

External link

• Brief account (http://www.ronaldbrucemeyer.com/rants/0824almanac.htm) The papal medal and other illustrations.