The Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre on the night of August 23 to 24, 1572 , is a bloody episode of the religious wars between Catholics and Protestants in France. While the marriage of Henri de Navarre and Marguerite de Valois is supposed to appease the conflicts, the idea arises of killing the many Protestant gentlemen who came to Paris for the occasion. The massacre begins on the night of August 23 to 24 with the murder of Coligny, whose body is defenestrated. Then the bells of the capital call for carnage. The Parisians murder 3,000 to 4,000 Protestants. Only Henri de Navarre and the Prince of Condé escaped death by renouncing Protestantism. The massacre continued in the provinces until October and triggered the fourth religious war. Impossible to assess precisely, the number of victims is estimated at 13,000.
Origin of St. Bartholomew
After the short reign of François II, his brother Charles IX succeeded him in 1560, but he was only ten years old, and power was in fact exercised by his mother, Catherine de Medici. This period was marked by internal unrest, including the massacre of Protestants at Wassy, the Catholic victories of Rouen and Dreux (1562-1563) then Jarnac (where the leader of the Protestants, Condé, was killed). The Regent attempted a policy of conciliation and the peace treaty of Saint-Germain (1570) was supposed to bring peace between Catholics and Protestants.
Philip II's war against Spain and the eventual conquest of Flanders were to divert the French from the war civil. The first sign of this reconciliation was to be the marriage of Henri de Navarre. However, throughout the country, and especially in Paris, a powerful Catholic reaction was announced. Catherine de Medici realized the dangers of a war against Spain:she saw above all that by pursuing the policy of consideration with the Protestants, the Valois risked being overthrown by the Guises, supported by the majority of the public opinion.
The failed assassination against Coligny
The Protestant Gaspard de Coligny, Admiral of France, has been one of the main leaders of the armed struggle since 1562. At that time, his enemy François de Guise, dead in 1563. Henri, new Duke of Guise continued the fighting bitterly. From 1571, he moved to Paris and played a leading role in the Royal Council. On August 18, 1572, the union of Marguerite de Valois and Henri de Navarre was celebrated. The lavish parties are interrupted four days later, when Maurevert shoots the admiral.
Some historians attribute this attack to Catherine de Medici, who was worried about Coligny's influence on her son. However, other hypotheses seem possible because the admiral has many enemies. Henri de Guise holds him responsible for the death of his father. Philip II and the Duke of Alba fear that he will lend a hand to William of Orange to liberate the Netherlands. It may just be Maurevert's personal revenge. After the failure of the plot, a number of Huguenot nobles, who had come to Paris for the marriage of Marguerite de Valois, the king's sister, to Henri de Navarre (the future Henri IV), demanded an investigation.
Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre
The religious wars create a tense atmosphere in Paris, where preachers lecture the crowds and condemn the union of a Catholic princess with a Protestant. To make matters worse, thousands of Huguenots came to the capital for the wedding. Following the attack, they demand that justice be done. The decision to kill Coligny and the main Protestant leaders was taken on the night of August 23. Taken in troubled circumstances, it again divides historians who offer different leads. Catherine de Medici may fear being found guilty of the attack. The king can see in these murders the opportunity to strengthen his power, undermined by the influence of the Huguenot leaders on the subjects of the new religion. The ultra-Catholics in the Council may see it as a way to return to an intransigent position. Faced with this threat, the king had no other resource but to get ahead of the Guises and strike the Protestant party himself on the head:it was above all a question of not allowing a large Catholic party to organize itself against the royal power.
Charles IX therefore consented to the massacre. The Parisian populace, which was already in a state of extreme excitement, was alerted by the tocsin of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois. The massacre claimed more than three thousand victims (including Admiral de Coligny), and Protestants were killed even in the Louvre. Overwhelmed by the unleashed people, Charles IX succeeded in saving his brother-in-law, Henri de Navarre, and the prince of the blood Condé, who escaped this fate thanks to their forced conversion, and were detained at court until 1576. August 26, the king claims responsibility for the Saint Bartholomew's Day massacre before a bed of justice. The Protestant party was partly decapitated, but its toughest elements were able to take refuge in the West, near La Rochelle, and in the South.
The generalization of massacres and its consequences
In a few days, riots spread to many provincial towns (La Charité, Meaux, Bourges, Orléans, Angers, Lyon, Troyes, Rouen, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Albi, etc. .). There are about ten thousand dead. Many Protestants converted, so that their number halved by the 1580s. But the aristocrats opposed to the Catholic king still displayed their military might.
We oppose Charles IX, who is called a tyrant. Some authors even challenge royal power after Saint-Barthélemy, such as Théodore de Bèze. Charles IX is forced to make concessions. The Edict of Boulogne of July 11, 1573 grants freedom of conscience and worship. The killings cause outrage everywhere in Europe, with the exception of Italy and Spain.
Bibliography
- La Saint-Barthélemy:The Mysteries of a State Crime (August 24, 1572), by Arlette Jouanna. Folio, 2017.
- The Night of St. Bartholomew:A Lost Dream of the Renaissance, by Denis Crouzet. Fayard, 1994.
- History and Dictionary of the Wars of Religion, Gallimard, 1998.