The Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre occurred August 24, 1572, beginning in Paris, France, and spreading outward. It eventually led to popular violence that killed two to three thousand men, women, and children. During this time, religion was used as a guard and a safe house for people against vulnerabilities such as disease, famine, and early death. Moreover, it shaped the world they knew. It established social hierarchies, gave meaning and hope to the world, and established morals in everyday life. Therefore, when treaties like the Peace of Amboise began to limit Protestant faith, it created trouble between Huguenots and Catholics, causing a series of religious wars between the denominations. This all led to the Saint Bartholomew’s Day
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Besides the leaders of the Protestant and Catholic churches, King Charles IX of France was a major component to not only the Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, but its repercussions throughout France. His ruling was not separate from religion, but rather completely entangled. In fact, Charles IX’s fluctuations between support for the Huguenots and the extermination of Protestantism never solidified his role in the massacre, leaving people to debate his loyalty. One of the most controversial events of the Massacre was the inciting incident: the assassination of Admiral Coligny, a leader of the Protestant faith. At the wedding of Henry of Navarre and Marguerite of Valois, the Admiral needed a chance to talk to the king about Protestant books and petitions. Only five days after the wedding, upon the journey of returning home, the Admiral was shot in the arms in an assassination attempt. The king, his mother—Catherine de Medici—and the duke of Anjou visited the Admiral and offered him rooms in the palace, but he refused the offer. When the Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre occurred soon after, the king blamed the massacre on a rivalry between the Admiral and the Guises using the …show more content…
One young monk who was studying at a Jesuit college when the massacre took place wrote a letter to his abbot of Saint-Gall about the joys he should have, but only from the information he had been relayed. They should rejoice because Admiral Coligny was dead and he believed that because one leader was gone, it would “be easy to get rid of the rest of the wicked ones,” which were Huguenots. Even political sanctions, such as The Venetian Senate believed that it brought benefits to Christian society that people who did not have the same morals were murdered. Of course, this was only a select few, but showed the radical views of some Catholics. This massacre occurred because of conflicting morals and people believed it was better for Christianity that others were exterminated. In juxtaposition to the celebrations, various mediums were used to exhibit the horrors for Protestants, like paintings. François Dubois’s Painting of the Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre in Paris illustrates men, women, and children being murdered by many Catholics. There are dead infants, women being dragged around with no clothing, bodies filling the Seine River, and even the dumping of Admiral Coligny’s body out his window and into the streets after his assassination. It allows the onlooker to see the Protestant’s view of the massacre: gory, bloody, savage. There is not mercy for women or
Besides the leaders of the Protestant and Catholic churches, King Charles IX of France was a major component to not only the Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, but its repercussions throughout France. His ruling was not separate from religion, but rather completely entangled. In fact, Charles IX’s fluctuations between support for the Huguenots and the extermination of Protestantism never solidified his role in the massacre, leaving people to debate his loyalty. One of the most controversial events of the Massacre was the inciting incident: the assassination of Admiral Coligny, a leader of the Protestant faith. At the wedding of Henry of Navarre and Marguerite of Valois, the Admiral needed a chance to talk to the king about Protestant books and petitions. Only five days after the wedding, upon the journey of returning home, the Admiral was shot in the arms in an assassination attempt. The king, his mother—Catherine de Medici—and the duke of Anjou visited the Admiral and offered him rooms in the palace, but he refused the offer. When the Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre occurred soon after, the king blamed the massacre on a rivalry between the Admiral and the Guises using the …show more content…
One young monk who was studying at a Jesuit college when the massacre took place wrote a letter to his abbot of Saint-Gall about the joys he should have, but only from the information he had been relayed. They should rejoice because Admiral Coligny was dead and he believed that because one leader was gone, it would “be easy to get rid of the rest of the wicked ones,” which were Huguenots. Even political sanctions, such as The Venetian Senate believed that it brought benefits to Christian society that people who did not have the same morals were murdered. Of course, this was only a select few, but showed the radical views of some Catholics. This massacre occurred because of conflicting morals and people believed it was better for Christianity that others were exterminated. In juxtaposition to the celebrations, various mediums were used to exhibit the horrors for Protestants, like paintings. François Dubois’s Painting of the Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre in Paris illustrates men, women, and children being murdered by many Catholics. There are dead infants, women being dragged around with no clothing, bodies filling the Seine River, and even the dumping of Admiral Coligny’s body out his window and into the streets after his assassination. It allows the onlooker to see the Protestant’s view of the massacre: gory, bloody, savage. There is not mercy for women or