The sixteenth century began in France as a time of peace, prosperity and full of optimism, but this soon changed to Civil War due to religious schism, with the Royal Family were very much involved.
According to Barbara B. Diendorf, a Professor of History at the University of California, theologians in France "condemned Martin Luther's ideas"[1] but noted that his views continued to spread throughout France during the first part of the Century. The movement supporting Luther's ideas remained quite small until the late 1550's when the ideas of Jean Calvin in Geneva, demanding the right to worship spread to France. Following the death of King Henry II, who reigned in France between 1547 and 1559, France was left in disarray and with a court …show more content…
This Massacre spread to most parts of France and eventually ended up with the killings of thousands of people. The number of victims of the Massacre differs but the modern estimation stands at between five and thirty thousand people. Mack P Holt, a Professor of History at Emory University claims that the estimates of the numbers killed in the Massacre have "varied from two thousand by a Roman Catholic Apologist to seventy thousand by the contemporary Huguenot, duc de Sully who himself barely escaped death."[3] This is one of many facts which both contemporaries and historians disagree on, and one must consider these numbers with one side looking to give a low figure to make the Massacre seem less cruel as it was, with the other side trying to make the Massacre seem even more cruel than it was by increasing the numbers of victims to a great extent.
Historians and contemporaries, from the sixteenth century to the present day, have debated many issues with regard to the St Bartholomew's Day Massacre, including the role of the Royal Family, the role of religious tensions, cultural references and whether or not the Massacre itself was
According to Barbara B. Diendorf, a Professor of History at the University of California, theologians in France "condemned Martin Luther's ideas"[1] but noted that his views continued to spread throughout France during the first part of the Century. The movement supporting Luther's ideas remained quite small until the late 1550's when the ideas of Jean Calvin in Geneva, demanding the right to worship spread to France. Following the death of King Henry II, who reigned in France between 1547 and 1559, France was left in disarray and with a court …show more content…
This Massacre spread to most parts of France and eventually ended up with the killings of thousands of people. The number of victims of the Massacre differs but the modern estimation stands at between five and thirty thousand people. Mack P Holt, a Professor of History at Emory University claims that the estimates of the numbers killed in the Massacre have "varied from two thousand by a Roman Catholic Apologist to seventy thousand by the contemporary Huguenot, duc de Sully who himself barely escaped death."[3] This is one of many facts which both contemporaries and historians disagree on, and one must consider these numbers with one side looking to give a low figure to make the Massacre seem less cruel as it was, with the other side trying to make the Massacre seem even more cruel than it was by increasing the numbers of victims to a great extent.
Historians and contemporaries, from the sixteenth century to the present day, have debated many issues with regard to the St Bartholomew's Day Massacre, including the role of the Royal Family, the role of religious tensions, cultural references and whether or not the Massacre itself was