Massacre of Saint Bartholomew’s Day

Massacre of Saint Bartholomew’s Day, mass slaying of Huguenots (French Protestants) in Paris, on St. Bartholomew’s Day, August 24, 1572. In order to increase the royal power, the queen mother, Catherine de Médicis, attempted to play the French Roman Catholic faction, led by the house of Guise, against the Huguenot faction, led by the house of Condé. Jealous of the growing power of the Huguenot leader Count Châtillon, adviser to her son, King Charles IX, Catherine ordered Count Châtillon’s assassination.

The plot failed, however. At that time a number of Huguenot leaders had gathered in Paris for the wedding of Catherine’s daughter, Margaret of Valois, to Henry of Navarre, later King Henry IV of France, and they demanded an investigation. Because an investigation would have implicated his mother, Charles was persuaded by the queen to order the murder of the Huguenot leaders. The number killed cannot be determined with any accuracy; estimates vary from 2,000 to 100,000. Count Châtillon was among the first to fall. The massacre spread from Paris to the provinces, causing new religious wars.