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Saint Bartholomew’s Day
Massacre The Massacre of Saint Bartholomew’s Day
happened on August 24, 1572 in France. It
was one of the most horrifying days in history.
The Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre was
a mass slaughter of Huguenots (French Protestants) that happened on Saint
Bartholomew’s Day, thus the reason for the name of the battle.
The queen mother, a woman named Catherine
de Médicis, was jealous of the growing power the Huguenot leader, Count Châtillon,
had on her son, King
Charles IX. Being jealous of him,
Catherine ordered Count Châtillon’s assassination.
The plan failed and a large number of
Huguenot leaders that were gathered in Paris for the wedding of Catherine’s
daughter to Henry Navarre (who was later King Henry IV of France) demanded an
investigation. Charles knew an investigation would have
implicated his mother, so he was persuaded by her to order the murder of the
Huguenot leaders. Since all the leaders were in town for the
wedding, it was the perfect time for the massacre.
The number that was killed cannot in any way be known with accuracy.
Estimates vary from 2000 to 100,000.
Count Châtillon was among the first to die. The massacre spread from Paris to the
surrounding regions and caused new religious wars. It
is interesting to note that some famous people in America’s history had
Huguenot ancestors ~ Presidents George Washington, John Adams, John Quincy
Adams, John Tyler, James Garfield and Theodore Roosevelt for example.
A
Huguenot refugee name Apollos de Revoire settled in the town of Boston.
He had a son named Paul Revere. Three members of the Continental Congress ~ Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and Elias Boudinot were Huguenots. Other important people including Francis Marrion, General George Patton, Clair Chennault, Admiral Dewey, Du Ponts, Henry Thoreau, and Henry Longfellow were Huguenots or had Huguenot ancestry. A Huguenot colony was founded in Florida in 1562. This was years before the English landed. It was later destroyed by Spanish raiders.
© 2003 by Terra A. Mandrell ~ Please do not reprint or duplicate without permission. |
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