Account for the significance of the St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre. Discuss with reference to the period.
Account for the significance of the St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre. Discuss with reference to the period.
The St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre was a very significant point during the French Wars of Religion. It had great impacts on the Huguenot movement and on Catholicism, destabilising both in a sense. It also had an impact on the government at the time, creating a divide between north and south as well as creating rivalry in the higher ups of society.
The Massacres of 1572 had, to some extent a devastating effect to the Huguenot movement. The most significant of these was the loss of leadership within the movement, especially the nobility. Nobles can give the movement political, militaristic and financial strength as well as providing it with a sense of structure. The most important of these nobles was Admiral Coligny. He was the leader of the movement, head of the Army and was very close to the King. With his death the Huguenots lost royal protection as the King would have been more sympathetic with Coligny. The loss of nobles also brought a loss in political influence. There were now less members of the Conseil d’en Haut, which made it easier to pass acts against the Protestants. This is a significant blow as before 1572 they had been given a number of concessions by Catherine de Medici. Another significant loss was in 1577 when Henri de Navarre was forced to stay at court and convert to Catholicism, which looked like he had betrayed the Huguenots.
As well as the loss of noble support the sheer loss in numbers was also a significant effect of the Massacres. In Paris alone 3000 Huguenots were killed along with 10000 killed in the provinces. Along with the loss of life many Huguenots covert back to Catholicism; 5000 in Paris and 3000 in Rouen. As well as this Janine Garrison states that, ‘flight seemed the only option, and once more they left their towns for less dangerous lands: England, Germany, the Netherland and above all Switzerland and Geneva’.1 All these
The St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre was a very significant point during the French Wars of Religion. It had great impacts on the Huguenot movement and on Catholicism, destabilising both in a sense. It also had an impact on the government at the time, creating a divide between north and south as well as creating rivalry in the higher ups of society.
The Massacres of 1572 had, to some extent a devastating effect to the Huguenot movement. The most significant of these was the loss of leadership within the movement, especially the nobility. Nobles can give the movement political, militaristic and financial strength as well as providing it with a sense of structure. The most important of these nobles was Admiral Coligny. He was the leader of the movement, head of the Army and was very close to the King. With his death the Huguenots lost royal protection as the King would have been more sympathetic with Coligny. The loss of nobles also brought a loss in political influence. There were now less members of the Conseil d’en Haut, which made it easier to pass acts against the Protestants. This is a significant blow as before 1572 they had been given a number of concessions by Catherine de Medici. Another significant loss was in 1577 when Henri de Navarre was forced to stay at court and convert to Catholicism, which looked like he had betrayed the Huguenots.
As well as the loss of noble support the sheer loss in numbers was also a significant effect of the Massacres. In Paris alone 3000 Huguenots were killed along with 10000 killed in the provinces. Along with the loss of life many Huguenots covert back to Catholicism; 5000 in Paris and 3000 in Rouen. As well as this Janine Garrison states that, ‘flight seemed the only option, and once more they left their towns for less dangerous lands: England, Germany, the Netherland and above all Switzerland and Geneva’.1 All these