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==The Massacre==
[[File: Bart 2.jpg|thumbnail|200px|The assassination of Coligny]]
After the third war of religion, King Charles IX or his advisers in order to bring peace to France arranged for a marriage between, the Huguenot leader Henri of Navarre and Margaret of Valois, the sister of King Charles IX, in 1572.</ref> Smither, James."The St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre and Images of Kingship in France: 1572-1574." <i>The Sixteenth Century Journal</i> (1991): 27-29</ref>. They were married in Paris at the Cathedral of Notre Dame cathedral. A week of celebrations followed in the wake of the marriage and many Protestant nobles and leaders attended these sumptuous festivities. Catherine de Medici, wanted the support of the Huguenots as she became very suspicious of the Duke of Guise’ intentions. The monarchy, also hoped that this marriage alliance of Valois and Bourbon would help to heal sectarian hatred and end a decade of civil war.
Nevertheless, religious tensions remained high. The Catholic clergy had warned that the marriage would provoke the wrath of God on France. Many Catholics feared Huguenot influence at the court and that this would involve France in wars in the Netherlands and Spain. There was an attempt to assassinate the French Protestant leader, Coligny and this lead to an increase in tensions and many Huguenots blamed the Queen Mother, Catherine De Medici. This is highly unlikely. However, the Huguenots reaction drove the Royal family and the Guise family together out of fear of the Huguenots, they decided to launch a preemptive attack. The Royal Council ordered the militia to mobilize and to detain or kill the Protestant leadership. In the early, morning the Royal Guard killed Coligny and other Protestant leaders.<ref> Diefendorf, p. 75</ref>. Some more leaders, such as Henri of Navarre were detained.
The actions of the Royal Guard inspired Catholic mobs to form and they attacked and murdered any Protestant they could find. There had been no plan for a general massacre of Huguenots but events seemed to have spiraled out of control. Catholic mobs murdered Huguenots in many horrific ways and paraded the bodies through the streets.<ref> Smithers, p. 31</ref> The King ordered the violence to stop but the bloodshed continued for another week. The news of the massacre prompted Catholics in other cities and towns to murder Huguenots. The violence did not end until several weeks later. Many Huguenots only escaped because of the bravery of their Catholic neighbors. The exact number of Huguenots killed in the massacres that swept France in the Autumn of 1572 will never be known.<ref> Dienfendorf, p. 75</ref> There were exaggerated reports by both sides. Modern research has shown that up to 10,000 Huguenots were killed during the massacres and that 5,000 of these were killed in Paris. The news of the massacres shocked Protestant Europe, on the other hand across Catholic Europe there was widespread celebrations at the news. The Pope ordered the bells to be rung in Rome to commemorate the joyous news of the massacre of heretics in Paris and elsewhere in France.
== Failure of the Massacre==
