The St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre resulted in a massive number of deaths including the assassination of Gaspard de Coligny. The St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre started with Catherine De Medici planning to assassinate Gaspard de Coligny because he was going to go to war with the her son, King Charles IX. So King Charles IX and his men went and killed Gaspard de Coligny during the nighttime, and the next day it was chaotic in France, turning into a civil war. The St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre in France during 1572 resulted in a massive number of deaths to the Huguenot population, a very religious group of French Protestants; this massacre led to larger civil war in France that would harm the country.
The Seven Years War was bred front the hatred
…show more content…
of Catherine de Medici for French Protestants. “The king of France, under the sway of his mother, Catherine de Medici, ordered the assassination of Huguenot Protestant Leaders in Paris” (History.com). Catherine and her son wanted to kill Gaspard de Coligny due to the fact that Coligny was going to go war with Spain against Charles IX, Catherine’s son. “Catherine de Medici and her son King Charles IX came up with a plan kill thousands of Protestants in Paris, and to attend the wedding between a Catholic princess and a Protestant nobleman” (Woroldfuturefund.org). The plan was to go on early in the morning when Gaspard de Coligny was asleep and assassinate him. Catherine de Medici hated Gaspard de Coligny since he was trying to get rid of their king Charles IX. Catherine de Medici's hatred was particularly focused on Gaspard de Coligny because she had thought that he was going to go to war with her son and Spain. Catherine Medici, or Charles IX's mother, wanted Gaspard de Coligny dead, because she felt that Gaspard and Spain would be going into war with her son, Charles IX. “Catherine was reported to have planned the attacks, but no proof was found that she had. Since Gaspard de Coligny had been shot there was a civil war in France, with her youngest son Charles in charge of it.” (notablebiographies.com). “She had felt seriously threatened that her son, King Charles IX was going to die when Gaspard de Coligny went to war with him. So instead she came up with a plan to kill Gaspard de Coligny” (christianhistoryinstitute.org). “Catherine was convinced that Gaspard had set up her son to be against her. So she came up with a plan to get rid of Gaspard, after believing that he was the one who killed her husband” (madmonarchs.guusbeltman.nl). “On August 22, Coligny was shot, but as he accidentally bent down, he was only wounded in the arm” (madmonarchs.guusbeltman.nl). So Gaspard de Coligny was not killed at the wedding, and they had to assassinate him. Catherine, and Charles both planned their attacks very well to attempt to kill Gaspard de Coligny. How was the attack planned, and what immediate effects did the attack have?
“On August 22 King Charles and his men attempted to kill Gaspard de Coligny, who was in Paris along with thousands of other Huguenots for the wedding. They only wounded him causing outrage in the Huguenots. Later on King Charles IX had ordered an assassination starting with Gaspard de Coligny” (christianhistoryinstitute.org). “The assassination had gotten out of hand, nearly 3,000 had died in Paris already, and many times that number throughout France. But rather than finishing off the Huguenot side, the massacre threw the country back into war again. It was a source of bitterness and religious division for centuries after” (christianhistoryinstitute.org). No one had believed that such a man could have been thrown out of window, shot, and stabbed to death, and then had his head sent back to the king. “Once Coligny had been shot all of his men had rushed to the building that he had been shot in, but he was not killed so Charles and his men ended up stabbing him to death” (historyextra.com). The wedding was a perfect opportunity for Charles and his men to go carry out with the plan, and kill Gaspard de Coligny, but Coligny had accidently bent over and got shot in the arm and lived. But France, and Charles men will end up getting to Gaspard de Coligny, and kill …show more content…
him. Once Gaspard de Coligny had died it went chaotic in France. “Gaspard de Coligny was shot but not killed, so Charles and his men decided to throw him out of his bedroom window just before dawn. Once the Huguenots found out about this there was massacre in the streets” (History.com). “The killing of Gaspard de Coligny released a lot of the Protestants, and the people of Paris to go and attack the king of France. 3,000 Huguenots were killed in Paris, and another 8,000 men died in other provincial cities” (ctlibrary.com). “Soon after the murder of Coligny, the tocsin of the church of St. Germain l'Auxerrois near the Louvre was sounded, allegedly giving the signal for the massacre to begin. Much of the Catholic populace began to hunt out and slaughter Protestants (men, women and children) in a wave of bloodshed and atrocities” (marlowe-society.org). “The Mayor complained to the King, who issued a royal command to stop the murder and pillaging. The massacre continued for three days and more in Paris, as well as spreading to a dozen other cities throughout the country. No accurate record exists of the full death toll, but estimates range from 2,000 to 3,000 in Paris and 10,000 to 20,000 nationwide” (marlowe-society.org). In this massacre a lot of people were killed, meaning that Gaspard de Coligny meant a lot to the people of Paris. This battle was a very hard battle going both ways, the Huguenots wouldn’t give up since their leader was killed, but Charles men wouldn’t give up since they were protecting their king. France won a very difficult battle, and well fought in their civil war.
“The night of the assassination, Charles men went into Coligny's bedroom, shot him, but he lived, then they threw him out of his bedroom window, and decided to cut his head off, and bring it back to the king. While a little later the streets filled with Huguenots and soldiers having their civil war” (ctlibrary.com). No one in Paris could have thought that Gaspard Coligny could have been killed and beheaded, and shot and thrown out of window considering how loyal he was to his country. “There were 3,00 killed in Paris, and roughly 70,000 of a total killed in France” (infoplease.com). “An estimated 3,000 French Protestants were killed in Paris, and as many as 70,000 in all of France. The massacre of Saint Bartholomew's Day marked the resumption of religious civil war in France” (history.com). “No accurate record exists of the full death toll, but estimates range from 2,000 to 3,000 in Paris and 10,000 to 20,000 nationwide. A payment is however recorded to workmen to bury 1,100 bodies washed up downstream from Paris on the banks of the Seine” (marlowe-society.org). The Bartholomew’s Day Massacre was a major turning point in history due to the fact that all of these people had died, and it was turned into a civil
war. The Results on the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre affected France majorly turning this event into a major turning point in history. “Gaspard De Coligny is probably one of the greatest men ever to come out of France, and he was the most loyal to his country” (rohan.sdsu.edu). “The massacre of Saint Bartholomew's Day marked the resumption of religious civil war in France” (history.com). “The massacre obviously had a huge impact on the Protestant cause. Navarre and Condé had survived, but they were imprisoned and forced to convert to Catholicism (Navarre would not escape until 1576)” (marlowe-society.org). “An estimated 3,000 French Protestants were killed in Paris, and as many as 70,000 in all of France” (history.com). “With many of their leaders eliminated and thousands of Protestant civilians murdered, many fearful Huguenots abjured their faith and converted to Catholicism. Others chose to emigrate, with England the most popular destination, although some headed to Zeeland and Geneva. Nevertheless, significant Huguenot communities survived in the south and west of the country, especially in their stronghold towns, such as La Rochelle and Montauban” (marlowe-society.org). The St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre in France during 1572 resulted in a massive number of deaths to the Huguenot population, a very religious group of French Protestants; this massacre led to larger civil war in France that would harm the country. It had all started with Catherine de Medici planning to assassinate Gaspard de Coligny due to the fact that he was going to go to war with her son, King Charles IX. His men went at night to go and assassinate Gaspard, then the next day turned into total chaos, it turned into a civil war in France.