St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre

The 24th of August in 1572, St. Bartholomew’s Day, was the beginning of a massacre that would eliminate a number protestants that no one knows. The St Bartholomew’s Massacre was not an intention of the Royal Court, it was an outcome of their choices. This Massacre will lead to a religious war and a rise in tension between the protestant and Catholics in France. The Bartholomew’s Day Massacre was a very interesting and complex event, the Massacre was an attempt to end religious turmoil but instead prolonged it.
In 1572, Charles IX was the king of France. Admiral Gaspard de Coligny was a close friend of the king and also a Huguenot leader. Catherine De Medici, the mother of the king, wanted the assassination of Coligny. She thought that he was going to impact her son and lead France into a war with Spain. The assassination of Coligny was attempted two days prior to the
The devastation of the Huguenots wasn’t achieved to Catherine’s disappointment. During the Massacre the Huguenots actually became stronger by working together to try and save some of their lives. Charles IX took responsibility for the Massacre stating it was defense against a plot opposing the throne. Protestant Europe was appalled by this event while Spain and Rome rejoiced. Hatred between Catholics and Huguenots only escalated. Accordingly, hostilities between the two groups only increased. Since many bodies were thrown into the Seine (a river in France), it made it very hard to distinguish how many people were actually killed in the Massacre. Sources vary from 2,000 to 100,000 people killed. Although, both the highest and the lowest may have been exaggerations, modern sources say that about 10,000 were killed and half were killed in Paris. The tensions between Huguenots and Catholics were so high that they were bound to have a fourth religious civil war after the St. Bartholomew’s