St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre

Dates: 1572 AD

Consisted of angry mobs killing thousands of Huguenots over a period of several days.

St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre — Painting by François Dubois, a Huguenot painter born circa 1529 in Amiens, who settled in Switzerland. Although Dubois did not witness the massacre, he depicts Admiral Coligny's body hanging out of a window at the rear to the right. To the left rear, Catherine de' Medici is shown emerging from the Château du Louvre to inspect a heap of bodies.

In detail

During the French Reformation, there were intermittent wars between the Huguenots and the Catholics. During a relative time of peace, a great massacre began in Paris.

The killing started on August 23, 1572, (St. Bartholomew's Day) when many Huguenot leaders were killed in their beds or murdered as they tried to escape. The bloodthirsty mobs continued to move throughout Paris, killing anyone in their path over a three—day period. The violence eventually spread to other cities, and thousands more were slaughtered. About 20,000 people were killed during the massacre and, apparently, the River Rhone turned blood red with numerous corpses floating downstream.

Images

Related events

Daniel 11 - King of the North/South 539 BC – future