SAINT BARTHOLOMEW'S
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SAINT BARTHOLOMEW'S
when the principles of social morality and Christian
politics elaborated by the theology of the Middle
Ages, were replaced by the lay and half-pagan doc-
trine of MachiavelUanism, proclaiming the right of the
strongest or the most crafty.
The peace signed at Saint-Germain, August, 1570, between the Court and the Protestants seemed to re- estabUsh order. It was sanctioned by conferences held at La Rochelle in which on the one side a war was planned against Philip II, all the Calvinist nobil- ity being supposed to enlist; and on the other, the marriage of Henry of Bourbon (the future King Henry IV), a Calvinist and the son of Jeanne of Albret, with Margaret of Valois, sister of Charles IX. On 12 September, 1571, the Admiral de Coligny came to Blois, where Charles IX resided, to superintend and further this new policy, and it would seem that just at that time the king was sincere in seeking the support of Colignv and the Protestants against PhiUp II. And Catherine de' Medici was shrewdly endeavouring to court favour on all sides. Upon hearing of Spain's victory at Lepanto (7 October, 1571), she remonstrated with Charles IX for his lack of poUcy in severing relations with Philip II; and in June, 1572, she tried to arrange a marriage between her third son, the Duke of Alen^on, and the Protestant Elizabeth of England, and also made active prepara- tions for the marriage of Margaret of Valois wnth Henry of Bourbon, taking every means to have it solemnized in Paris. Meanwhile Coligny, with money which Charles IX had given him unknown to Cath- erine, sent 4000 men to the relief of Mons, who was at the time besieged by the Duke of Alba. They were beaten (11 July, 1572) and the Duke of Alba, having ascertained that Charles IX was instrumental in the attempt to defeat him, thenceforth entertained the most hostile feeling toward the French King. Charles IX, greatly irritated, made open preparations for war against Spain, relying on Coligny for assistance. Suddenlv, on 4 August, Catherine made her way to Charles IX, who was then hunting at Montripeau, and insisted that unless he would give up the conflict with Philip II she would withdraw to Florence, taking with her the Duke of Anjou. A conference was held and Cohgny, with the idea of sustaining his co- religionists in Flanders, demanded war with Spain, but the 'council unanimously refused it. Then with rash audacity Coligny declared to the king and to Catherine that if war were not waged against Spain, another war might be expected. From this Catherine deduced that the Protestant party, with the admiral for spokesman, threatened the King of France with a religious war which would be the fourth within ten years.
At the time of the marriage of Henry of Bourbon and Margaret of Valois (18 August), the situation was as follows: on the one side were the Guises with their troops, and on the other Coligny and his musketeers, while Charles IX, although recognizing both parties, leaned more towards Coligny, and Catherine favoured the Guises with a view to revenging herself on Coligny and recovering her influence over Charles IX. Just at this time Philip II was of the opinion that the King of France should strike a decisive blow against the Protestants, and we have proof of this in a letter written to Cardinal Como, Secretary of State to Gregory XIII, by the Archbishop of Rossano, nuncio in Spain. "The King (Philip II) bids me say", wrote the nuncio, "that if his Most Christian Majesty means to purge his kingdom of its enemies, the time; is now opportune, and that by coming to terms with him (Philip II) His Majesty c/juld destroy those who are left. Now, especially, aa the Admiral is at Paris where the people are attached to the Catholic religion and to their king, it would be easy for him (Charles IX) to do away with him (Coligny) forever." It is probable that Philip II sent similar suggestions to his
ministers at Paris, and that the latter conferred with
Catherine and the Duke of Anjou, even offering them
militarj' assistance for the struggle against the
Protestants. This intervention caused Catherine to
plan Coligny 's assassination, and at a meeting to
which she called Madame de Nemours, widow of the
great Duke of Guise, it was decided that Maurevel
should set a trap for the admiral. This was done,
with the result that on the morning of 22 August, a
musket-shot fired by Maurevel struck Coligny, al-
though wounding him but sUghtly. The Protestants
became excited and Charles IX grew angry, declaring
that the peace edict must be observed. He went to
visit the wounded Coligny and Catherine accom-
panied him, but at Coligny's request she had to with-
draw and, if we may credit the account given by the
Duke of Anjou (Henry III), the admiral, lowering
his voice, warned Charles IX against his mother's
influence. But just at that moment Charles had but
one idea, which was to find and punish Henry of
Guise, whom he suspected of being the instigator if
not the perpetrator of the attempt on Coligny's life.
It was because the attack made on Coligny, 22 August, had failed that Catherine conceived the idea of a general massacre. "If the Admiral had died from the shot," wrote Salviati, the nuncio, "no others would have been killed." Those historians who claim the massacre to have been premeditated explain that Catherine had the marriage of Margaret and Henry of Bourbon solemnized in Paris in order to bring the Protestant leaders there for the purpose of murdering them. However, this interpretation is based merely upon a very doubtful remark attributed to Cardinal Alessandrino and of which we shall speak later on, and it was certainly unhke Catherine, who was always more inclined to placate the various parties by dint of subtle manoeuvring them, after careful deliberation, to inaugurate a series of irreparable out- rages. As we shall see, the decision to have recourse to a massacre arose in Catherine's mind under pressure of a sort of madness; she saw in this decision a means of preserving her influence over the king and of pre- venting the vengeance of Protestants, who were exas- perated by the attack made on Coligny. "The Ad- miral's death was premeditated, that of the others was sudden," wrote Don Diego de Zuniga to Philip II, on 6 September, 1572. Herein lies the exact difi'er- ence: the attempt on Coligny's life was premeditated whereas the massacre was the outcome of a cruel impulse. On the night of 22 August Catherine de' Medici felt herself lessened in her son's consideration. She learned from one liouchavannes that the Hugue- nots had decided to meet at Meaux, 5 September, and avenge Coligny's attempted murder by marching on Paris; she knew that the Catholics were preparing to defend themselves, and she foresaw that between both parties the king would be alone and powerless. At supper she heard Pardaillan, a Huguenot, say that justice would be rendered even if the king would not render it, and Captain Piles, another Huguenot, was of the opinion that "even if the Admiral lost an arm there would be numberless others who would take BO many lives that the rivers of the kingdom would run with blood". The threats of the Huguenots and her son's consternation impelled Catherine to try to avert this civil war by organizing an immediate massacre of th(! Protestants.
But Charles IX had to be won over. In the account of the dreadful (events subsequently given by the Duke of Anjou, he alludes to a single conversation between Catherine and Charles IX on 23 August, but Tavannes and Margaret of Valois mention two, the second of which took place late at night. As to the decisive interview there is conflicting testimony. The Duke of Anjou claims that Charles IX, suddenly converted to the cause by Catherine's ardent im- portuning, cried out: "Good God! since you deem it
