What happened during the Massacre of St. Bartholomew’s Day in Paris?

The Massacre of St. Bartholomew’s Day was a brutal event during the French Wars of Religion in which thousands of Huguenots were murdered in Paris and across the French provinces beginning on August 24, 1572.1

Following a failed assassination attempt on the Huguenot leader Gaspard II de Coligny, Catherine de’ Medici feared Huguenot retaliation and plotted with Catholic nobles to eliminate their leadership, who were in Paris for the wedding of Margaret of France and Henry of Navarre. After securing the approval of King Charles IX, the massacre commenced at dawn when the bell of Saint-Germain-l’Auxerrois tolled.12

Coligny was among the first killed, and the violence quickly escalated as citizens pillaged homes and murdered Huguenots throughout the city. While estimates vary, modern historians suggest approximately 3,000 people were killed in Paris alone. This act of state-sanctioned violence was morally indefensible, as it targeted individuals based on religious identity and shattered the possibility of peaceful coexistence, ultimately fueling further civil conflict.12