USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Historical collections: containing I. The Reformation in France; the rise, progress and destruction of the Huguenot Church. Vol I > Part 5
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Everything that could be devised to keep up a friendly in- tercourse with the Huguenots was continued. Coligny, the chief victim to be disposed of, was constantly called in to coun- sel with the king in reference to important court matters, and Charles IX went so far as to engage the admiral to arrange plans for advancing an army to the aid of the people of the Netherlands, against whom Philip II was then at war.
Finally all arrangements were completed for celebrating the marriage of Henry, Prince of Navarre, with Margaret of Valois. Gregory XIII, who succeeded Pius V as the head of the Romish church, having granted the dispensation for this marriage, so long withheld by his predecessor, a day was fixed for the nuptials.
In order to be present at her son's marriage, Jane de Albret repaired to Paris, accompanied by the Princes of Navarre and Conde, June 5, 1572 ; but while she was engaged in prepara- tion for the approaching ceremony a malignant fever put an end to her life after five days' illness.
The Queen of Navarre's death, supposed by the Huguenots to have been caused designedly by parties in high position in the court, caused alarm, and many declined to repair to Paris. Coligny himself, dreading Catherine and the king's treachery, instead of repairing to court, retired to his castle of Chatillon. It required new artifices to allure him from his retreat. The hostilities against Philip II in the Netherlands were commenced, as had been talked of between him and the king, which was the strongest assurance of the friendship of Charles in his favor. The admiral finally yielded against his judgment, and arrived in Paris, accompanied by a great num. ber of the Huguenot nobility.
The marriage of Henry, Prince of Conde, with Mary of Cleves, sister to the duchess, the wife of Henry, Duke of Guise, having been solemnized, that of his cousin, the King of Navarre, was fixed for the following month, as the last and crowning act
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to aid in closing the contemplated tragedy. Every demonstra- tion of friendship of the most cordial character was given in favor of the Huguenot nobles and their celebrated leader.
The inhabitants of Rochelle, who had received so many acts of friendship and evidences of the firmness of Coligny in sup- port of the Calvinistic faith against the Papists, could not be convinced of the sincerity of Charles IX and his mother in their sudden change from bitter hostility to such acts of amity and affection, and repeatedly warned Coligny not to rely upon their pretensions.
The city of Rochelle was now the stronghold of the Hugue- nots ; here they received their military aid and supplies from abroad. The trade and commerce of this place was scarcely second to any other city in the kingdom.
It is a matter of little surprise that the inhabitants of Ro- chelle should have manifested at this time great concern for the welfare of the leaders of the party on whom their religion, safety, and prosperity so much depended.
Their admonitions, however, were not heeded, and Coligny, with other leaders of note who had become distinguished for their defense of the Reformed religion, fell a sacrifice to the duplicity of Catherine de Medici.
The crowning act which was to lead to this sacrifice of the Huguenot nobility was now to be consummated. The mar- riage of Henry of Navarre with Margaret of Valois was finally fixed for the 18th of August, and to be solemnized at the church of Notre Dame in Paris.
The bride, now in her twentieth year, possessed remarkable accomplishments, with great personal beauty. She appeared peculiarly fitted for this occasion. Her disposition and man- ners gained for her the friendship of the principal associates of the bridegroom and the Huguenot nobility, who had formed her acquaintance.
All things now gave place to this joyous occasion, which
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was held forth as the cementing act that was to allay past prejudices and unite in a lasting bond of peace the two great religious parties.
At this point, when everything seemed to give evidence of great friendliness among both parties, there was an attempt, by a concealed person, to assassinate the admiral in the street, as he was passing to his lodgings .* This unlooked-for act startled the Huguenots, and, for a time, was regarded as a secret plan countenanced by the court, which had the effect to nearly defeat the remaining part of the acts in this wicked programme. It required the most adroit management of Charles and his mother to prevent the Huguenot nobility from an immediate departure from the city. They both mani- fested the greatest sympathy for Coligny, and assured him that the guilty party should be speedily brought to the severest punishment.
The daily visits of the king upon Coligny to inquire for his health, and to counsel upon the military operations now con- stantly proposed to be carried on in the Netherlands against their great enemy, Philip II, of Spain, led the admiral to de- cide to remain ; yet a number of his friends who believed this act upon the life of Coligny, as well as the death of the Queen of Navarre, to be but a part of some treacherous scheme for their destruction, could not be prevailed upon to remain through the prolonged festivities, but immediately left the city for their homes.
Thus the time had arrived, and no further delay could serve their interest for more favorably executing their de- signs upon the confiding and defenseless Huguenot guests ; such being the case, it was decided that the slaughter should
* This assassin was a man named Maurevel, infamous for acts of this character before this time. He placed himself at a window on the opposite side of the street, and discharged his piece with two balls, which struck the admiral in both arms. The criminal escaped on horseback.
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commence, and accordingly, at two o'clock, on Sunday morn- ing, the 24th of August, on the eve of St. Bartholomew, in 1572, the signal was given by the bell of the church of St. Germain de l'Auxerrois.
The preparation and conduct of the massacre was committed to Henry III, Duke of Guise, as being animated with a pecu liar detestation of the admiral, whom he regarded as his father's assassin.
Although Charles had entered into the spirit of the plot through the influence of his mother, when the time arrived it was with difficulty that she wrought upon his mind to bring him to a decision for giving the signal ; and even when he heard the sound of the bell that was the watch-word for begin- ning the dreadful act, he was seized with new remorse, which was increased by the report of some pistol-shots in the street. Overcome with emotion, it is said he sent instantly to com- mand the leaders not to put the design into execution till fur- ther orders, but it was too late.
The work was already begun, and the messengers brought back word that the people had become furious, and could no longer be restrained from exercising their vengeance.
While this massacre was going on in Paris similar prepara- tions had been made throughout the kingdom in all the prin- cipal towns and cities, and everywhere the Huguenots fell victims to this inhuman and treacherous plot.
In Paris the venerable Coligny was the first sacrifice, when assassination followed, until, as history relates, 500 noble- men and 6,000 other Protestants were put to death in Paris alone.
The slaughter throughout the kingdom has been given by some historians at 30,000 ; while Sully says over 70,000 were put to death before this inhuman order was revoked.
In many instances the perpetrators of these fiendish acts
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were not satisfied with taking the life of the Huguenots, but inflicted upon their bodies barbarous acts of mutilation.
The body of Coligny, when mortally wounded, was thrown from the window of his bed-chamber into the street, where the Duke of Guise and his friends severed the head from the body, and after dragging his mutilated form through the street his head was carried to Catherine de Medici; after this the hands were cut off, leaving the disfigured remains upon a dunghill, which were finally placed upon a gibbet and roasted without being consumed.
In this condition, it is reported, the king and several of his court went to survey it ; and, as the corpse had become ex- ceedingly offensive, Charles, imitating the sentiment attributed to Vitellius, remarked, " The body of a dead enemy always smells well." The remains of Coligny were, after all these indignities, taken down privately from the gibbet on a very dark night by order of the Marechal de Montmorency, and in- terred, with the utmost privacy, in the chapel of the castle of Chantilli.
Henry, King of Navarre, and his cousin, the Prince of Conde, were exempted from this carnage, though not without a violent debate among the instigators of the scheme. Charles, having ordered them both into his presence, commanded them, with menaces, to abjure their religion on pain of instant death.
The King of Navarre obeyed, but the Prince of Conde, more firm, obstinately refused to renounce his religious princi- ples ; but, on the threats of Charles to take his life, he was terrified into submission, and wisely complied with the neces- sity of his situation.
There were a few other distinguished persons who escaped with their lives among the Protestants, through the special in- terposition of wives or friends, but otherwise the massacre was without distinction as to age or character.
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Charles at first shrank from the awful responsibility of sanctioning this wholesale assassination, and thought of throw- ing it upon the Duke of Guise ; but seeing this could not ex- culpate him as the chief of the government, but increase the odium of his character, he openly avowed himself as the prin- cipal perpetrator.
The king and court consoled themselves for the sacrifice of so large a number of the Huguenots with the idea that it was not possible for them, now destitute of their leaders, to rise again with any force against the government. But in this they had greatly misjudged the true character of their Prot- estant subjects. Instead of yielding to the wishes of the crown, they stood firmly on their defense, erected anew the standard of revolt, and, in many instances, were soon again victorious over the royal forces.
Rochelle, the stronghold of the Calvinists, shut its gates and prepared for the contest against any besieging force of their enemies. The city now became the principal theatre of civil war, which, after a long and bloody struggle by the royal forces, commanded by the Duke of Anjou, the king's brother, was abandoned, and a treaty of pacification again made with the Huguenots throughout the kingdom on the 26th of June, 1573.
This peace and abandonment of the siege of Rochelle was facilitated, no doubt, by the election of the Duke of Anjou as King of Poland, which was effected, through the influence of the French court, to please Charles IX, who had now become jealous of his brother's popularity, and desired to rid him- self of his presence, that he might rule with greater inde- pendence.
The king suffered greatly in his health at this time, which has been attributed to the remorse of conscience he suffered from permitting himself to be drawn into the tragic act of St. Bartholomew.
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The King of Navarre and Prince of Conde had been held as prisoners under the surveillance of the court since the mas- sacre ; but, in 1574, the latter made his escape to his Hugue- not friends, then already engaged in another civil war.
The distracted state of affairs of the kingdom increased the perplexities of Charles IX, and hastened on the disease which terminated his life and reign, May 30, 1574.
During the last two years of this eventful reign the king is reported to have suffered conscientiously in contemplating the baseness of the acts that effected this massacre, and it has been asserted as a belief that, had his life been continued, he would have excluded from his presence at court all who had urged their advice in favor of that desperate scheme.
The Prince of Conde, after his escape from the imprison- ment of the court, placed himself at the head of the opposition at Metz, Toul, and Verdun, on the frontiers of the kingdom, where he could with facility receive the German forces, which favored the cause of the Huguenots.
In addition to this movement on the German frontier, there was a serious division of sentiment among the principal members of the court. The Duke of Alencon was seeking to advance his interests to the detriment of the Duke of Anjou, then King of Poland, and rightful successor to the throne.
With these complications came the death of the Cardinal of Lorraine, a person who had exercised great influence in favor of the Romish church, and had opposed with unrelenting bit- terness the toleration of the Protestant religion.
Such was the state of the kingdom when the King of Poland was informed of the death of his brother, Charles IX, and that he was to ascend the throne of France as Henry III. For that purpose he quitted his palace in Poland in disguise, on the night of June 18, 1574, greatly to the dis- satisfaction of that people, as well as compromising his own declared purposes. After about three months' delay in mak-
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ing his journey, he arrived in France early in the month of September following.
Henry III was the favorite son of Catherine de Medici, and had participated in the councils for the Massacre of St. Bartholomew.
On his return, the Duke of Guise and his mother were his chief counselors, who urged again the persecution of the Huguenots. Little, however, was accomplished; the division of sentiment among the leaders in court offered but a weak support to plans adopted.
The kingdom was divided into factions ; at the head of one was the Duke of Alencon, the king's brother, while the Duke of Guise was aspiring to the throne.
For about two years after Henry III came to the throne the King of Navarre was continued a prisoner of the govern- ment, but was regarded by the king, his brother-in-law, with great confidence as a friend and adviser.
There was an honesty of purpose with the King of Navarre that found no parallel in the court of Henry III; this incurred the enmity of the Papists, and being constantly misrepresented, and his life placed in danger, he found it necessary for his safety and the protection of his principles to escape from the presence of the court, and to unite his efforts again with his Huguenot friends. This he effected in February, 1576, when he proceeded to Metz, and united with his cousin, the Prince of Conde, and his German allies.
This union, in the factious condition of the royal court, presented a formidable opposition of power, and in May fol- lowing opened the way for terms of peace favorable to the Protestants.
This treaty, called the " Edict of Pacification," gave great dissatisfaction to the Romish church. The king was denounced as a weak prince, incapable of sustaining the cause of that religious body. This unfriendliness for the king arose through
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the friends of the Duke of Guise in his aspirations for the throne. These friends united together in condemnation of this treaty, and formed what was known as the "Holy League," and demanded of the king a continued persecution of the heretics, in violation of the late edict of peace.
These infringements of the treaty opened again the civil war in March, 1577, which was carried on with great weakness and mismanagement on both sides, and terminated in a treaty at Bergerac, in September following. This edict included sixty four articles, drawn up with great care, and called the "Edict of Poictiers." It made the Romish religion predominant, al- though it granted the Huguenots the right of public worship.
The weakness of the king, and the intrigue of Catherine de Medici, soon destroyed all confidence in any protection from the treaty at Poictiers. The kingdom was now divided in its movements by three factions : the Duke of Guise, again supported by the Holy League; the King of Navarre, sup- ported by the Huguenots ; while the king's licentious conduct offered but a weak support to the throne.
The movements of these factions were called the " War of the Three Henries." Thus factious distraction continued with alternate peace and war, till the death of the Duke of Alencon in June, 1584, left the King of Navarre presumptive heir to the throne of France.
The bitterness of the Papists against the Huguenots was now greatly intensified with the prospect that the government of the kingdom would fall into the hands of the Protestants.
The League now regarded the Duke of Guise as their hope for the succession ; while Catherine de Medici sought to have the crown descend to the children of her daughter, the Duchess of Lorraine,* alleging the disqualification of the King of Navarre by reason of his religious faith.
* The Duchess of Lorraine was Claude, second daughter of Henry II and Catherine de Medici. It was her son, Marquis de Pont, that Catherine desired to place on the throne.
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Henry III was not long ignorant of these devices and spec- ulations, and the plotting of the League and the Duke of Guise for placing him in the line of succession ; nor was he ignorant of the labors of the Papists in his dominions against the legitimate succession in favor of the King of Navarre. He regarded the Duke of Guise now as the greatest obstacle in the way for restoring the peaceful rule of the kingdom in his behalf.
The position of the king at this time was such that he was under the necessity, for the preservation of his throne, and even his freedom, to enter into a treaty humiliating to himself, by granting increased power to the Duke of Guise and his favorites. This was called the "Edict of July," brought about by the exertions of Catherine de Medici on the 21st of that month, 1588.
This arrangement bore the character of pacification between the Duke and Cardinal of Guise, favored by the League and the king and his friends.
This apparent friendship was but a mockery ; it was evident that the strife still continued between the king and the party of the Guises. The Romish church still favored the Duke of Guise in opposition to the king. ridiculing his character and acts, and using their efforts to weaken his authority in the minds of his subjects.
This, under the semblance of friendship, was well known to the Guises, and was a part of their plan for supplanting the king for his lack of severity in pushing a war of extermination against the Huguenots.
Under these circumstances Henry III had but a choice of evils. To adopt the plan of the League and the Duke of Guise, he must place the power of the government in their hands, which was equivalent to an abdication of the throne. On the other hand, to retain his power as the supreme head of the kingdom, he saw no way but to remove the Duke of
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Guise ; and, for this purpose, he summoned a council of his friends to deliberate upon the best course to adopt.
The result was, that, inasmuch as the influence of the Guises with the League was so great, it was not possible to bring them to a legal trial for their treasonable acts, it was neces- sary to take extraordinary means to relieve the government from their power. It was decided to take the life of the Duke and Cardinal of Guise by assassination, which was effected on the 22d of December, 1588.
The act here perpetrated, horrible to contemplate, was but a natural exhibition of the education and training received in a court conducted under the influence of Catherine de Medici. The deceptive edict of 21st of July, 1588, termed the Edict of Union, but more properly the edict of death, was the last political act of that remarkable woman. She died, January 5, . 1589.
Bernard, the speaker of the State Assembly, remarking of the character of this period, said :
" Blasphemy is the ordinary conversation of many, and adultery is their recreation ; magic employs their minds, and occupies their curi- osity ; and simony is their common trade. Thus the splendor of justice is dimmed, good customs are perverted, virtue is banished, and vice placed in authority ; while rapine strides through the kingdom with an unfurled standard."
The effect of this barbarous act of assassination produced great excitement throughout the kingdom. Instead of de- stroying the League and subjecting the opposition to his rule, there was a general detestation of the act by all his Papist subjects, and an increased enmity on the part of the Papal See of Rome.
The quarrel between the League, which had been led on by the Guises and Henry III, was one between the friends of the Romish church, and, for a time, liberated the Huguenots par- tially from Papist persecution.
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Henry, Prince of Conde, had sickened and died, March 6, 1588, during the progress of this quarrel; while the King of Navarre had stood aloof and counseled, so far as his influ- ence could effect, for peace and submission to the rightful authority of the king; and, after the tragic death of the Guises, he published his determination to join the king, if called upon to stay the continued unlawful acts of the League.
The continued opposition of the League gave the peaceful counsels of the King of Navarre great weight in the mind of Henry III, and led him to seek terms of reconciliation with him and the Huguenots for his continuance upon the throne. The union of Henry III and Henry, King of Navarre, was consummated by a treaty effected by Duplessis Mornay, con- cluded, April 3, 1589, when, by an arrangement, the two kings, met and embraced, April 30, following. Thus, by this union, the military forces of Henry of Navarre were now united with the royal army of France in support of the supremacy of the crown against Papal faction, controlled by the League and Romish church.
The Pope, in exercising his influence against the king, ex- communicated him from the Papal church; the ecclesiastics redoubled their efforts to inflame the prejudices of the Papists. against the king; while the united forces of the crown and Prince of Navarre were now pressing forward to besiege Paris, and to take possession and expel the League, which had held possession since the famous Edict of Union, of July, 1588.
Henry III, the last of the House of Valois, while thus en- gaged in his attempts to possess himself of his capital and chief city, was assassinated by a young Dominican monk, named Jacques Clement, August 2, 1589. This reign was now closed, and his brother-in-law, the King of Navarre, was, by right of succession, entitled to the throne of France as Henry IV, and as first of the royal House of Bourbon.
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Now was commenced a furious war, conducted by the Holy League, in support of the Papal faith, against the succession to the crown by a Protestant prince. It raged with great vigor-supported on the part of the Papists by Philip II, of Spain, who furnished troops and money with the determina- tion of compelling Henry of Navarre to relinquish his right to the crown ; and on the side of the King of Navarre sub- stantial aid was received from several princes of Germany and the Netherlands, and also from Queen Elizabeth, who favored the Protestant cause.
It was not until the 17th of February, 1594, that Henry IV was able to solemnize the reception of the crown, which he did at the city of Chartres, amidst great rejoicing by large numbers, both Papists and Protestants.
This reception of the crown was witnessed by the Protest- ants not with unmixed joy. They were aware that this suc- cess was not wholly the result of the success of their faith, for the king of their choice had publicly renounced their religion, abjuring Protestantism the 25th of July, 1593, at St. Denis.
The hopes of the Protestants were, however, favorably ex- cited ; the King of Navarre having been educated in their ยท faith, and having joined with them in fighting for the cause of toleration, they could reasonably expect from him a protector, if not a defender of their religion; nor were they wholly disappointed.
The king yielded to what he deemed the exigency of the times, and became nominally, and, perhaps truly, a Papist. He was not opposed to persecution only, but he favored toleration. He regarded the welfare of his subjects too much to be controlled by the narrow ideas of a bigot.
Henry IV gave evidence of his wisdom and tolerant ideas by granting for the protection of the religious faith of his sub- jects, on the 13th of April, 1598, the celebrated " Edict of Nantes."
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This was a remarkable advancement of ideas for the age in which it was published. It contained higher principles of statesmanship than were to be found anywhere else at that day.
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