World history in faces. St. Bartholomew's Night in France: date, where it occurred, causes and consequences
The Night of St. Bartholomew in France (August 24, 1572) became one of the bloodiest episodes in world history. This day marked a turning point in the religious wars that tore France from the 1560s to the 1590s. The impact of St. Bartholomew's Night on France was very profound, it changed the course of history and initiated a new chapter in the “Wars of Religion.” The famous night was preceded by a series of events that strengthened the Huguenots and weakened the French monarchy. The massacre intended to end the war instead prolonged it.
Background
Before the massacres of the mid-16th century, French society was actively divided between Catholics and Protestants. To understand what preceded the Night of St. Bartholomew, it is necessary to understand the full extent of intolerance and religious fanaticism that reigned in France at that time. After the early death of King Henry II, the country was greatly weakened. A period of crisis began, the king's heirs showed their deep incompetence and inability to govern the country. Francis II, Charles IX and Henri III were at the mercy of the ambitions of their mother Catherine de' Medici, or at the mercy of various noble groups. At the same time, the number of convinced Protestants in the country was increasing. Despite severe persecution by Church and state, Protestants prospered.
They chose John Calvin as their leader, and he instilled in them the idea of “chosenness.” They believed they could be saved in time doomsday, unlike their fellow Catholics. Soon the Huguenots founded their churches throughout France, but had special power in the south. Some time later, Huguenots and Catholics lived in separate, independent communities and were irreconcilably hostile towards each other.
Both the Protestant and Catholic communities were led by nobles. The Catholics were led by the Guise family, who considered the Huguenots to be heretics who must be destroyed. Violence has become a common occurrence in France, even more of a feature of the country’s life. The Giese family provoked the first War of Religion in 1562. They destroyed Protestants until 1564. Then there were three more similar wars: In 1566, 1567 and 1568. All of these wars were bloody and marked by acts of mass violence, extermination and anarchy. In addition, the wars did not lead to a solution to the conflict, but only contributed to even more fierce resistance of the Huguenots.
Lawlessness reigned in France, bandits walked the streets freely, the king was powerless to stop the riots and murders. By 1572, the Huguenots were able to strengthen their strength. Despite the fact that the war was officially over, in fact, French society simply came to a mode of existence where unrest and violence became the accepted norm. State power was too weak to stop this process.
Coligny's murder
After the third war, King Charles IX and his advisors negotiated a marriage between the Huguenot leader Henri of Navarre and Margaret of Valois to bring peace to France. Margaret was the king's sister. In 1572, the couple married in Notre Dame Cathedral. The wedding was celebrated for a week, and many notable Protestant leaders attended the celebration. wanted to support the Huguenots, since she was suspicious of the intentions of the Duke of Guise. Representatives state power It was also hoped that the marriage of Valois and Henri would help stop religious hostilities and end the ten-year civil war.
However, intolerance in society continued to be extremely high level. The Catholic clergy warned the royal court that the marriage would bring down the wrath of God on France. Many Catholics feared that the Huguenots would now be able to infiltrate the judiciary and that France would be drawn into the Dutch war with Spain.
Catherine de' Medici was concerned about Coligny's growing influence over the King of France. She decided to get rid of the admiral. On August 22, when Coligny was returning home, he was shot by an assassin. Coligny did not die, he was seriously wounded in the arm. However, the Huguenots reacted with lightning speed to the assassination attempt. Unrest began and the royal family, together with the Guise family, in fear of the Huguenots, decided to make a preemptive attack. By royal order, the police were mobilized to detain and kill the Protestant leadership. Early on the morning of the 23rd, Coligny was killed by the Royal Guard. Other Protestant leaders, along with Henri of Navarre, were detained.
St. Bartholomew's Night and its consequences
The actions of the Royal Guard inspired Catholics. They formed squads that patrolled the streets and attacked, killing every Protestant they encountered along the way. There was no plan, the Catholics simply committed lawlessness and massacre. Riots and violence are out of control. Huguenots were executed right in the streets, their mutilated bodies were displayed hanging on fences and poles. The king ordered the violence to stop, but the bloodshed continued for several more weeks. Many Huguenots fled; the exact number of those killed in the massacres in France from August to the late autumn of 1572 will never be known. Modern research provide approximate figures: 10,000 Huguenots, of whom 5,000 were killed directly in Paris.
The news of the massacres shocked Protestant Europe. On the other hand, in Catholic Europe the news from Paris was received with enthusiasm. The Pope ordered that in Rome the joyful events of St. Bartholomew's Night be celebrated with the festive ringing of bells. The French royal family was shocked by the events that took place. Despite the fact that it was thanks to their attempt on Coligny that the Huguenots started riots, massacres were not part of the royal plan. Guise proposed to the Medici a plan according to which the crown only needed to decapitate the Huguenot movement.
However, after the arrest of the leaders of the movement, everything went contrary to the script. The Catholics decided that now their hands were free, and they staged a bloodbath in Paris. Medici did not expect this. Since the authorities were not prepared for such a turn of events, it was not possible to eliminate the consequences of the conflict. No one had any idea how this could be done without making the situation even worse.
The French monarchy was greatly weakened after the events of St. Bartholomew's Night. Having exterminated the Huguenots, they became completely dependent on the harsh catholic church. The entire French Protestant leadership was either killed or arrested. The heaviest blow for the Huguenots was the death of Coligny. Prince Henri of Navarre was given a choice: death or Catholicism. Henri converted to the Catholic faith and it saved his life. However, later he again became a Protestant, but among his fellow believers he was always known as a schismatic and was not trusted. During that period, many Huguenots were forced to flee France, many abandoned their faith. The Protestants who remained in France were persecuted. They were forced to leave big cities and return to their fortresses in the south and west.
St. Bartholomew's Night did not end the war. Civil war on religious grounds dragged on in France even before 1598. By that time, the number of people killed on both sides was, according to some sources, about 3 million people.
Meaning of the name
In Paris, the capital of France, in 1572, the Protestants—the Huguenots, whose leader was Henry of Navarre, and the Catholics, led by the king—could not get along with each other. Usually the twenty-fourth of August is the feast of St. Bartholomew, and this year, 1572, it was no exception. The leader of the Protestants decided on the night of this day, in the midst of the holiday, to enter into a marriage alliance with Margarita of Valois. But, unfortunately, he did not know what this day in his life would become.
Charles the Ninth, together with his mother, who were true Catholics, decide this Sunday to get rid of the Huguenots, destroying them all. It is believed by historians that the main organizer and inspirer of the massacre was the king’s mother, Catherine Medich. Researchers of this terrible murder believe that she was easily influenced by advisers from Italy. And A. de Gondi and L. Gonzaga simply persuaded her to do this. They did not like the fact that the royal daughter married a Protestant, although he was the richest Huguenot in all of Paris.
Researchers claim that a warning was given to the Protestants and their leader Gaspard Coligny was attacked two days before the massacre. But on the night of the twenty-fourth of August, a huge number of people died. The numbers are usually given differently, but still about thirty thousand people. After this, murders began in France, and this wave was massive.
Unequal and unwanted marriage
The massacre of the Huguenots was the result of several events that had a huge impact on the ruling circles of that time in France. The main reasons include:
✔ On August 8, 1570, the Germain Peace Treaty was concluded.
✔ The third religious was completed french war.
✔ On August 18, 1572, the marriage of the Protestant leader Henry of Navarre and the royal daughter Margaret of Valois took place.
✔ On August 22, 1572, an attempt was made on the life of the Huguenot admiral Coligny.
At the beginning of August 1570, a peace treaty was concluded, which turned out to be illusory for France. Of course, he put an end almost immediately to three civil wars that went on endlessly, but still relations between Protestants and the majority of Catholics still remained strained. Not all Catholics were willing to accept this peace agreement, especially those who were aggressive. This applied to radical representatives of Catholicism.
At that time, the radical Catholics at the court of Charles the Ninth were represented by the Guise family, who soon sought to ensure that Coligny, the admiral, was not a member of the king's council. But the queen and her son tried to slightly reduce this fervor of the Catholics, who by this time were already committed to war with the Protestants. But besides good intentions, Charles the Ninth and his mother had others: they had financial difficulties, so they simply needed peace with the Huguenots.
They paid their aristocrats well, had a strong and well-armed army, and they also fortified several cities in France and now controlled them. These are Montauban, La Rochelle and Cognac. One of the subjects of conflict between these two French parties was the support of Spain and England. Realizing that some decisive action is necessary to try on these two hostile sides, the French queen agrees to marry the Protestant prince. This wedding took place on the eighteenth of August, the eve of the massacre.
The Protestant prince whom Margaret married was to become King Henry the Fourth in the near future, but for now he bore the name Henry of Navarre. But the Catholics and Philip II, who, as is known from history, ruled Spain at that time, did not at all share the policy pursued by Queen Catherine.
Historical course of events
The marriage, which was about to take place, became the reason for many Protestants to gather and flock to Paris. Famous Huguenots also came to take part in the marriage ceremony of their prince. But Paris greeted them unfriendly, since Parisian society was against Huguenot leaders coming to their city. And that anti-Huguenot sentiments were suppressed, but Catholics were outraged and indignant.
The Parisian parliament reacted disapprovingly of this event. But ordinary people, who were already on the verge of an uprising, because this year food prices had risen, there were bad harvests, and taxes had increased, now the Protestants did not gather at all. They saw how preparations were being made for this hated wedding, how luxurious it was supposed to be, and then it was, and hatred and anger grew in them.
The royal court was also divided in opinion. So, the Pope did not approve of this marriage, then Queen Catherine had to persuade Cardinal Bourbon to carry out the marriage process. The governor of the city, seeing the unrest growing, realizing that he is no longer able to hold back the onslaught of those who protested before the royal wedding, he leaves the city. Catherine herself ordered the slaughter of the Huguenots, since the attempt on the admirals did not end unsuccessfully. She saw that de Coligny had a strong influence on her son.
The admiral persuaded Charles the Ninth to support the uprising against Spanish king, which went to Flanders. He even sent an army there. Catherine wanted to restore peace with Spain. Here the views of Catholics and Protestants differed. Catherine correctly understood that her country was already weakened after many civil wars, so in a war with the Spanish state she would have received more defeats than successes. But Katerina didn’t think at all what would happen after her order to eliminate Coligny, such a massacre.
In addition to the hatred of the local population, the Coligny and Guise clans were at enmity with each other. Therefore, Catherine’s order to destroy the admiral and his entourage led to such a massive massacre. The killers easily identified the Huguenots in any crowd, as they were dressed in black robes. Crosses were painted in advance on the houses where Protestants lived or stayed. Therefore, the brutal people not only killed the Huthenots, but also set fire to their homes. And the people who killed several Huguenots then acted as if they had gone mad. They killed everyone: women, old people and even children. A terrible fact was that people were stripped of their clothes, trying to turn their clothes into prey. Soon it didn't matter who killed whom. And then the king ordered order to be restored on the streets of the city.
It is known that the signal for the start of this mass and terrible murder was the sound church bell. In Aubigne's memoirs it is said that the queen ordered the bell to be rung earlier in the court chapel:
“ordering to call an hour and a half earlier.”
But the violence that occurred in Paris then spread to other urban settlements, turning the entire country into one bloodbath. Horrible massacres lasted for several days, human blood was shed. Protestants, weakened without their leaders, cemented the view that Catholicism is a treacherous religion based on human blood and senseless sacrifice.
The meaning of St. Bartholomew's night
This unusual night of massacres was able to overshadow all other attempts to somehow deal with the Huguenots. Most of the Protestants fled to neighboring countries and states. According to contemporaries, there were more than two hundred thousand such fugitives. Many states expressed their dissatisfaction to France. The small German principalities, Poland and England were outraged by this outbreak of violence. Ivan the Terrible did not stand aside either.
From August to October of the same year, 1572, massacres continued. And such outbreaks broke out constantly somewhere in French cities. As a result, more than six thousand more people died. Prince Henry of Navarre was luckier; he was not killed, he was pardoned, but the main condition was the adoption of Catholicism. Among the victims of St. Bartholomew's night were many eminent Protestants. For example, Admiral Coligna of France, who, according to one version, was killed by a German mercenary. The admiral was killed by Bam at home along with his retinue.
Among the victims were Ramais, who was considered a humanist philosopher. Breu, a scientist who tried to intercede for the prince, was killed right in the chambers of his pupil. The victim was the famous composer K. Gudimel. But some eminent Protestants were still able to escape that night. First of all, this is Navarre, the Duchess of Chartres, the Abbe de Cleyrac, the nephew of the Marshal of France, Baron de Rosny, who later became Minister of Finance, the son of Admiral Coligny and others.
But, despite all this, the state only became stronger after this terrible and cruel night, and the uprisings and discontent soon ceased completely. The queen achieved her goal, albeit through bloodshed. The prince, who married Margarita, converted to Catholicism, and a single faith took over in this state.
Bartholomew's Night or "massacre in honor of St. Bartholomew" (Massacre de la Saint-Barthélemy) began in Paris on the night of August 24, 1572, on the eve of the feast of St. Bartholomew, and lasted three days. The killers did not even spare babies.
“Neither gender nor age evoked compassion. It really was a massacre. The streets were littered with corpses, naked and tortured, and the corpses floated along the river. The killers left the left sleeve of their shirt open. Their password was: “Praise the Lord and the King!”- a witness of the events recalled.
The massacre of Protestant Huguenots on St. Bartholomew's Night was organized by the will of Queen Catherine de Medici; her weak-willed son, King Charles IX, did not dare to disobey his imperious mother.
The sad angel of the Church of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois in Paris, from which at three o'clock in the morning sounded bell ringing- a signal for the beginning of massacres of the Huguenots.
Both Catholics and Huguenots died in the battles of St. Bartholomew's Night. City bandits took advantage of the general turmoil, robbing and killing Parisians with impunity, regardless of their religious views. It was up to the city guard to restore order in Paris, who “as always were the last to come running.”
On the eve of the bloody night, the leader of the Huguenots, Admiral de Coligny, was predicted that he would be hanged. The powerful leader of the Huguenots, whom half of France actually worshiped, laughed at the magician.
“It is said that Coligny received eight days ago, together with his son-in-law Teligny, the prediction of an astrologer, who said that he would be hanged, for which he was ridiculed, but the admiral said: “Look, there is a sign that the prediction is true; at least, I heard the day before that my effigy, such as I was, would be hanged within a few months.” So the astrologer spoke the truth, for his corpse, dragged through the streets and mocked to the end, was beheaded and hanged by the feet on the gallows of Montfaucon to become prey for crows.
Such a pitiful end befell the one who had recently been the ruler of half of France. They found a medal on it, on which were engraved the words: “Either complete victory, or lasting peace, or an honorable death.” “Not one of these wishes was destined to come true,” wrote the court doctor, who witnessed the bloody events.
It is believed that initially the queen wanted to get rid of only the leader of the Huguenots, Admiral Gaspard de Coligny and his associates, but the planned political murder spontaneously escalated into a massacre.
According to another version, the massacres were also planned. The Queen decided to put an end to Huguenot claims in France forever. St. Bartholomew's Night began 10 days after the wedding of Catherine's daughter Margot with Henry of Navarre, a Huguenot by religion. All the Huguenot nobility came to the celebration; no one imagined that they would soon face cruel reprisals.
On the eve of St. Bartholomew's Day. A young Catholic lady tries to tie a white bandage on her Huguenot lover, the identifying mark of Catholics. He hugs the lady and removes the blindfold.
On the eve of St. Bartholomew's Night on August 22, an assassination attempt occurred on Admiral Coligny. Catherine de Medici and Charles came to him on a courtesy visit. Coligny warned them that if the assassination attempt was repeated, he would strike back at the royal family.
According to letters from the Spanish ambassador:
“On the said day, August 22, the most Christian king and his mother visited the admiral, who told the king that even if he lost left hand, he will have his right hand for revenge, as well as 200 thousand people ready to come to his aid in order to repay the insult: to which the king replied that he himself, although a monarch, had never been able and would never be able to raise more than 50 thousand Human".
The Ambassador describes the course of events of St. Bartholomew's Night. At midnight on August 23, the king called his entourage and ordered Coligny to be killed, he ordered " cut off the head of the admiral and the people from his retinue.”
The Church of Saint-Germain-l’Auxerrois with the tower, from where, according to legend, the signal for the beginning of St. Bartholomew’s Night was given (without repairs in the frame there is no way)
At three o'clock in the morning on August 24, the signal to begin the “operation” sounded:
“On Sunday, St. Bartholomew’s Day, the alarm sounded at 3 o’clock in the morning; all the Parisians began to kill the Huguenots in the city, breaking down the doors of houses inhabited by them and plundering everything they found.
Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois was built in the 12th century on the site of an ancient temple, the favorite temple of Catherine de' Medici. Over the centuries the church has been rebuilt
“King Charles, who was very careful and always obeyed the Queen Mother, being a zealous Catholic, understood what was going on and immediately decided to join the Queen Mother, not to contradict her will and resort to the help of Catholics, fleeing the Huguenots...”- Queen Margot writes about the influence of her mother, Catherine de Medici, on her weak-willed brother, Charles.
King Charles IX
The main goal of St. Bartholomew's Night was the elimination of Coligny and his entourage. The king personally gave orders to his people.
According to the recollections of the royal physician:
“They held a council all night in the Louvre. The guards were doubled and, so as not to alert the admiral, no one was allowed to go out except those who presented the king’s special pass.
All the ladies gathered in the queen's bedchamber and, unaware of what was being prepared, were half dead with fear. Finally, when they began the execution, the queen informed them that the traitors had decided to kill her on the coming Tuesday, her, the king and the entire court, if you believe the letters she received. The ladies were speechless at this news. The king did not undress at night; but, laughing with all his might, he listened to the opinions of those who composed the council, that is, Giza, Nevers, Montpensier, Tavanna, Retz, Biraga and Morvilliers. When Morvillier, who had been awakened and appeared, all alarmed as to why the king had sent for him at such an hour, heard from the lips of His Majesty the subject of this night's conference, he felt such a fear seize his heart that before the king himself came to him turned, he slumped in his place, unable to utter even a word.
When he felt somewhat better, His Majesty asked him to express his opinion. “Sire,” he replied, “this matter is quite serious and important, and it can again initiate a civil war, more ruthless than ever.” Then, as the king questioned him, he pointed out to him the imminent danger and ended, after much hesitation and subterfuge, with the conclusion that if all that he had been told was true, the will of the king and queen must be carried out and the Huguenots put to death. And while he spoke, he could not hold back his sighs and tears.
The king sent without delay for the king of Navarre and the prince de Condé, and at this inopportune hour they appeared in the king's bedchamber, accompanied by people from their retinue.
When the latter, among whom were Monen and Pil, wanted to enter, guard soldiers blocked their way. Then the King of Navarre, turning to his people with a dejected face, said to them: “Farewell, my friends. God knows if I will see you again!
The church tower from which the signal was given for the start of the massacres
At the same moment, Guise left the palace and went to the captain of the city militia to give him the order to arm two thousand people and surround the Faubourg Saint-Germain, where more than fifteen hundred Huguenots lived, so that the massacre would begin simultaneously on both banks of the river.
Nevers, Montpensier and the other lords immediately armed themselves and, together with their men, partly on foot and partly on horseback, took up the various positions which had been assigned to them, ready to act together.
The king and his brothers did not leave the Louvre.
Caussin, the captain of the Gascons, the German Boehm, the former page of Mr. de Guise, Hautefort, the Italians Pierre Paul Tossigny and Petrucci with a large detachment came to the hotel of the admiral, whom they were ordered to kill. They broke down the door and climbed the stairs. At the top they came across a sort of makeshift barricade formed from hastily piled chests and benches. They entered and encountered eight or nine servants, whom they killed, and saw the admiral standing at the foot of his bed, dressed in a fur-lined dress.
Dawn began to break, and everything around was dimly visible. They asked him: “Are you the admiral?” He replied yes. Then they pounced on him and showered him with blows. Bem pulled out his sword and prepared to thrust it into his chest. But he: “Ah, young soldier,” he said, “have pity on my old age!” Vain words! With one blow Bem knocked him down; Two pistols were discharged into his face and he was left prostrate and lifeless. The entire hotel was looted.
Meanwhile, some of these people came out onto the balcony and said: “He’s dead!” Those below, Guise and others, did not want to believe. They demanded that he be thrown out of their window, which was done. The corpse was robbed and, when it was naked, torn to shreds...”
The ambitious admiral Gaspard de Coligny died on St. Bartholomew's Night
The Spanish ambassador describes Coligny's murder a little differently:
“The aforementioned Guise, d'Aumal and d'Angoulême attacked the admiral's house and entered it, putting to death eight of the Prince of Béarn's Swiss, who were guarding the house and trying to defend it. They went up to the master's chambers and, while he was lying on the bed, the Duke of Guise fired a pistol at his head; then they grabbed him and threw him naked out of the window into the courtyard of his hotel, where he received many more blows with swords and daggers. When they wanted to throw him out of the window, he said: “Oh, sir, have mercy on my old age!” But he wasn't given time to say more
...Other Catholic nobles and courtiers killed many Huguenot nobles...
...On the said Sunday and the following Monday, he saw the corpses of the admiral, La Rochefoucauld, Teligny, Briquemo, the Marquis de Rieux, Saint-Georges, Beauvoir, Peel and others being dragged through the streets; they were then thrown onto a cart, and it is not known whether the admiral was hanged, but the others were thrown into the river.”
Meanwhile, massacres continued in Paris; good Catholics did not spare those of other faiths.
“...Cries were heard: “Beat them, beat them!” There was a fair amount of noise, and the carnage kept growing...
... Nevers and Montpensier combed the city with detachments of infantry and horsemen, making sure that they attacked only the Huguenots. No one was spared. Their houses, numbering about four hundred, were robbed, not counting their rented rooms and hotels. Fifteen hundred persons were killed on one day and the same number on the next two days. All that could be found were people who fled and others who pursued them, shouting: “Beat them, beat them!” There were men and women who, when, with a knife put to their throat, they were demanded to renounce in order to save their lives, they persisted, thus losing their soul along with their life...
As soon as day arrived, the Duke of Anjou mounted his horse and rode through the city and its suburbs with eight hundred horse, a thousand foot, and four picked troops destined to storm the houses that offered resistance. No assault was required. Taken by surprise, the Huguenots thought only of escape.
Among the screams there was no laughter. The winners did not allow themselves, as usual, to vigorously express joy, the sight that appeared before their eyes was so heartbreaking and terrible...
The Louvre remained locked, everything was immersed in horror and silence. The king did not leave his bedchamber; he looked pleased, had fun and laughed. The yard had long been put in order, and calm had almost been restored. Today everyone is eager to take advantage of opportunities, seeking positions or favors. Until now, no one would have allowed the Marquis de Villars to take the position of admiral. The king is frightened, and it is unclear what he will command now..."
Next to the church tower and arch is the district mayor's office
Many foreigners religious denominations became victims of murderers. Guests of the French capital had to pay a lot of money for shelter in the homes of Parisians. Often the owners threatened to hand them over to the murderers as Huguenots if they did not pay.
An Austrian student described his view of the bloody events. Neither women nor children were spared. Compassionate townspeople who tried to save Huguenot children were also killed as traitors:
“Haitzkofler and many of his fellow students lived and ate with the priest Blandy, in a very good home. Blandy advised them not to look out of their windows for fear of the gangs that were roaming the streets. He himself positioned himself in front of front door in priest's vestments and a square hat; Moreover, he enjoyed the respect of his neighbors. Not an hour passed without a new crowd appearing and asking if the Huguenot birds were hiding in the house. Blandy replied that he did not give shelter to any birds except students, but only from Austria and Bavaria; Besides, doesn’t everyone around him know him? Is he capable of sheltering a bad Catholic under his roof? And so he sent everyone away. And in return, he took a good amount of crowns from his boarders, by right of redemption, constantly threatening that he would no longer protect anyone if the outrages did not end.
I had to scrape down the bottom, where there wasn’t much left, and pay for board three months in advance. Three of their dining companions, French Picardians, refused to pay (perhaps they did not have the required amount). So, they did not dare to stick their heads out, because they would have endangered their lives, and begged Gaitzkofler and his friends to supply them with traveling clothing, which they brought from Germany: with such a change of clothes, a change of housing would not pose such a danger. And so these good Picardians left the priest's house; their old comrades never knew where they had gone, but one poor man came to tell Gaitzkofler that they were in a fairly safe place, that they thanked them from the bottom of their hearts and would like to express their gratitude in person as soon as possible; finally, they ask permission to keep for now the clothes that were given to them.
The killings began to decline after the royal proclamation, although they did not stop completely. People were arrested at home and taken away; This was seen by Gaitzkofler and his comrades from a window in the roof of the house. The house stood at the crossroads of three streets, inhabited mainly by booksellers, who had burned books worth many thousands of crowns. The wife of one bookbinder, to whom her two children clung, prayed at home in French; a detachment appeared and wanted to arrest her; since she refused to leave her children, she was finally allowed to take their hands. Closer to the Seine they met other pogromists; they screamed that this woman was an arch-Huguenot, and soon they threw her into the water, followed by her children. Meanwhile, one man, moved by compassion, got into a boat and saved two young creatures, causing the extreme displeasure of one of his relatives and the closest heir, and was then killed, since he lived richly.
The Germans did not count more than 8-10 victims among their own, who, due to imprudence, ventured out into the suburbs too early. Two of them were about to cross the drawbridge at the front gate when a sentry accosted them and asked if they were good Catholics. “Yes, why not?” - one of them answered in confusion. The sentry replied: “Since you are a good Catholic (the second called himself a canon from Munster), read “Salve, Regina.” The unfortunate man could not cope, and the sentry pushed him into the ditch with his halberd; This is how those days ended in the Faubourg Saint-Germain. His companion was a native of the bishopric of Bamberg; he had a beautiful gold chain hanging around his neck, for he believed that important view will help him leave. The guards nevertheless attacked him, he defended himself with two servants, and all three died. Having learned that their victim had left the beautiful horses at the German Iron Cross Hotel, not far from the university, the killers hastened there to pick them up.”
Other cities were also hit by a wave of mass religious murders.
“In Rouen 10 or 12 hundred Huguenots were killed; Meaux and Orleans got rid of them completely. And when M. de Gomicourt was preparing to return, he asked the Queen Mother the answer to his commission: she answered him that she did not know any other answer than the one that Jesus Christ gave to the disciples, according to the Gospel of John, and said in Latin: “Ite et nuntiate quo vidistis et audivistis; coeci vedent, claudi ambulant, leprosi mundantur,” etc., and told him not to forget to tell the Duke of Alba: “Beatus, qui non fuerit in me scandalisatus,” and that she would always maintain good mutual relations with the Catholic sovereign.”
Memoirs of Queen Margot about St. Bartholomew's Night:
Queen Margot, episode of the film with Isabelle Adjani
“It was decided to carry out the massacre on the same night - on St. Bartholomew - at night. We immediately began to implement this plan. All the traps were set, the alarms rang, everyone ran to their quarters, in accordance with the order, to all the Huguenots and to the admiral. Monsieur de Guise sent the German nobleman Bem to the admiral's house, who, going up to his room, pierced him with a dagger and threw him through the window at the feet of his master, Monsieur de Guise.
They didn’t tell me anything about all this, but I saw everyone at work. The Huguenots were in despair at this act, and all the de Guises whispered, fearing that they would not want to take revenge on them properly. Both the Huguenots and the Catholics treated me with suspicion: the Huguenots because I was a Catholic, and the Catholics because I married the King of Navarre, who was a Huguenot.
They didn’t say anything to me until the evening, when in the Queen Mother’s bedroom, who was going to bed, I was sitting on a chest next to my sister, the Princess of Lorraine, who was very sad.
The Queen Mother, talking to someone, noticed me and told me to go to bed. I curtsied, and my sister took me by the hand, stopped me and burst into tears loudly, saying through tears: “For God’s sake, sister, don’t go there.” These words scared me very much. The Queen Mother, noticing this, called her sister and angrily forbade her to tell me anything. My sister objected to her that she did not understand why she would sacrifice me by sending me there. There is no doubt that if the Huguenots suspect something is wrong, they will want to take out all their anger on me. The Queen Mother replied that God willing, nothing bad would happen to me, but be that as it may, I needed to go to bed, otherwise they might suspect something was wrong, which would prevent the plan from being carried out.
Margot saves a Huguenot on St. Bartholomew's Night
I saw that they were arguing, but I didn’t hear about what. The Queen Mother once again sternly ordered me to go to bed. Shedding tears, my sister wished me good night, not daring to say anything more, and I left, numb with fear, with a doomed look, not imagining what I should be afraid of. Once at home, I turned to God in prayer, asking him to protect me, not knowing from whom or from what. Seeing this, my husband, who was already in bed, told me to go to bed, which I did. Around his bed stood from 30 to 40 Huguenots, whom I did not yet know, since only a few days had passed since our wedding. All night they did nothing but discuss what had happened with the admiral, deciding at dawn to turn to the king and demand punishment for Monsieur de Guise. Otherwise, they threatened to deal with him themselves. I couldn’t sleep, remembering my sister’s tears, overwhelmed by the fear they aroused in me, not knowing what I should be afraid of. So the night passed, and I didn’t sleep a wink. At dawn my husband said he wanted to go play rounders while waiting for King Charles to wake up. He decided to immediately ask him for punishment. He and all his associates left my room. I, seeing that the dawn was breaking, and considering that the danger that my sister spoke about had passed, told my nurse to close the door and let me sleep to my heart's content.
The clock on the fatal tower that gave the signal
An hour later, while I was still sleeping, someone, knocking on the door with their feet and hands, shouted: “Navarre! Navarrese!" The nurse, thinking it was my husband, quickly ran to the door and opened it. On the threshold stood a nobleman named de Leran, wounded in the elbow with a sword and in the arm with a halberd. He was pursued by four shooters, who ran into my room with him. In an effort to defend himself, he threw himself on my bed and grabbed me. I tried to break free, but he held me tightly. I did not know this man at all and did not understand his intentions - whether he wanted to harm me or whether the arrows were against him and against me. Both of us were very scared. Finally, thank God, Monsieur de Nancy, the captain of the guard, arrived to us, who, seeing the state I was in and feeling compassion for me, could not help but laugh. He became very angry with the shooters for their tactlessness, ordered them to leave my room and freed me from the hands of this unfortunate man, who was still holding me. I ordered him to be put in my room, bandaged and treated until he felt well.
While I was changing my shirt, as I was covered in blood, Monsieur de Nancy told me what had happened, assuring me that my husband was in King Charles's room and that he was all right. They threw a dark coat over me and the captain took me to the room of my sister Madame de Lorraine, where I entered more dead from fear than alive.
Other clocks - astrological
Here, through the hallway, all the doors of which were open, a nobleman named Burse ran in, fleeing from the shooters who were pursuing him. Three steps from me they stabbed him with a halberd. I lost consciousness and fell into the arms of Monsieur de Nancy. When I woke up, I entered the small room where my sister was sleeping. At this time, Monsieur de Miossant, the first nobleman from my husband’s entourage, and Armagnac, my husband’s first servant, came to me and began to beg me to save their lives. I hurried to King Charles and the Queen Mother and threw myself at their feet, asking them for this. They promised to fulfill my request..."
The events of St. Bartholomew's Night were condemned even by Ivan the Terrible, who himself never stood on ceremony with his enemies. From the king’s letter to Emperor Maximilian II: “And what, dearest brother, do you mourn the bloodshed that happened to the King of France in his kingdom, several thousand were beaten to the point of mere babies; and it is fitting for the peasant sovereign to mourn that the French king committed such inhumanity over so many people and shed so much blood without reason.”
Only the King of Portugal expressed his congratulations to Charles IX after the bloody events:
“To the greatest, most powerful and most Christian sovereign Don Charles, king of France, brother and cousin, I, Don Sebastian, by the grace of God king of Portugal and the Algarves, from one sea to another in Africa, lord of Guinea and conquests, navigation and trade in Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia and India, I send my great greetings, as to those whom I greatly love and respect.
All the praises that I could offer you are due to your great merits in the fulfillment of the sacred and honorable duty that you have undertaken, and directed against the Lutherans, the enemies of our holy faith and the opponents of your crown; for faith did not allow us to forget many manifestations of family love and friendship that were between us, and through you commanded us to maintain our connection in all cases when it was required. We see how much you have already done, how much you are still doing, and what you embody daily in the service of our Lord - preserving the faith and your kingdoms, eradicating heresies from them. All this is your duty and reputation. I am very happy to have such a king and brother who already bears the name of the Most Christian, and could now earn it anew for myself and all the kings who are their successors.
That is why, in addition to the congratulations that Joan Gomes da Silva from my council, which is at your court, will convey to you, it seems to me that we will be able to unite our efforts in this matter, which is so due to both of us, through the new ambassador, whom I am now committed to I attach; which is Don Dionis Dalemcastro, senior commander of the Order of Our Lord Jesus Christ, my very beloved nephew, whom I send to you, a man in whom, due to his qualities, I highly trust and in whom I ask you to place full and heartfelt confidence in everything that I need to tell you , highest, most powerful, most Christian sovereign, brother and cousin, may our Lord keep your royal crown and kingdom under his holy protection.”
King Charles claimed that he did not expect such bloodshed. “Even my beret didn’t know about anything.”- said the king.
According to another version of the chroniclers, the king approved the massacres.
“This massacre appeared before the eyes of the king, who looked at it from the Louvre with great joy. A few days later he went in person to see the gallows at Montfaucon and the corpse of Coligny, who was hanged by the feet, and when some of his retinue pretended that they could not approach because of the stench of the corpse, “The smell of a dead enemy,” he said, “is sweet.” and pleasant."
Arrest of the Huguenot
“On the said day, the most Christian king, dressed in his royal robes, appeared at the palace and announced to parliament that the peace he had concluded with the Huguenots, he was forced to conclude for the reason that his people were exhausted and ruined, but that at the present time , when God granted him victory over his enemies, he declares that the edict that was issued in commemoration of the said peace is invalid and meaningless, and that he wishes that the one that was published before and according to which no other faith than the Catholic, will be observed. apostolic and Roman, cannot be confessed in his kingdom.”
Thanks to the St. Bartholomew's massacre, Catherine de' Medici gained the special love of her subjects. In total, the good Catholics plundered about one and a half million gold pieces.
Catherine de' Medici
“...The tragedy continued for three whole days with bursts of unbridled rage. The city has hardly calmed down even now. A huge loot was looted: it is estimated at one and a half million gold ecus. More than four hundred nobles, the bravest and best military leaders of their party, perished. An incredibly large number of them appeared, well provided with clothes, jewelry and money, so as not to lose face at the wedding of the King of Navarre. The population became rich at their expense.”
"In the morning, at the entrance to the Louvre"
“The people of Paris are happy; they feel that they have been comforted: yesterday they hated the queen, today they glorify her, declaring her the mother of the country and the custodian of the Christian faith.”- wrote a contemporary of the events.
In total, about 30 thousand people died for the good of the kingdom. Two years after the bloody events, King Charles IX died in the arms of Catherine de Medici. Presumably he was poisoned. The queen gave the poisoned book to her enemy Henry of Navarre. Not knowing about the poison, Henry gave the book to “cousin Charles” to read... So the queen unwittingly killed her own son.
Coat of arms on Catherine de Medici's favorite church. We have a specialist for coats of arms
St. Bartholomew's Night has long become a household name for many events where manifestations of human cruelty exceed all imaginable boundaries. The night from August 23 to 24 became bloody and tragic for Paris. And 1572, in general, turned into one of the most troubled and frightening periods of that era for the French.
Bloody night in Paris: a little history
The internecine war between the Huguenots (Protestants) and Catholics in France was heterogeneous. Sometimes the struggle for faith forced people to take full-scale action, but in other cases it all ended in local fights and arson.
Before the feast of St. Bartholomew, the wedding of Henry of Navarre was supposed to take place in Paris. And to celebrate the large-scale event, several thousand Huguenots came to the center of France.
Until this day, Paris was predominantly inhabited by Catholics. After the arrival of the Protestants, the situation in Paris became tense to the limit. Here and there, like sparks, disputes, feuds and physical attacks by Protestants on Catholics, and vice versa, flared up and died out.
On August 23, the attack on the Huguenots was carefully planned and carried out. More than 2,000 people died during St. Bartholomew's Night in Paris. Most of them were Protestants.
People were slaughtered and killed just for hinting at belonging to Protestantism. Even women and children were not spared. On this terrible night, Paris choked in blood and groans. But the indirect culprit of the events, Henry of Navarre, managed to escape.
Who organized the attack on the Huguenots?
Duke Henry of Guise and Catherine de Medici are considered the main organizers of St. Bartholomew's Night. After the end of the Third Huguenot War, the peace between Catholics and Protestants was so fragile that it urgently needed to be secured by the marriage of influential persons.
So Henry of Navarre and Margarita Valois were chosen to play the role of the best influential couple who could, by starting a family, ensure the continuation of the fragile truce. The Protestant and the Catholic were the only figures capable of preventing the dominant role of one of the religions. Their marriage was not to the taste of the Italian and French nobles. Therefore, it was decided to arrange that very bloody night, the echoes of which could be heard for a long time in different parts of France.
Queen Catherine de Medici had more than just religious interests in this story. She saw in the actions of Admiral de Coligny a direct threat to her reign. After all, he incited the King of France to support Protestants in the Netherlands in order to then oppose the Spanish Queen.
If the king had decided to take such a step, then all the Catholics of Europe would rebel. And this was not part of Catherine de Medici’s plans. Therefore, she created a secret alliance with the house of Guise to carry out a terrible action against the Protestants.
How did St. Bartholomew's Night begin?
On behalf of the Italian queen, de Guise began to act. When Admiral de Coligny passed by his estate, he was wounded. The goal was to kill the admiral, but by coincidence the bullet hit the shoulder and not the head. That same night, after the wedding of Henry and Margaret, a group of Catholics stormed Coligny's house and finished off the wounded admiral.
This murder served as the starting point for all the events of St. Bartholomew's Night. To make it difficult for Protestants to escape from Paris, the city gates were closed and the guards were ordered to be on alert. And deal with everyone who tries to escape the bloody massacre.
Under the cover of this tragedy, robbers, looters and rapists operated on the streets of Paris. That night no one knew whether the person in front of him was a Catholic or a Protestant. Therefore, some of the adherents of the Catholic Church also suffered.
Events after St. Bartholomew's Night
The bloodshed did not end even after August 24th. For another week, Paris was dangerous for everyone who decided to come there or lived there permanently.
In many parts of the country, Huguenots were slaughtered and killed for several months. The King of France took responsibility for what was happening, but presented it in such a way that it was as if a Huguenot conspiracy against the French nobility had been revealed.
When respectable citizens began to suffer from the consequences of the bloody night, the influence of Catherine de Medici began to wane. Peace came after a long time, but it was formal. Freedom of religion was maintained in words, but in reality, disputes regularly broke out between the two religious denominations.
St. Bartholomew's Night had the following consequences for the country:
- Population decline;
- Distrust of authorities;
- Change of ruler;
- Complications in international relations.
All of the above did not put an end to the war between Catholics and Huguenots, but only gave a new reason to continue the confrontation.
Henry of Navarre was able to escape death only by converting to Catholicism. He then fled to the south of the country. And there he raised an uprising against the Parisian nobility and all Catholics in France.
Many Protestants were forced to disperse to different cities in Europe, since it was dangerous for them to remain in France. When things calmed down a bit, Henry of Navarre became King Henry IV. He marked the beginning of the Bourbon dynasty. And he died at the hands of fanatics while riding in a carriage to meet his second wife from the Medici family.
In Rus', Poland, England and Germany they condemned the actions of French politicians, the rest of the world silently approved the events of St. Bartholomew's Night.
This massacre was so brazen, shocking and terrible that today any mass murder of people is called “ St. Bartholomew's night" The reason for this event was the behind-the-scenes games of people exposed to power. And ordinary residents of Paris died and suffered. St. Bartholomew's Night has forever gone down in history as an example of the cruelty that people are capable of when fighting for their ideals. And it became heavy history lesson for posterity. Although similar events occurred in history after this night, St. Bartholomew's Night was the first incident of this magnitude.
History and fiction to this day, St. Bartholomew's Night is depicted as a “massacre”, “bloody massacre”, “cruel beating” of Huguenot Catholics, organized by the Dowager Queen Catherine de Medici on August 24, 1572 in Paris. At the same time, it is carefully hushed up back side conflict, and the atrocities of Catholics, the insane illogicality of actions and passions are pushed to the fore. This picture needs some clarification...
ROYAL GAMES
The Peace of Saint-Germain ended the third civil war, between Catholics and Protestants. The French Huguenots received partial freedom, a number of fortresses were transferred to them, and their Leader, Admiral De Coligny, was included in the royal council.
Gaspard II de Coligny - known as Admiral de Coligny - French statesman, one of the Huguenot leaders during the Wars of Religion in France.
The Protestant De Coligny had a great influence on the Catholic king Charles IX, convincing him to support the Protestants in Flanders (Netherlands) against Spain. He saw this as the only alternative to civil war in France. In De Coligny's plans there was clearly a desire to use the forces of France, regardless of internal problems, to help Protestantism, which was increasingly spreading throughout Europe.
However, Catherine de Medici sought to keep her crowned son from taking a disastrous step. France, weakened by civil wars, was unable to repel a common enemy, and a conflict with powerful Spain would have turned into a disaster, including the loss of sovereignty by France. Catherine was a serious obstacle to the Protestants.
Charles IX and Catherine de Medici had their own recipes for pacifying France - the marriage of Henry of Navarre to the king's sister Margaret of Valois. The wedding took place on August 18. On the occasion of the wedding, many nobility gathered in the capital, identifying themselves as belonging to both faiths.
Wedding of Henry and Margaret
On August 22, an attempt was made on Admiral Coligny. Traces of the crime pointed to the involvement of the Catholic Duke Henry of Guise, extremely popular among the Parisians, who saw him as a defender of the faith. According to the laws of honor, he had to take revenge on Coligny for his father, who was killed in 1563. The wounded admiral was visited by Charles X and Catherine de Medici.
But the Huguenot nobility were not satisfied with condolences, demanding that the king punish Guise. There were calls to prepare for another war. Throughout Saturday, August 23, the Huguenot demands became increasingly insistent, deepening the crisis. The chances of a political resolution of the situation were rapidly approaching zero.
From childhood we were taught that St. Bartholomew's Night was the bloodiest and most atrocious crime of Catholics, worthy of severe condemnation. But they forgot to clarify: this was the first time that Catholics initiated a massacre. And by that time, Protestant Huguenots had staged Catholic pogroms many times, when they killed everyone without distinction of gender or age.
The last massacre of Catholics by Huguenots happened in the city of Nimes three years before St. Bartholomew's Day. Word to the witness: “...the Huguenots broke into churches. They tore down images of saints, destroyed crucifixes, organs, altars...” This is about the events of 1566 in Valenciennes.
In 1531, in Ulm, horses were harnessed to an organ, dragged out of the church and broken. In Valais in 1559, when it was established that the resident of Bruges, who had died three years earlier, was secretly a Catholic, the body was dug out of the grave and hung on the gallows.
Moreover, according to reports from agents of the French secret services working among Protestants, the head of the Protestant party, Admiral Coligny, using the wedding as a pretext, convening Protestant nobles from all over France, planned the capture of Paris, the capture of the Louvre, the arrest of the king and Catherine de Medici, who was preventing her from getting involved in war with Spain.
The royal palace found out about this in literally the last hours, so they had to improvise, sound the alarm in the middle of the night, rush into a counterattack in pitch darkness, because there was no other way out. The Catholics simply forestalled the attack, that’s all. There was a very simple choice - either they would kill at night, or they would be slaughtered...
The murder of Coligny on St. Bartholomew's Night.
Murders of Huguenots also occurred in several provincial cities. About two thousand people died in Paris alone and five thousand throughout France. Thanks to the efforts of the Protestants, the night of August 24, 1572 acquired “details.”
They already claimed that it was planned seven years earlier, they talked about 100 thousand slaughtered and showed the very Louvre window through which His Majesty allegedly fired from an arquebus. Huguenots.
Paris found itself in the grip of murderers and looters. Chaos became a reason to quietly deal with his creditor, his annoying wife, and his wealthy neighbor. When Charles IX finally ordered order to be restored on the streets of Paris, the violence spilled beyond its borders. The carnage continued in France for several more weeks.
Most researchers believe that at least 5 thousand people died in those days; they also mention the figure of 30 thousand killed Huguenots and Catholics - during the massacre they no longer asked what faith you professed...
St. Bartholomew's Night dealt a crushing blow to the Huguenots. About 200 thousand of them fled from France, and their asceticism and hard work found a grateful home in other countries. The victory over the Huguenots did not bring peace to France itself.
St. Bartholomew's Night became the next stage of the Religious Wars and was greeted with approval in Rome and Madrid, and caused concern in England, Germany and Poland. At home, the Calvinist nobility and cities put up fierce resistance. During the subsequent Wars of Religion, the government was forced to make further concessions to the Huguenots.
CONSEQUENCES
Today, the details of the Wars of Religion of that time are almost forgotten, and many sincerely believe that the Huguenots only wanted “religious equality”, which the evil Catholics denied.
However, the Huguenots' claims are well documented: to live in the kingdom of France, but not to obey the king, the authorities, or the laws. Huguenot cities had to have their own laws, their own administration and their own monetary system, and Catholics who found themselves in this territory simply did not have the right to practice their faith, either openly or secretly.
It is easy to guess that not a single state on the planet could allow such “super-offshore” zones. When the claims of the Huguenot leaders were rejected, they moved on to direct military action against the French king - with money, weapons and even military force. received from Protestant England.
These wars continued for several decades until Richelieu, a man of iron will and energy, finally dealt with the rebels.
By the way, the same Admiral De Coligny (glorified by the talented Dumas), several years before the Night of St. Bartholomew, was preparing the abduction of King Henry J. So it is not surprising that the Night of St. Bartholomew was an improvised response measure by Catholics to a very real conspiracy of Protestants.
We know the story where the “reactionary and bloodthirsty papacy”, which opposed “progressive” Protestants, was branded. Meanwhile, the Protestants who seized power in the Czech Republic were a rather creepy bunch. Long before Lenin, they accepted the basic principle of Bolshevism: a true Bolshevik himself determines what is good and what is bad.
Then the Protestants began to make armed forays outside the Czech Republic - “donate” their teaching to their neighbors. The reflection of this aggression later became known as the “punitive expeditions of the papists.”
Then Luther appeared. He sincerely wanted to improve life and make it better. The communists also wanted the same thing, however, the path along which they led people to happiness rather resembled hell. Therefore, it is not the intentions that are important, but the result.
Martin Luther - Christian theologian, initiator of the Reformation, leading translator of the Bible into German. One of the directions of Protestantism is named after him.
Luther's research caused a series of civil wars, unrest, civil strife, violence and atrocities. The Swiss Calvin creatively improved the teachings of Luther and brought the reforms to their logical conclusion - in Geneva, people were thrown into prison for appearing in bright clothes, playing musical instruments, reading “wrong” books...
IN Thirty Years' War Between Catholics and Protestants, Germany lost a third of its population. Thanks to the Protestants, France plunged into the fire and blood of civil wars for fifty years.
St. Bartholomew's Night was not a pogrom, robbery and murder committed by the Parisian plebs as “divine” retribution for heretics, but preemptive strike by the military command of the Huguenots. The purpose of the murders was to save the state. In a sense, this night even opened new way to the world. If the Catholic faith had won, the “Protestant ethic” that determined the development of our civilization would never have been born.
ABOUT CATHOLICS AND PROTESTANTS
Not many people know that the very concept and concept of “human rights” in modern meaning this term is inextricably linked with activities in South America Jesuit monks. And the writer Alex de Tocqueville wrote one hundred and fifty years ago:
« Despite the unprecedented atrocities, the Spaniards, who covered themselves with indelible shame, not only did not exterminate the Indians, but did not even prohibit them from using equal rights. The British in North America easily achieved both».
If Catholicism had won, of course, there would have been bloodshed, wars and troubles, but far fewer misfortunes would have befallen Europe. Surely less effort and zeal would be devoted to the so-called “technical progress” - the thoughtless accumulation of technical innovations, which, according to by and large, destroy Natural resources and habitat, contribute to the growth of victims of war, but have not yet made anyone happy.
Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, wrote in his letter dated January 7, 1768:
“Isn’t it true that the electric force, and all the miracles that are still being discovered by it, that attraction and gravitation, serve only to excite our curiosity? But does this result in less robberies on the roads? Have tax farmers become less greedy? Is there less slander, has envy been destroyed, has hearts softened? What does society need in these current discoveries?”
It is possible that Frederick the Great, in a “post-Protestant” society, was the first to formulate a problem that was seriously thought about in the 20th century: "scientific and technical progress does not automatically lead to the progress of human spirituality and does not make life better».
But it was precisely under the influence of Protestants that an ideology was formed that asserted that man, having discovered a lot of new laws of nature, would use it to his advantage and learn to control nature like a cart. They believed that the development of science and technology in itself would magically transform both society and people.
Of course, it would be pointless to call for living with a splinter and hitting fish with a bone spear. However, the extremes generated by the “Protestant ethic” - thoughtless “technical progress”, “development of science” do not cause delight.
What would our twentieth century be like as a result of the development of Europe according to Catholic canons? Much less man-made, perhaps, we would now look with surprise at the first steam locomotives, and the glory of explorers of America and Africa would go to our grandfathers, most of whom are still alive.
Perhaps the original cultures of America, Africa, India, Far East, having avoided Protestant influence, would have created, in combination with Catholic Europe, a completely different civilization, not so busy with the race for gold and success, not threatening as soon as possible destroy all life on the planet. One thing is certain: there would be more spirituality, and therefore more peace of mind, kindness and love.