1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:03,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:14,200 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:14,320 --> 00:00:17,000 Speaker 1: I'm Katie Lambert and I'm Sarah Dowdy. And when we 4 00:00:17,079 --> 00:00:20,560 Speaker 1: left Katherine de Medici in our previous podcast, she was 5 00:00:20,680 --> 00:00:23,439 Speaker 1: a grieving widow. Her husband had just been killed in 6 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:27,120 Speaker 1: a jousting accident, a terrible jousting accident which I'm going 7 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:30,680 Speaker 1: to take the opportunity to relive one more time. He 8 00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:34,239 Speaker 1: receives a lance in the eye through the brain and 9 00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:38,599 Speaker 1: it takes him ten agonizing days to die. So that's 10 00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:40,680 Speaker 1: where we left off, and it's where we're gonna pick 11 00:00:40,760 --> 00:00:43,280 Speaker 1: up again. I can see why you want to relivet up, Sarah. 12 00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:48,000 Speaker 1: She's left as regent for her sickly weak minded fifteen 13 00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:51,760 Speaker 1: year old son, Francis the second, who ended up married 14 00:00:51,960 --> 00:00:55,400 Speaker 1: to Mary, Queen of Scott's which connects our Medici series 15 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:58,080 Speaker 1: to our Tutor Stewart series, Which that's the key, that's 16 00:00:58,080 --> 00:01:00,640 Speaker 1: why this is a super series which you've been so 17 00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:05,880 Speaker 1: excited about. Um. But Catherine replaces her cheery personal symbol 18 00:01:05,920 --> 00:01:08,319 Speaker 1: of a rainbow with that of a broken lance. She 19 00:01:08,440 --> 00:01:13,000 Speaker 1: starts wearing exclusively black morning attire, usually with a white 20 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:15,280 Speaker 1: ruff to set it all off for the rest of 21 00:01:15,319 --> 00:01:17,000 Speaker 1: her life, for the rest of her life. And and 22 00:01:17,080 --> 00:01:20,199 Speaker 1: she gets to work, and she effectively rules France through 23 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:23,919 Speaker 1: three successive sons who are a king until she dies 24 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:27,479 Speaker 1: just shy of seventy years old. But don't think there 25 00:01:27,560 --> 00:01:32,400 Speaker 1: wasn't any trouble, because there definitely was. The first son, Francis, 26 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:35,280 Speaker 1: didn't live very long at all. He died at sixteen, 27 00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:38,120 Speaker 1: and he was succeeded by his ten year old brother, 28 00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:42,200 Speaker 1: who became Charles the ninth. And Catherine took this opportunity 29 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:45,959 Speaker 1: to seize full control of the regency, using her very 30 00:01:46,040 --> 00:01:49,640 Speaker 1: excellent scheming skills to remain in control of her kid 31 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:53,600 Speaker 1: amid these jostling factions in France. Yeah, and she promotes 32 00:01:53,640 --> 00:01:56,760 Speaker 1: them to majority at age thirteen, which is a year 33 00:01:56,760 --> 00:02:01,080 Speaker 1: earlier than normal. But she she wanted a real king 34 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:05,160 Speaker 1: of France because these factions were so contentious at this time. 35 00:02:05,480 --> 00:02:07,920 Speaker 1: And she takes them on a grand progress of the 36 00:02:07,920 --> 00:02:10,360 Speaker 1: country and it's a big deal. It's twenty eight months 37 00:02:10,400 --> 00:02:15,040 Speaker 1: of traveling, moving between chateau and tents and taking barges 38 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:19,320 Speaker 1: and horses and having all these elaborate festivals and banquets, 39 00:02:19,360 --> 00:02:22,239 Speaker 1: and Catherine is kind of an elaborate lady. Anyways, we 40 00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:26,200 Speaker 1: learned in Leonie Frieda's book, Um Catherine de Medici, Renaissance 41 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:29,520 Speaker 1: Queen of France, that she keeps bears in her retinue. 42 00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:31,280 Speaker 1: And you know how much Katie and I love bears, 43 00:02:31,400 --> 00:02:34,560 Speaker 1: but a woman after these are kind of sad bears 44 00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:37,680 Speaker 1: though they have pierced noses and their their chain to 45 00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:40,440 Speaker 1: her leader, but they follow her around. I mean, how 46 00:02:40,480 --> 00:02:44,200 Speaker 1: crazy is that She's also got a monkey, a parent, 47 00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:48,600 Speaker 1: and an entire household of dwarves who wear brocades and 48 00:02:48,760 --> 00:02:52,120 Speaker 1: fur and have their own footman and tutors, which they 49 00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:55,040 Speaker 1: all hang out with her constantly. But the point of 50 00:02:55,080 --> 00:02:58,040 Speaker 1: this tour is is not just to to show off 51 00:02:58,080 --> 00:03:01,960 Speaker 1: and show off how magnificent the crown is, but to 52 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:05,000 Speaker 1: have the king meet and mingle with his people, and 53 00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:08,520 Speaker 1: to keep the nobles entertained, keep them away from their 54 00:03:08,560 --> 00:03:11,680 Speaker 1: their country houses where they could, I don't know, cook 55 00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:15,080 Speaker 1: up plans against the monarchy and um just try to 56 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:18,720 Speaker 1: bring the country back together. And she's hoping that everyone 57 00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:22,880 Speaker 1: will ultimately rally around the king and rally together for France. 58 00:03:22,960 --> 00:03:26,560 Speaker 1: And this is something the country really needs at the time, right, 59 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:29,680 Speaker 1: because when Henry the Second died, he'd had the personal 60 00:03:29,720 --> 00:03:33,160 Speaker 1: loyalty of all of their nobles, and once he was gone, 61 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:36,960 Speaker 1: the country is split again by feuding noble factions. Each 62 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:39,960 Speaker 1: of them wants control of this young king. Yeah, they're 63 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:43,000 Speaker 1: loyal to the crown still, but they don't have that 64 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:47,840 Speaker 1: personal loyalty that they had to the to Charles and 65 00:03:47,960 --> 00:03:52,720 Speaker 1: Frances before him, to their father. So the principal nobles 66 00:03:52,720 --> 00:03:54,640 Speaker 1: were going to keep an eye on. Here are the 67 00:03:54,680 --> 00:03:58,480 Speaker 1: Geese family and they are the ultra Catholics, and then 68 00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:01,040 Speaker 1: there's the Bourbon family, who are Princess of the Blood, 69 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:04,920 Speaker 1: which makes them, uh, the second family in France after 70 00:04:05,040 --> 00:04:09,360 Speaker 1: the royal family itself, and the Bourbons are Protestant. So 71 00:04:09,600 --> 00:04:13,480 Speaker 1: just remember those two sides throughout this whole thing, and 72 00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:17,000 Speaker 1: the issues between these two groups of nobles are also 73 00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:20,680 Speaker 1: representative of religious issues in the country as a whole. 74 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:22,520 Speaker 1: So we're going to give you a little background on 75 00:04:22,560 --> 00:04:25,880 Speaker 1: that to make it easier to understand. Yeah, the Reformation, 76 00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:28,960 Speaker 1: of course, got its start in fifteen seventeen, two years 77 00:04:28,960 --> 00:04:32,400 Speaker 1: before Catherine was even born. Um when Luther posted his 78 00:04:32,480 --> 00:04:36,840 Speaker 1: ninety theses and then the zealous Protestant John Calvin is 79 00:04:36,920 --> 00:04:41,520 Speaker 1: largely responsible for spreading the new religion in France. Um 80 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:44,839 Speaker 1: and just to get a scale of how quickly things 81 00:04:44,920 --> 00:04:47,920 Speaker 1: happen here, by the fifteen fifties we have the first 82 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:52,279 Speaker 1: French Reformed churches, so this takes off from forty years 83 00:04:52,320 --> 00:04:55,440 Speaker 1: for the whole thing. And Catherine's husband, Henry the Second, 84 00:04:55,520 --> 00:04:58,840 Speaker 1: who as we learned in our previous podcast, was obsessed 85 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:02,440 Speaker 1: with his foreign war, was a little bit too distracted 86 00:05:02,480 --> 00:05:05,599 Speaker 1: to deal adequately with these religious fractures, and he also 87 00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:08,760 Speaker 1: underestimated them and their power. And then you know, right 88 00:05:08,800 --> 00:05:11,320 Speaker 1: after he made his foreign peace, he died with a 89 00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:14,479 Speaker 1: lance in his eyes. So that cut that short anyways, definitely. 90 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:18,720 Speaker 1: So we're left with these weak child kings and Catherine 91 00:05:18,720 --> 00:05:23,120 Speaker 1: trying to patch everything up, patch up these feuding nobles 92 00:05:23,160 --> 00:05:28,039 Speaker 1: and country split by religious differences, and she's trying to 93 00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:32,400 Speaker 1: protect her children's throne, she's trying to defend her own religion, 94 00:05:32,440 --> 00:05:35,080 Speaker 1: she's a Catholic, of course, and deal with the factions, 95 00:05:35,080 --> 00:05:38,560 Speaker 1: and she can't please everyone. Nobody can juggle all of that. 96 00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:44,799 Speaker 1: And contrary to Catherine's later reputation as this crazed ultra 97 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:48,960 Speaker 1: Catholic whose intent on spilling Protestant blood. Would like to 98 00:05:48,960 --> 00:05:51,799 Speaker 1: do a little myth busting here, because she really strived 99 00:05:51,960 --> 00:05:55,680 Speaker 1: for moderation whenever she could, and she granted freedom of 100 00:05:55,760 --> 00:05:59,520 Speaker 1: conscience and limited access to worship, which was a big, 101 00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:04,720 Speaker 1: big It's basically separating sedition from heresy, and no one 102 00:06:04,839 --> 00:06:08,320 Speaker 1: is happy. Still. The Catholics think she's capitulating or maybe 103 00:06:08,320 --> 00:06:11,719 Speaker 1: she'll even become a Protestant horror of horrors, and the 104 00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:15,560 Speaker 1: Huguenots think that it's still not enough. Yeah. So it's 105 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:18,560 Speaker 1: weird though, because this piece that she tries to establish 106 00:06:18,600 --> 00:06:21,720 Speaker 1: the freedom of conscience and the limited access to worship 107 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:25,640 Speaker 1: is what we end up with decades later, after nine 108 00:06:26,040 --> 00:06:29,120 Speaker 1: civil wars of religion. Um, you end up with the 109 00:06:29,160 --> 00:06:32,720 Speaker 1: same thing. It's crazy. But that's not to say that 110 00:06:32,839 --> 00:06:37,560 Speaker 1: her reputation for Florentine tactics, which by we mean murdering 111 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:41,719 Speaker 1: people and interest in the occult, wasn't deserved because even 112 00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:47,240 Speaker 1: though she was a devout Catholic, she relied heavily on medici, astrologers, magic, 113 00:06:47,400 --> 00:06:51,320 Speaker 1: and her own dream visions another podcast theme. She had 114 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:55,360 Speaker 1: consultations with no stra Damis, but her main astrologers were 115 00:06:55,360 --> 00:07:00,440 Speaker 1: the Florentine Ruggieri brothers, who were magicians, necromancers and men 116 00:07:00,520 --> 00:07:03,440 Speaker 1: who are known for being very skilled in the black arts. 117 00:07:03,520 --> 00:07:07,800 Speaker 1: And just this weird magic mirror story about Catherine. Supposedly, 118 00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:12,600 Speaker 1: shortly after her husband died, she um she consults one 119 00:07:12,600 --> 00:07:16,560 Speaker 1: of the Riggieri brothers. Um wants to have him foretell 120 00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:20,200 Speaker 1: her son's futures, and in this mirror he pulls out 121 00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:24,000 Speaker 1: she sees her son's faces circling by, and Ruggieri tells 122 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:27,680 Speaker 1: her that each circle they make will stand for how 123 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:30,760 Speaker 1: many years they'll rule the kingdom. She sees Francis go 124 00:07:30,880 --> 00:07:33,960 Speaker 1: by once, her second son, Charles the ninth, goes by 125 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:37,360 Speaker 1: fourteen times, and then her third son, who is later 126 00:07:37,560 --> 00:07:40,800 Speaker 1: Henry the Third, goes by fifteen times. In the final 127 00:07:41,080 --> 00:07:44,440 Speaker 1: faith she sees is Henry, Prince of Navarre. So it's 128 00:07:44,480 --> 00:07:48,080 Speaker 1: really spooky and kind of a bad uh, a bad 129 00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:51,840 Speaker 1: omen for Catherine. She also had a guy in her life, 130 00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:57,040 Speaker 1: Metro Renee, who mixed up potions for her and supposedly 131 00:07:57,600 --> 00:08:02,120 Speaker 1: poison gloves and poison rude. And although it's likely that 132 00:08:02,280 --> 00:08:04,560 Speaker 1: Catherine had people taken out, you know, had her own 133 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:08,440 Speaker 1: little hit list, she probably didn't poison any fellow queens 134 00:08:08,480 --> 00:08:11,480 Speaker 1: with poisoned gloves. But this is the kind of stuff 135 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:15,800 Speaker 1: that earns her her nickname the Black Queen, and that 136 00:08:15,880 --> 00:08:19,080 Speaker 1: massacre were about to discuss. Yeah, that's a really big 137 00:08:19,120 --> 00:08:21,520 Speaker 1: part of it. So we're gonna set the stage for 138 00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:25,440 Speaker 1: the massacre. While there are eventually nine mores of religion 139 00:08:25,480 --> 00:08:27,840 Speaker 1: in France at the time of the massacre, which is 140 00:08:27,880 --> 00:08:30,800 Speaker 1: in fifteen seventy two, we've only had three so far, 141 00:08:31,360 --> 00:08:35,480 Speaker 1: and the wars have polished off the main Bourbon Protestant leaders, 142 00:08:35,559 --> 00:08:39,760 Speaker 1: leaving two young princess figureheads, and that's the Prince de 143 00:08:39,880 --> 00:08:43,720 Speaker 1: Colonde and Henry of Navarre, who we've already mentioned. Um 144 00:08:43,760 --> 00:08:47,480 Speaker 1: and Catherine has just arranged a peacemaking marriage kind of 145 00:08:47,640 --> 00:08:50,520 Speaker 1: I think, uh the Yorks and the Lancasters sort of 146 00:08:50,559 --> 00:08:54,200 Speaker 1: like that, between Henry of Navarre and her daughter Margaret, 147 00:08:54,200 --> 00:08:57,520 Speaker 1: who's known as Margot. And this marriage is going to 148 00:08:57,679 --> 00:09:01,760 Speaker 1: unite the Valwa family, the royal family with the Bourbons, 149 00:09:01,800 --> 00:09:05,240 Speaker 1: So that's uniting the senior in the junior branches of 150 00:09:05,280 --> 00:09:07,960 Speaker 1: the royal line, and it's also going to unite the 151 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:11,400 Speaker 1: Catholics and the Protestants because of course Margot is a Catholic. 152 00:09:11,440 --> 00:09:15,120 Speaker 1: Henry of Navar is a Protestant. So it's this great 153 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:19,600 Speaker 1: um symbol of peace and goodwill, and thousands of people 154 00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:22,880 Speaker 1: are going to come into Paris, nobles, regular people of 155 00:09:22,920 --> 00:09:27,520 Speaker 1: both religions to see the nuptials. And we have another 156 00:09:27,679 --> 00:09:32,200 Speaker 1: important player in this setup. Since the Bourbon Huguenot leaders 157 00:09:32,240 --> 00:09:35,000 Speaker 1: are dead, we have a guy named Admiral gast Bar, 158 00:09:35,160 --> 00:09:38,719 Speaker 1: the second Coligni, at the head of our movement. He 159 00:09:38,760 --> 00:09:41,480 Speaker 1: had just returned to court about a year earlier and 160 00:09:41,679 --> 00:09:45,920 Speaker 1: had begun currying favor with the king, and his uncle 161 00:09:46,040 --> 00:09:49,760 Speaker 1: had been a great trusted adviser to Henry the second, 162 00:09:50,200 --> 00:09:53,600 Speaker 1: so Lansking. Yes, so guess Far's idea is that maybe 163 00:09:53,640 --> 00:09:57,720 Speaker 1: he can take on a similar role with Charles the Ninth, who, 164 00:09:58,080 --> 00:10:00,240 Speaker 1: as a young man, is you know, starting to get 165 00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:03,120 Speaker 1: ready to take on more responsibility, take over some of 166 00:10:03,160 --> 00:10:07,280 Speaker 1: it from his mom and upstage his younger brother's glamorous 167 00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:11,920 Speaker 1: military reputation. So Gaspard has a plan and he's hoping 168 00:10:11,960 --> 00:10:15,080 Speaker 1: that it will bring him personally closer to the king, 169 00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:18,480 Speaker 1: but he's also hoping that it will give the Huguenots 170 00:10:18,559 --> 00:10:22,840 Speaker 1: more recognition, more rights, more respect in France, and the 171 00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:27,080 Speaker 1: plan is to take French Catholics and French Huguenots and 172 00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:31,439 Speaker 1: together fight the Spanish in the Netherlands. And the wedding 173 00:10:31,640 --> 00:10:34,079 Speaker 1: ceremonies that are going on in Paris offer the perfect 174 00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:39,079 Speaker 1: opportunity for Gaspard to discuss this plan with Charles and 175 00:10:39,240 --> 00:10:42,800 Speaker 1: to try to get his approval. But unfortunately for him, 176 00:10:43,320 --> 00:10:47,400 Speaker 1: Coligni is very unpopular with the other members of the court. 177 00:10:47,920 --> 00:10:51,440 Speaker 1: The very Catholic Gee family doesn't want war with Spain 178 00:10:51,600 --> 00:10:55,320 Speaker 1: and they hate Collini because they consider him responsible for 179 00:10:55,440 --> 00:10:58,160 Speaker 1: a murder in their family, the murder of Francois de 180 00:10:58,200 --> 00:11:01,360 Speaker 1: Guise ten years earlier. And Catherine doesn't want more with 181 00:11:01,440 --> 00:11:04,480 Speaker 1: Spain either. She thinks it could be disastrous and she 182 00:11:04,559 --> 00:11:08,120 Speaker 1: doesn't like Collini's influence on her son. So this isn't 183 00:11:08,200 --> 00:11:12,000 Speaker 1: just a religious issue. It's a it's a mixture of 184 00:11:12,080 --> 00:11:17,200 Speaker 1: personal vendettas and political problems. But going into this, we 185 00:11:17,280 --> 00:11:20,440 Speaker 1: have two things happening, this big marriage between Margo and 186 00:11:20,480 --> 00:11:23,079 Speaker 1: Henry and the arrival of Colin. You to attend the 187 00:11:23,120 --> 00:11:26,560 Speaker 1: wedding and discussed the plans for the war against Spain. 188 00:11:27,440 --> 00:11:31,640 Speaker 1: So Catherine had long banned the geezes from enacting their 189 00:11:31,679 --> 00:11:34,920 Speaker 1: revenge on Collini for this murder. He may not even 190 00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:37,520 Speaker 1: have been involved by the way his name got roped 191 00:11:37,559 --> 00:11:40,320 Speaker 1: into it, and yeah, he probably didn't have much to 192 00:11:40,360 --> 00:11:43,000 Speaker 1: do with it. But then she lifts this band so 193 00:11:43,080 --> 00:11:47,160 Speaker 1: he's basically back on a possible hit list, and approves 194 00:11:47,200 --> 00:11:50,280 Speaker 1: the plan to assassinate him the day after the wedding 195 00:11:50,360 --> 00:11:54,560 Speaker 1: ceremonies end. So we have a brief interlude here of 196 00:11:55,040 --> 00:11:59,840 Speaker 1: the happy peacemaking wedding. On August eighteen, fifteen seventy two, 197 00:12:00,200 --> 00:12:03,560 Speaker 1: Margot and Henry Nvar marry outside of Notre Dame, and 198 00:12:03,559 --> 00:12:06,559 Speaker 1: then she has a mass inside with her brother by 199 00:12:06,600 --> 00:12:10,440 Speaker 1: proxy because of course Henry, as a Protestant, cannot take 200 00:12:10,520 --> 00:12:13,920 Speaker 1: part in a mass, and she wears an ermine trimmed 201 00:12:14,080 --> 00:12:16,400 Speaker 1: crown and a coat with a thirty foot train. We 202 00:12:16,440 --> 00:12:18,600 Speaker 1: just thought we'd throw in a few we like fashion 203 00:12:18,760 --> 00:12:22,800 Speaker 1: details before things get really bloody here, and the fistivities 204 00:12:22,800 --> 00:12:24,600 Speaker 1: go on for days, you know, kind of like the 205 00:12:24,640 --> 00:12:27,400 Speaker 1: wedding we talked about earlier of Henry the Second and 206 00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:32,800 Speaker 1: Catherine Um just grand festivities, days and days of them. 207 00:12:32,840 --> 00:12:35,680 Speaker 1: And Colleeney himself isn't a big party or so he's 208 00:12:35,720 --> 00:12:37,880 Speaker 1: not really taking part in a lot of his celebration, 209 00:12:38,840 --> 00:12:41,040 Speaker 1: and he doesn't even really want to be there. In fact, 210 00:12:41,120 --> 00:12:44,120 Speaker 1: his wife's just had a baby. But he's hanging around 211 00:12:44,120 --> 00:12:46,920 Speaker 1: so that he can talk to the King about this 212 00:12:47,120 --> 00:12:50,960 Speaker 1: Spanish expedition he'd like to get going. And he's becoming 213 00:12:51,000 --> 00:12:54,640 Speaker 1: increasingly angry because Charles keeps putting him off and putting 214 00:12:54,679 --> 00:12:57,480 Speaker 1: him off, and eventually he warns him that they might 215 00:12:57,520 --> 00:13:01,079 Speaker 1: soon be discussing civil war rather in foreign war if 216 00:13:01,080 --> 00:13:04,680 Speaker 1: he doesn't get his meeting. And he also hears the 217 00:13:04,679 --> 00:13:07,679 Speaker 1: plot might be hashing. I mean, you know, word is 218 00:13:07,679 --> 00:13:10,200 Speaker 1: going to spread in these times, but it doesn't bother 219 00:13:10,280 --> 00:13:13,000 Speaker 1: him too much. He's gonna stick around in Paris because 220 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:17,199 Speaker 1: he really wants to talk to Charles. So Friday, Augusty, 221 00:13:17,640 --> 00:13:21,080 Speaker 1: the celebrations end and Colony is out on a walk 222 00:13:21,559 --> 00:13:25,319 Speaker 1: when the Geese assassin strikes and it's a shot from 223 00:13:25,360 --> 00:13:28,920 Speaker 1: a window above the street, but right at that moment, 224 00:13:29,200 --> 00:13:32,880 Speaker 1: Colony bends down to adjust his shoe, so the shot 225 00:13:33,280 --> 00:13:36,560 Speaker 1: misses him. It just strikes his arm, breaks it and 226 00:13:36,600 --> 00:13:39,840 Speaker 1: almost shoots off his finger, but he's not killed. There's 227 00:13:39,880 --> 00:13:42,760 Speaker 1: a lesson there, maybe to always tie your shoe. I'm 228 00:13:42,800 --> 00:13:46,640 Speaker 1: not sure, but the Huguenots, of course, are enraged by 229 00:13:46,760 --> 00:13:50,000 Speaker 1: this incident, and Charles, who didn't know about it, promises 230 00:13:50,040 --> 00:13:53,439 Speaker 1: that he'll find the party's involved, not realizing of course, 231 00:13:53,480 --> 00:13:57,959 Speaker 1: that his mother is behind it. And remarkably, Coligny stays 232 00:13:58,080 --> 00:14:01,080 Speaker 1: in town instead of leaving, which I would have done, 233 00:14:01,280 --> 00:14:04,920 Speaker 1: because he trusts Charles and trusts that he'll figure this 234 00:14:04,960 --> 00:14:07,320 Speaker 1: out and set things right. He believes them well, and 235 00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:09,679 Speaker 1: fleeing would have been a huge insult to the king 236 00:14:09,720 --> 00:14:12,600 Speaker 1: once he asked him to stay. And by this point too, 237 00:14:12,679 --> 00:14:16,080 Speaker 1: things are starting to get kind of scary in Paris. 238 00:14:16,440 --> 00:14:21,040 Speaker 1: The Huguenots are obviously furious that their leader has had 239 00:14:21,080 --> 00:14:25,280 Speaker 1: this assassination attempt, and the Catholic Parisians are starting to 240 00:14:25,280 --> 00:14:28,080 Speaker 1: get kind of angry too. I think they're tired of 241 00:14:28,160 --> 00:14:31,440 Speaker 1: the Huguenots being around. This party has gone on too 242 00:14:31,480 --> 00:14:35,800 Speaker 1: long by this point, but Catherine's involvement in this failed 243 00:14:35,840 --> 00:14:40,240 Speaker 1: assassination attempt cannot be found out, so she meets with 244 00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:44,240 Speaker 1: Nobles secretly to determine what to do next, and their 245 00:14:44,280 --> 00:14:48,600 Speaker 1: decision is to kill all of the Huguenot Nobles and 246 00:14:48,800 --> 00:14:52,640 Speaker 1: captains who are still in Paris, which makes you wonder 247 00:14:52,760 --> 00:14:55,960 Speaker 1: how they came to such a radical decision. And this 248 00:14:56,120 --> 00:14:59,920 Speaker 1: is where things get a little bit dicey. Historically, Suppo 249 00:15:00,320 --> 00:15:03,720 Speaker 1: Lee the royalists, you know, Catherine and her nobles had 250 00:15:03,760 --> 00:15:07,240 Speaker 1: heard that the Huguenots were about to attack them, so 251 00:15:07,400 --> 00:15:10,680 Speaker 1: in order to avoid a coup, they decide, okay, well 252 00:15:10,720 --> 00:15:14,440 Speaker 1: will attack first. But later historians have said that it's 253 00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:18,200 Speaker 1: probably unlikely there was a major Protestant coup in the 254 00:15:18,240 --> 00:15:22,520 Speaker 1: works at this time, although I watched an interesting video 255 00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:26,440 Speaker 1: from historian Barbara at Diefendorff at Boston University, and she 256 00:15:26,520 --> 00:15:31,000 Speaker 1: said it didn't really matter if the Protestants were actually 257 00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:33,480 Speaker 1: going to stage a coup or not. Just the fact 258 00:15:33,520 --> 00:15:36,520 Speaker 1: that Catherine and the other nobles thought it might happen 259 00:15:36,840 --> 00:15:40,080 Speaker 1: was enough to to warrant their strike in their eyes 260 00:15:40,120 --> 00:15:42,960 Speaker 1: at least. And this is there. Let me think about it. 261 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:46,720 Speaker 1: You have all of the powerful Huguenots in your own capital, 262 00:15:46,960 --> 00:15:48,800 Speaker 1: some of them them are staying in your own palace 263 00:15:48,880 --> 00:15:52,080 Speaker 1: to love, and in a few days they're all going 264 00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:55,960 Speaker 1: to go home, back to their own palaces, maybe raised 265 00:15:56,000 --> 00:15:59,040 Speaker 1: their own armies. If they're planning a coup. It's the 266 00:15:59,080 --> 00:16:04,720 Speaker 1: time to strike. This is reminiscent of the Pozzi conspiracory reminiscing. Okay, 267 00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:07,520 Speaker 1: so they've made their decision, but they need the King's 268 00:16:07,560 --> 00:16:10,120 Speaker 1: approval to go through with it, and they break to 269 00:16:10,240 --> 00:16:13,400 Speaker 1: him that actually they were behind the plot the whole 270 00:16:13,400 --> 00:16:16,600 Speaker 1: time and convince him that the Huguenots are about to 271 00:16:16,640 --> 00:16:20,760 Speaker 1: try to pull this coup, and he's basically bullied into 272 00:16:20,800 --> 00:16:25,600 Speaker 1: giving his assent to execute a select list of people 273 00:16:25,840 --> 00:16:29,560 Speaker 1: to kill, and he supposedly says kill them all, kill 274 00:16:29,640 --> 00:16:32,840 Speaker 1: them all, or maybe one of the geezes says that 275 00:16:32,960 --> 00:16:37,280 Speaker 1: later as a direct quote of the king, but um, 276 00:16:37,400 --> 00:16:41,640 Speaker 1: we should emphasize that his ascent is to kill the 277 00:16:41,680 --> 00:16:44,120 Speaker 1: people on the list, and just the people on the 278 00:16:44,240 --> 00:16:47,600 Speaker 1: it's not consent to the masker that ends up happening. 279 00:16:47,880 --> 00:16:50,840 Speaker 1: The killings are planned for the early morning on St. 280 00:16:50,840 --> 00:16:54,880 Speaker 1: Bartholomew's Day, August, and they're to be carried out by 281 00:16:54,920 --> 00:16:58,960 Speaker 1: the King's royal bodyguards and GE's troops. At the same time, 282 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:02,080 Speaker 1: militia men would be guarding the city's gates and barges 283 00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:05,120 Speaker 1: would block the sun, so they're shutting off the city 284 00:17:05,320 --> 00:17:07,560 Speaker 1: and the signal would be the three am bell of 285 00:17:07,600 --> 00:17:11,000 Speaker 1: the Palais de Justice. But the massacre starts a minute 286 00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:13,840 Speaker 1: earlier when a bell rings out from a different church, 287 00:17:14,440 --> 00:17:17,560 Speaker 1: and the first one to be killed is COLLEENI, one 288 00:17:17,600 --> 00:17:21,919 Speaker 1: of the first major major leaders, and he's very disdainful 289 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:25,399 Speaker 1: of his Geese guard assassin. He says, I should at 290 00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:28,320 Speaker 1: least be killed by a gentleman and not by this boar. 291 00:17:28,920 --> 00:17:31,640 Speaker 1: And then he's run through with the sword, thrown out 292 00:17:31,640 --> 00:17:35,680 Speaker 1: the window, alive and later beheaded. And at the loop 293 00:17:35,840 --> 00:17:39,480 Speaker 1: there's all out slaughter going on. Henry of Navarre had 294 00:17:39,520 --> 00:17:42,200 Speaker 1: woken up early, you couldn't sleep, decides to play a 295 00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:44,560 Speaker 1: little game of tennis with his friends while he waits 296 00:17:44,600 --> 00:17:47,240 Speaker 1: for Charles to wake up, and on the way to 297 00:17:47,320 --> 00:17:49,800 Speaker 1: the tennis courts, he and his friends are stopped by 298 00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:53,720 Speaker 1: the King's men and separated. His companions are probably all 299 00:17:53,800 --> 00:17:57,600 Speaker 1: taken away and killed immediately, but Navarre is locked up 300 00:17:57,640 --> 00:18:00,720 Speaker 1: with his cousin, the Prince of Conde. First safety. These 301 00:18:00,760 --> 00:18:02,240 Speaker 1: two are going to be spared. They're not going to 302 00:18:02,359 --> 00:18:06,919 Speaker 1: be killed in this massacre of Protestants. The Huguenots staying 303 00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:09,399 Speaker 1: in the palace are dragged from their beds and have 304 00:18:09,520 --> 00:18:12,600 Speaker 1: their throats slit. Some try to hide some time to 305 00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:15,520 Speaker 1: run in the courtyard, but they're shot down by archers 306 00:18:15,640 --> 00:18:19,439 Speaker 1: or pushed toward the line of Swiss guards. And a 307 00:18:19,600 --> 00:18:23,320 Speaker 1: sad note about katherine daughters Margo Um, she's now, of course, 308 00:18:23,400 --> 00:18:26,240 Speaker 1: the wife of a Huguenot and she's in the middle 309 00:18:26,280 --> 00:18:29,240 Speaker 1: of all of it. Yeah, her sister had tried to 310 00:18:29,320 --> 00:18:31,560 Speaker 1: warn her if something was going on, didn't give her 311 00:18:31,600 --> 00:18:34,800 Speaker 1: details of the plot, but had begged her mother to 312 00:18:34,920 --> 00:18:38,000 Speaker 1: let Margot stay with them for the night, and Catherine 313 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:40,479 Speaker 1: wouldn't allow it because she figured if her if her 314 00:18:40,600 --> 00:18:45,199 Speaker 1: daughter didn't return to the Huguenot apartments, Um, the Protestants 315 00:18:45,280 --> 00:18:47,760 Speaker 1: might realize something was up. So yeah, Margot is in 316 00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:50,280 Speaker 1: the middle of all this. She's actually in bed when 317 00:18:50,680 --> 00:18:54,199 Speaker 1: one of her husband's men comes running in covered in 318 00:18:54,320 --> 00:18:57,720 Speaker 1: blood and clings to her for dear life, being pursued 319 00:18:57,960 --> 00:19:01,040 Speaker 1: you know, by an assassin right behind him. The guy 320 00:19:01,040 --> 00:19:05,119 Speaker 1: actually spares his life, and Margot personally petitions for a 321 00:19:05,200 --> 00:19:09,880 Speaker 1: couple more of her husband's men. But by five am, 322 00:19:09,920 --> 00:19:13,520 Speaker 1: nearly all of the major French Protestants have been killed, 323 00:19:13,560 --> 00:19:18,040 Speaker 1: so the list has been killed by five By five am, 324 00:19:18,080 --> 00:19:21,600 Speaker 1: but the killing doesn't stop with the list. The rest 325 00:19:21,640 --> 00:19:25,399 Speaker 1: of the populace gets involved. Lots of French Protestants have 326 00:19:25,520 --> 00:19:27,800 Speaker 1: brought their families into town for the wedding and they 327 00:19:27,840 --> 00:19:31,560 Speaker 1: can't escape. Their homes are rated, their children are killed, 328 00:19:31,600 --> 00:19:34,959 Speaker 1: their bodies are thrown in the river, and personal issues 329 00:19:34,960 --> 00:19:37,440 Speaker 1: that have absolutely nothing to do with religion were also 330 00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:41,399 Speaker 1: settled in the chaos. Because if everyone's getting killed, who's 331 00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:44,119 Speaker 1: going to know? If you kill your creditor or your 332 00:19:44,240 --> 00:19:47,720 Speaker 1: enemy or your wife, it's a good time to take 333 00:19:47,760 --> 00:19:52,600 Speaker 1: care of things. Nobody will notice. Um. So Charles obviously 334 00:19:52,800 --> 00:19:56,399 Speaker 1: was not intending for this level of bloodshed to happen, 335 00:19:56,480 --> 00:19:59,320 Speaker 1: and he asks the people of Paris to please stop, 336 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:02,720 Speaker 1: and they don't. It goes on for three days, and 337 00:20:02,760 --> 00:20:05,920 Speaker 1: then it spreads to the provinces, where it goes on 338 00:20:06,080 --> 00:20:08,879 Speaker 1: until October. And Katie and I were talking about what 339 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:12,200 Speaker 1: sort of message would that be. You have a guy 340 00:20:12,359 --> 00:20:14,760 Speaker 1: rides out and says they're killing everyone in Paris, you 341 00:20:14,800 --> 00:20:16,800 Speaker 1: should do that where you are. We're not sure how 342 00:20:16,840 --> 00:20:19,600 Speaker 1: that works. The final tally is a bit up in 343 00:20:19,640 --> 00:20:22,880 Speaker 1: the air. A Catholic apologist puts it at only two thousand. 344 00:20:23,080 --> 00:20:26,320 Speaker 1: A Huguenot puts it at seventy thousand, but it's likely 345 00:20:26,359 --> 00:20:28,879 Speaker 1: that there were at least three thousand people killed in 346 00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:33,560 Speaker 1: Paris alone, and a few senior Huguenots do manage to escape. 347 00:20:33,600 --> 00:20:36,240 Speaker 1: A few people have decided that they might want to 348 00:20:36,560 --> 00:20:39,080 Speaker 1: move their quarters across the river, you know, just in 349 00:20:39,119 --> 00:20:43,000 Speaker 1: case trouble broke out between all the Catholics and all 350 00:20:43,040 --> 00:20:46,040 Speaker 1: the Huguenots that were in Paris at once, and a 351 00:20:46,080 --> 00:20:50,000 Speaker 1: few of them ended up being able to escape, and uh, 352 00:20:50,119 --> 00:20:55,080 Speaker 1: they were the seeds for new rebellion. So the aftermath 353 00:20:55,480 --> 00:20:59,720 Speaker 1: is that the Valvois cannot get their story straight about 354 00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:04,720 Speaker 1: what happened. Charles is telling contradictory tales. To the Protestants. 355 00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:08,119 Speaker 1: He says that it was a popular uprising organized by 356 00:21:08,119 --> 00:21:11,240 Speaker 1: the Geese, just a personal vendetta, y'all. And then to 357 00:21:11,440 --> 00:21:14,480 Speaker 1: the Catholics, he says it was something that he specifically 358 00:21:14,560 --> 00:21:18,320 Speaker 1: ordered to prevent a conspiracy against the crown. But of 359 00:21:18,359 --> 00:21:21,760 Speaker 1: course some Catholics, like Philip the Second in Spain and 360 00:21:22,040 --> 00:21:25,639 Speaker 1: the Pope in Rome, see it initially as oh, Great 361 00:21:25,800 --> 00:21:30,840 Speaker 1: France has finally started a religious war, and they're really happy. 362 00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:34,720 Speaker 1: Philip even does a little jig supposedly, which seems very 363 00:21:34,800 --> 00:21:38,960 Speaker 1: unlike him. Um. But they realized pretty quickly that no, 364 00:21:39,240 --> 00:21:42,879 Speaker 1: it wasn't a religious for it was politically motivated, and 365 00:21:43,359 --> 00:21:48,960 Speaker 1: stop being so congratulatory. And many Protestants had been sticking 366 00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:51,400 Speaker 1: to the line that they were loyal to the king, 367 00:21:51,680 --> 00:21:55,000 Speaker 1: thinking that he just had bad advisors, that it wasn't him. 368 00:21:55,200 --> 00:21:57,919 Speaker 1: But now they decide that they can't be loyal to 369 00:21:58,000 --> 00:22:02,359 Speaker 1: the man who accepts responsibility for the massacre understandably, and 370 00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:06,520 Speaker 1: the Huguenots throw off Calvin's views towards royal allegiance, which 371 00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:11,919 Speaker 1: makes rebellion justifiable. Now, So we have this pamphlet battle 372 00:22:11,960 --> 00:22:14,440 Speaker 1: that begins too, and this is probably most of the 373 00:22:14,480 --> 00:22:17,880 Speaker 1: engravings you've seen. Maybe Catherine standing there in black over 374 00:22:18,119 --> 00:22:21,200 Speaker 1: piles of dead babies, this is from this time period, 375 00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:25,960 Speaker 1: and Charles is depicted as a maniacal king who laughed 376 00:22:26,040 --> 00:22:29,440 Speaker 1: when he watched his people killed from his window. Or 377 00:22:29,520 --> 00:22:33,760 Speaker 1: maybe he's this emotionally disturbed man who is manipulated by 378 00:22:33,800 --> 00:22:37,840 Speaker 1: his foreign mother, who's the Black Queen, and who is 379 00:22:37,880 --> 00:22:41,680 Speaker 1: not just foreign, she's Italian, which makes it doubly bad. 380 00:22:42,240 --> 00:22:45,399 Speaker 1: So ultimately we just have these caricatures of these people 381 00:22:45,520 --> 00:22:48,840 Speaker 1: instead of who they really were, and Catherine de Medici 382 00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:52,639 Speaker 1: has retained this reputation throughout much of history. Charles was 383 00:22:52,920 --> 00:22:56,639 Speaker 1: haunted by the massacre, actually and chronically ill. He died 384 00:22:56,680 --> 00:23:01,240 Speaker 1: soon afterward, and his brother became Henry the Third, and Catherine, 385 00:23:01,280 --> 00:23:05,600 Speaker 1: always involved in her children's lives, continues to promote her 386 00:23:05,640 --> 00:23:08,480 Speaker 1: son's throne. This is her favorite son too, by the way, 387 00:23:08,640 --> 00:23:11,480 Speaker 1: and mainly her role for him, since he is a 388 00:23:11,520 --> 00:23:14,159 Speaker 1: full grown man, is to rein him in from his 389 00:23:14,320 --> 00:23:18,360 Speaker 1: kind of dangerous inclinations sometimes. But she dies in fifteen 390 00:23:18,480 --> 00:23:23,400 Speaker 1: eighty nine, and eight months later he's murdered by uh 391 00:23:23,640 --> 00:23:28,840 Speaker 1: deranged friar and he dies without children, So the crown 392 00:23:29,200 --> 00:23:32,920 Speaker 1: goes to a junior branch of the family, the Bourbons, 393 00:23:33,040 --> 00:23:36,600 Speaker 1: and his cousin Henry of Navarre. Henry the Fourth, he 394 00:23:36,720 --> 00:23:40,280 Speaker 1: was the groom at the pre massacre wedding festivities, who's 395 00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:44,000 Speaker 1: married to Margot Valvois. But Margot and Henry, who were 396 00:23:44,040 --> 00:23:46,280 Speaker 1: never interested in each other in the first place, to 397 00:23:46,280 --> 00:23:49,919 Speaker 1: be honest, ultimately annull their marriage, which allows Henry to 398 00:23:49,960 --> 00:23:53,199 Speaker 1: make a new match, and with this new wife, he 399 00:23:53,280 --> 00:23:55,800 Speaker 1: goes on to found the Bourbon line of Kings that 400 00:23:55,960 --> 00:23:59,480 Speaker 1: ends nearly two hundred years later with Louis the sixteenth 401 00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:03,359 Speaker 1: and the friend Revolution and who is his wife, Marie 402 00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:07,239 Speaker 1: de Medici of course, So we're so pleased with this 403 00:24:07,280 --> 00:24:11,080 Speaker 1: little bit of historical symmetry, and it wraps up our 404 00:24:11,119 --> 00:24:13,760 Speaker 1: series in the Medici that started with the murder at 405 00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:17,720 Speaker 1: the Duomo, but it also sets up another series that 406 00:24:17,800 --> 00:24:22,120 Speaker 1: we could do someday. So Bourbon King's anybody let us 407 00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:24,639 Speaker 1: know what you think. You can follow us on Twitter 408 00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:28,040 Speaker 1: at misst in History. We also have a Facebook fan 409 00:24:28,119 --> 00:24:31,320 Speaker 1: page and you can give us your suggestions there. One 410 00:24:31,320 --> 00:24:34,679 Speaker 1: more little note on Catherine, though, for all of her splendor, 411 00:24:34,920 --> 00:24:38,840 Speaker 1: she liked to keep her personal quarters very personal. She 412 00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:43,400 Speaker 1: decorated them with all these family portraits, the her Medici ancestors, 413 00:24:43,480 --> 00:24:47,800 Speaker 1: the Vala family, her kids, her grandkids, her nieces and nephews. 414 00:24:48,080 --> 00:24:50,920 Speaker 1: So think of it kind of like a grandmother's cluttered 415 00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:56,040 Speaker 1: table of little photographs. Um. She also likes games, and 416 00:24:56,160 --> 00:24:59,719 Speaker 1: she keeps lots of them on hand, many billiards and chess, 417 00:24:59,800 --> 00:25:05,280 Speaker 1: and huge library of books that is devoted to game strategy. Um. 418 00:25:05,280 --> 00:25:07,639 Speaker 1: So we think that she probably would have liked a 419 00:25:07,680 --> 00:25:11,960 Speaker 1: couple of articles here at how stuff Works, how chess Works, 420 00:25:12,160 --> 00:25:15,840 Speaker 1: or perhaps even how Yazi Works, which you can find 421 00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:19,399 Speaker 1: if you search on our homepage at www dot how 422 00:25:19,480 --> 00:25:23,520 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com. For more on this and thousands 423 00:25:23,560 --> 00:25:26,320 Speaker 1: of other topics, visit how stuff works dot com and 424 00:25:26,359 --> 00:25:28,000 Speaker 1: be sure to check out the stuff you missed in 425 00:25:28,080 --> 00:25:30,480 Speaker 1: history Class blog on the house stuff works dot com 426 00:25:30,560 --> 00:25:31,000 Speaker 1: home page