1 00:00:02,320 --> 00:00:06,000 Speaker 1: Hello and happy Saturday. As we promised last week, today 2 00:00:06,080 --> 00:00:09,360 Speaker 1: we are concluding the story of Catherine de Medici, including 3 00:00:09,440 --> 00:00:13,200 Speaker 1: her connection to the St. Bartholomus Day massacre. Look forward 4 00:00:13,240 --> 00:00:15,960 Speaker 1: to Catherine coming up again on our new episodes of 5 00:00:15,960 --> 00:00:18,480 Speaker 1: the show this week as well, And if you're interested 6 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:21,319 Speaker 1: in hearing the other episodes that are referenced in today's show, 7 00:00:21,400 --> 00:00:24,200 Speaker 1: we'll have a link to all the Medici episodes from 8 00:00:24,200 --> 00:00:27,000 Speaker 1: both this super series that these two episodes were part 9 00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:29,320 Speaker 1: of and from later hosts will have that in the 10 00:00:29,360 --> 00:00:35,560 Speaker 1: show notes of today's episode. Welcome to Stuff you missed 11 00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:45,720 Speaker 1: in History Class from how Stuff Works dot Com. Hello, 12 00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:48,680 Speaker 1: and welcome to the podcast. I'm Katie Lambert and I'm 13 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:51,519 Speaker 1: Sarah Dowie. And when we left Katherine de Medici in 14 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:55,440 Speaker 1: our previous podcast, she was a grieving widow. Her husband 15 00:00:55,440 --> 00:00:58,720 Speaker 1: had just been killed in a jousting accident, a terrible 16 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:02,240 Speaker 1: jousting accident which going to take the opportunity to relive 17 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:06,200 Speaker 1: one more time. He receives a lance in the eye 18 00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:09,680 Speaker 1: through the brain and it takes him ten agonizing days 19 00:01:09,720 --> 00:01:12,880 Speaker 1: to die. So that's where we left off and it's 20 00:01:12,959 --> 00:01:14,840 Speaker 1: where we're gonna pick up again. I can see why 21 00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:18,160 Speaker 1: you want to relive up Sarah. She's left as regent 22 00:01:18,440 --> 00:01:22,720 Speaker 1: for her sickly weak minded fifteen year old son, Francis 23 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:25,840 Speaker 1: the second, who ended up married to Mary, Queen of 24 00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:29,440 Speaker 1: Scott's which connects our meta cheese series to our Tutor 25 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:31,560 Speaker 1: Stuart series, which that's the key, that's why this is 26 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:35,640 Speaker 1: a super series which we've been so excited about. Um. 27 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:39,560 Speaker 1: But Catherine replaces her cheery personal symbol of a rainbow 28 00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:43,039 Speaker 1: with that of a broken lance. She starts wearing exclusively 29 00:01:43,280 --> 00:01:47,119 Speaker 1: black morning attire, usually with a white ruff to set 30 00:01:47,160 --> 00:01:48,800 Speaker 1: it all off for the rest of her life, for 31 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:50,880 Speaker 1: the rest of her life. And and she gets to work, 32 00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:55,520 Speaker 1: and she effectively rules France through three successive sons who 33 00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:58,600 Speaker 1: are a king until she dies just shy of seventy 34 00:01:58,680 --> 00:02:02,120 Speaker 1: years old. But don't think there wasn't any trouble, because 35 00:02:02,160 --> 00:02:06,240 Speaker 1: there definitely was. The first son, Francis, didn't live very 36 00:02:06,280 --> 00:02:09,239 Speaker 1: long at all. He died at sixteen, and he was 37 00:02:09,280 --> 00:02:12,200 Speaker 1: succeeded by his ten year old brother, who became Charles 38 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:16,280 Speaker 1: the Ninth. And Catherine took this opportunity to seize full 39 00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:20,720 Speaker 1: control of the regency using her very excellent scheming skills 40 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:24,200 Speaker 1: to remain in control of her kid amid these jostling 41 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:27,480 Speaker 1: factions in France. Yeah, and she promotes him to majority 42 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:30,799 Speaker 1: at age thirteen, which is a year earlier than normal. 43 00:02:30,919 --> 00:02:35,160 Speaker 1: But she she wanted a real king of France because 44 00:02:35,480 --> 00:02:38,680 Speaker 1: these factions were so contentious at this time. And she 45 00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:41,360 Speaker 1: takes him on a grand progress of the country and 46 00:02:41,400 --> 00:02:44,120 Speaker 1: it's a big deal. It's twenty eight months of traveling, 47 00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:48,840 Speaker 1: moving between chateau and tents and taking barges and horses 48 00:02:48,880 --> 00:02:53,320 Speaker 1: and having all these elaborate festivals and banquets. And Catherine 49 00:02:53,360 --> 00:02:55,720 Speaker 1: is kind of an elaborate lady. Anyways. We learned in 50 00:02:56,120 --> 00:02:59,960 Speaker 1: Leonie Frieda's book Um Catherine de Medici, Renaissance Queen of France, 51 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:02,880 Speaker 1: that she keeps bears in her retinue. And you know 52 00:03:02,880 --> 00:03:04,960 Speaker 1: how much Katie and I love bears, but a woman 53 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:07,840 Speaker 1: after and these are kind of sad bears though they 54 00:03:07,880 --> 00:03:11,200 Speaker 1: have pierced noses and their their chain to her leader, 55 00:03:11,240 --> 00:03:14,160 Speaker 1: but they follow her around. I mean, how crazy is 56 00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:18,000 Speaker 1: that She's also got a monkey a parent, and an 57 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:22,280 Speaker 1: entire household of dwarves who are brocades and fur and 58 00:03:22,360 --> 00:03:25,480 Speaker 1: have their own footman and tutors, which they all hang 59 00:03:25,480 --> 00:03:28,480 Speaker 1: out with her constantly. But the point of this tour 60 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:31,520 Speaker 1: is is not just to to show off and show 61 00:03:31,520 --> 00:03:35,640 Speaker 1: off how magnificent the crown is, but to have the 62 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:38,800 Speaker 1: king meet and mingle with his people, and to keep 63 00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:42,240 Speaker 1: the nobles entertained, keep them away from their their country 64 00:03:42,240 --> 00:03:45,200 Speaker 1: houses where they could, I don't know, cook up plans 65 00:03:45,240 --> 00:03:48,440 Speaker 1: against the monarchy, and um just try to bring the 66 00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:52,480 Speaker 1: country back together. And she's hoping that everyone will ultimately 67 00:03:52,840 --> 00:03:56,120 Speaker 1: rally around the king and rally together for France. And 68 00:03:56,320 --> 00:03:59,000 Speaker 1: this is something the country really needs at the time, 69 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:02,160 Speaker 1: right because when Henry the Second died, he'd had the 70 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:05,600 Speaker 1: personal loyalty of all of their nobles, and once he 71 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:09,720 Speaker 1: was gone, the country is split again by feuding noble factions. 72 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:12,720 Speaker 1: Each of them wants control of this young king. Yeah, 73 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:15,840 Speaker 1: they're loyal to the crown still, but they don't have 74 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:20,680 Speaker 1: that personal loyalty that they had to the to Charles 75 00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:25,080 Speaker 1: and Frances before him, to their father. So the principal 76 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:27,480 Speaker 1: nobles we're going to keep an eye on here are 77 00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:31,279 Speaker 1: the Geese family and they are the ultra Catholics. And 78 00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:34,040 Speaker 1: then there's the Bourbon family, who are princes of the blood, 79 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:37,960 Speaker 1: which makes them, uh, the second family in France after 80 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:42,360 Speaker 1: the royal family itself, and the Bourbons are Protestant. So 81 00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:46,480 Speaker 1: just remember those two sides throughout this whole thing, and 82 00:04:46,640 --> 00:04:50,000 Speaker 1: the issues between these two groups of nobles are also 83 00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:53,679 Speaker 1: representative of religious issues in the country as a whole. 84 00:04:53,720 --> 00:04:55,640 Speaker 1: So we're gonna give you a little background on that 85 00:04:55,680 --> 00:04:59,080 Speaker 1: to make it easier to understand. Yeah, the Reformation, of 86 00:04:59,120 --> 00:05:02,239 Speaker 1: course got it start in fifteen seventeen, two years before 87 00:05:02,400 --> 00:05:05,760 Speaker 1: Catherine was even born, um, when Luther posted his ninety 88 00:05:05,800 --> 00:05:09,840 Speaker 1: five theses, and then the zealous Protestant John Calvin is 89 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:14,520 Speaker 1: largely responsible for spreading the new religion in France. Um. 90 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:17,839 Speaker 1: And just to get a scale of how quickly things 91 00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:20,920 Speaker 1: happen here, by the fifteen fifties we have the first 92 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:25,279 Speaker 1: French Reformed churches, so this takes off from forty years 93 00:05:25,320 --> 00:05:28,440 Speaker 1: for the whole thing. And Catherine's husband, Henry the Second, 94 00:05:28,520 --> 00:05:31,840 Speaker 1: who as we learned in our previous podcast, was obsessed 95 00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:35,440 Speaker 1: with his foreign wars, was a little bit too distracted 96 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:38,599 Speaker 1: to deal adequately with these religious fractures, and he also 97 00:05:38,760 --> 00:05:41,760 Speaker 1: underestimated them and their power. And then you know, right 98 00:05:41,800 --> 00:05:44,320 Speaker 1: after he made his foreign peace. He died with a 99 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:47,479 Speaker 1: lance in his eyes, so that cut that short anyways, definitely. 100 00:05:47,800 --> 00:05:51,719 Speaker 1: So we're left with these weak child kings and Catherine 101 00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:56,000 Speaker 1: trying to patch everything up, patch up these feuding nobles 102 00:05:56,160 --> 00:06:00,960 Speaker 1: and country split by religious difference is and she's trying 103 00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:04,760 Speaker 1: to protect her children's throne. She's trying to defend her 104 00:06:04,760 --> 00:06:07,479 Speaker 1: own religion. She's a Catholic of course, and deal with 105 00:06:07,480 --> 00:06:10,920 Speaker 1: the factions, and she can't please everyone. Nobody can juggle 106 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:16,120 Speaker 1: all of that. And contrary to Catherine's later reputation as 107 00:06:16,200 --> 00:06:21,159 Speaker 1: this crazed ultra Catholic whose intent on spilling Protestant blood, 108 00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:23,719 Speaker 1: would like to do a little myth busting here, because 109 00:06:23,760 --> 00:06:27,599 Speaker 1: she really strived for moderation whenever she could, and she 110 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:31,440 Speaker 1: granted freedom of conscience and limited access to worship, which 111 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:36,479 Speaker 1: was a big, big deal. It's basically separating sedition from heresy, 112 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:39,920 Speaker 1: and no one is happy. Still. The Catholics think she's 113 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:44,120 Speaker 1: capitulating or maybe she'll even become a Protestant horror of horrors, 114 00:06:44,520 --> 00:06:47,440 Speaker 1: and the Huguenots think that it's still not enough. Yeah. 115 00:06:47,560 --> 00:06:50,839 Speaker 1: So it's weird though, because this piece that she tries 116 00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:54,039 Speaker 1: to establish the freedom of conscience and the limited access 117 00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:57,680 Speaker 1: to worship is what we end up with decades later, 118 00:06:57,839 --> 00:07:01,760 Speaker 1: after nine civil wars of her jen Um, you end 119 00:07:01,839 --> 00:07:04,880 Speaker 1: up with the same thing. It's crazy. But that's not 120 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:09,720 Speaker 1: to say that her reputation for Florentine tactics, which by 121 00:07:09,800 --> 00:07:14,120 Speaker 1: we mean murdering people and interest in the occult, wasn't deserved, 122 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:17,360 Speaker 1: because even though she was a devout Catholic, she relied 123 00:07:17,600 --> 00:07:21,960 Speaker 1: heavily on medici, astrologers, magic, and her own dream visions 124 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:27,120 Speaker 1: another podcast theme. She had consultations with Nostradamis, but her 125 00:07:27,160 --> 00:07:32,520 Speaker 1: main astrologers were the Florentine Ruggieri brothers, who were magicians, necromancers, 126 00:07:32,560 --> 00:07:35,400 Speaker 1: and men who are known for being very skilled in 127 00:07:35,440 --> 00:07:39,200 Speaker 1: the black arts. And just this weird magic mirror story 128 00:07:39,320 --> 00:07:44,640 Speaker 1: that Catherine supposedly shortly after her husband died, she um. 129 00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:48,200 Speaker 1: She consults one of the Ruggieri brothers. Um wants to 130 00:07:48,680 --> 00:07:52,560 Speaker 1: have him foretell her son's futures, and in this mirror 131 00:07:52,600 --> 00:07:55,560 Speaker 1: he pulls out, she sees her son's faces circling by, 132 00:07:55,720 --> 00:07:59,920 Speaker 1: and Ruggieri tells her that each circle they make will 133 00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:02,880 Speaker 1: stand for how many years they'll rule the kingdom. She 134 00:08:02,880 --> 00:08:06,280 Speaker 1: sees Francis go by once, her second son, Charles the Knight, 135 00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:09,840 Speaker 1: goes by fourteen times, and then her third son, who 136 00:08:09,960 --> 00:08:13,160 Speaker 1: is later Henry the Third, goes by fifteen times. In 137 00:08:13,200 --> 00:08:16,880 Speaker 1: the final faith she sees is Henry, Prince of Navarre. 138 00:08:17,040 --> 00:08:19,960 Speaker 1: So it's really spooky and kind of a bad uh, 139 00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:24,160 Speaker 1: a bad omen for Catherine. She also had a guy 140 00:08:24,200 --> 00:08:28,400 Speaker 1: in her life, Metro Renee, who mixed up potions for 141 00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:34,320 Speaker 1: her and supposedly poison gloves and poison rouge. And although 142 00:08:34,320 --> 00:08:37,120 Speaker 1: it's likely that Catherine had people taken out, you know, 143 00:08:37,200 --> 00:08:40,280 Speaker 1: had her own little hit list, she probably didn't poison 144 00:08:40,320 --> 00:08:43,760 Speaker 1: any fellow queens with poison gloves. But this is the 145 00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:47,200 Speaker 1: kind of stuff that earns her her nickname the Black Queen. 146 00:08:47,480 --> 00:08:51,560 Speaker 1: And that massacre were about to discuss, Yeah, that's a 147 00:08:51,600 --> 00:09:02,720 Speaker 1: really big part of it. We're gonna set the stage 148 00:09:02,760 --> 00:09:06,320 Speaker 1: for the massacre. While there are eventually nine wars of 149 00:09:06,320 --> 00:09:09,040 Speaker 1: religion in France at the time of the massacre, which 150 00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:12,080 Speaker 1: is in fifteen seventy two, we've only had three so far, 151 00:09:12,679 --> 00:09:16,760 Speaker 1: and the wars have polished off the main Bourbon Protestant leaders, 152 00:09:16,880 --> 00:09:21,079 Speaker 1: leaving two young princess figureheads. And that's the Prince de 153 00:09:21,160 --> 00:09:25,000 Speaker 1: Conde and Henry of Navarre, who we've already mentioned um 154 00:09:25,040 --> 00:09:28,760 Speaker 1: and Catherine has just arranged a peacemaking marriage kind of 155 00:09:28,920 --> 00:09:31,800 Speaker 1: I think, uh the Yorks and the Lancasters sort of 156 00:09:31,840 --> 00:09:35,480 Speaker 1: like that, between Henry of Navarre and her daughter Margaret, 157 00:09:35,480 --> 00:09:38,720 Speaker 1: who is known as Margot. And this marriage is going 158 00:09:38,760 --> 00:09:43,040 Speaker 1: to unite the Vala family, the royal family with the Bourbons, 159 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:46,520 Speaker 1: so that's uniting the senior in the junior branches of 160 00:09:46,559 --> 00:09:49,240 Speaker 1: the royal line. And it's also going to unite the 161 00:09:49,280 --> 00:09:52,720 Speaker 1: Catholics and the Protestants, because of course Margot is a Catholic, 162 00:09:52,760 --> 00:09:56,400 Speaker 1: Henry of Navar is a Protestant. So it's this great 163 00:09:56,640 --> 00:10:00,880 Speaker 1: um symbol of peace and goodwill, and thousands of people 164 00:10:01,240 --> 00:10:04,160 Speaker 1: are going to come into Paris, nobles, regular people of 165 00:10:04,200 --> 00:10:08,840 Speaker 1: both religions to see the nuptials. And we have another 166 00:10:08,960 --> 00:10:13,480 Speaker 1: important player in this setup. Since the Bourbon Huguenot leaders 167 00:10:13,520 --> 00:10:16,520 Speaker 1: are dead, we have a guy named Admiral Gaspar, the 168 00:10:16,600 --> 00:10:20,240 Speaker 1: second Coligni, at the head of our movement. He had 169 00:10:20,280 --> 00:10:23,160 Speaker 1: just returned to court about a year earlier and had 170 00:10:23,240 --> 00:10:27,520 Speaker 1: begun currying favor with the king, and his uncle had 171 00:10:27,559 --> 00:10:32,800 Speaker 1: been a great trusted adviser to Henry the Second. So yes, 172 00:10:32,880 --> 00:10:35,520 Speaker 1: so guess Bar's idea is that maybe he can take 173 00:10:35,559 --> 00:10:39,520 Speaker 1: on a similar role with Charles the Ninth, who, as 174 00:10:39,559 --> 00:10:42,320 Speaker 1: a young man, is starting to get ready to take 175 00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:44,960 Speaker 1: on more responsibility, take over some of it from his 176 00:10:45,080 --> 00:10:50,439 Speaker 1: mom and upstage his younger brother's glamorous military reputation. So 177 00:10:50,600 --> 00:10:53,800 Speaker 1: Gaspar has a plan, and he's hoping that it will 178 00:10:53,840 --> 00:10:57,400 Speaker 1: bring him personally closer to the king, but he's also 179 00:10:57,440 --> 00:11:02,080 Speaker 1: hoping that it will give the Huguenots more recognition, more rights, 180 00:11:02,160 --> 00:11:05,080 Speaker 1: more respect in France. And the plan is to take 181 00:11:05,280 --> 00:11:10,359 Speaker 1: French Catholics and French Huguenots and together fight the Spanish 182 00:11:10,440 --> 00:11:13,959 Speaker 1: in the Netherlands. And the wedding ceremonies that are going 183 00:11:13,960 --> 00:11:17,440 Speaker 1: on in Paris offer the perfect opportunity for Gaspard to 184 00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:21,440 Speaker 1: discuss this plan with Charles and to try to get 185 00:11:21,440 --> 00:11:26,960 Speaker 1: his approval. But unfortunately for him, Coligni is very unpopular 186 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:30,240 Speaker 1: with the other members of the court. The very Catholic 187 00:11:30,320 --> 00:11:33,640 Speaker 1: Gee family doesn't want war with Spain and they hate 188 00:11:33,679 --> 00:11:37,320 Speaker 1: Collini because they consider him responsible for a murder in 189 00:11:37,360 --> 00:11:40,840 Speaker 1: their family, the murder of Francois de Guise ten years earlier, 190 00:11:41,360 --> 00:11:43,800 Speaker 1: and Catherine doesn't want war with Spain either. She thinks 191 00:11:43,800 --> 00:11:47,720 Speaker 1: it could be disastrous, and she doesn't like Collini's influence 192 00:11:47,760 --> 00:11:51,440 Speaker 1: on her son. So this isn't just a religious issue. 193 00:11:51,559 --> 00:11:56,920 Speaker 1: It's a it's a mixture of personal vendettas and political problems. 194 00:11:57,040 --> 00:12:00,120 Speaker 1: But going into this, we have two things happening, this 195 00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:03,240 Speaker 1: big marriage between Margot and Henry and the arrival of 196 00:12:03,280 --> 00:12:06,880 Speaker 1: Coligny to attend the wedding and discussed the plans for 197 00:12:06,920 --> 00:12:11,080 Speaker 1: the war against Spain. So Catherine had long banned the 198 00:12:11,120 --> 00:12:15,480 Speaker 1: Geezes from enacting their revenge on Collini for this murder. 199 00:12:15,520 --> 00:12:17,600 Speaker 1: He may not even have been involved by the way 200 00:12:17,800 --> 00:12:20,839 Speaker 1: his name got roped into it, and yeah, he probably 201 00:12:20,880 --> 00:12:22,920 Speaker 1: didn't have much to do with it. But then she 202 00:12:23,080 --> 00:12:26,240 Speaker 1: lifts this band so he's basically back on a possible 203 00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:30,439 Speaker 1: hit list, and approves the plan to assassinate him the 204 00:12:30,559 --> 00:12:34,360 Speaker 1: day after the wedding ceremonies end, So we have a 205 00:12:34,400 --> 00:12:39,480 Speaker 1: brief interlude here of the happy peacemaking wedding. On August 206 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:44,560 Speaker 1: fifty two, Margot and Henry Nvar marry outside of Notre Dame, 207 00:12:44,760 --> 00:12:47,440 Speaker 1: and then she has a mass inside with her brother 208 00:12:47,679 --> 00:12:51,360 Speaker 1: by proxy because of course Henry, as a Protestant, cannot 209 00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:54,760 Speaker 1: take part in a mass, and she wears an ermine 210 00:12:54,760 --> 00:12:57,560 Speaker 1: trimmed crown and a coat with a thirty ft train. 211 00:12:57,600 --> 00:12:59,320 Speaker 1: We just thought we'd throw in a few we like 212 00:12:59,440 --> 00:13:03,400 Speaker 1: fashion details before things get really bloody here. And the 213 00:13:03,440 --> 00:13:05,880 Speaker 1: festivities gone for days, you know, kind of like the 214 00:13:05,920 --> 00:13:08,680 Speaker 1: wedding we talked about earlier of Henry the Second and 215 00:13:08,800 --> 00:13:14,080 Speaker 1: Catherine Um just grand festivities, days and days of them, 216 00:13:14,160 --> 00:13:16,960 Speaker 1: and Colleeny himself isn't a big party or so, he's 217 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:19,160 Speaker 1: not really taking part in a lot of this celebration, 218 00:13:20,120 --> 00:13:22,400 Speaker 1: and he doesn't even really want to be there. In fact, 219 00:13:22,440 --> 00:13:25,400 Speaker 1: his wife's just had a baby. But he's hanging around 220 00:13:25,400 --> 00:13:28,240 Speaker 1: so that he can talk to the king about this 221 00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:32,240 Speaker 1: Spanish expedition he'd like to get going, and he's becoming 222 00:13:32,280 --> 00:13:35,920 Speaker 1: increasingly angry because Charles keeps putting him off and putting 223 00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:38,760 Speaker 1: him off, and eventually he warns him that they might 224 00:13:38,840 --> 00:13:42,360 Speaker 1: soon be discussing civil war rather than foreign war if 225 00:13:42,400 --> 00:13:45,960 Speaker 1: he doesn't get his meeting, and he also hears the 226 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:48,959 Speaker 1: plot might be hashing. I mean, you know, word is 227 00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:51,520 Speaker 1: going to spread in these times, but it doesn't bother 228 00:13:51,600 --> 00:13:54,240 Speaker 1: him too much. He's gonna stick around in Paris because 229 00:13:54,280 --> 00:13:58,120 Speaker 1: he really wants to talk to Charles. So Friday August 230 00:13:58,920 --> 00:14:02,360 Speaker 1: the celebrations end and Coligny is out on a walk 231 00:14:02,840 --> 00:14:06,640 Speaker 1: when the gee assassin strikes and it's a shot from 232 00:14:06,640 --> 00:14:10,240 Speaker 1: a window above the street, but right at that moment, 233 00:14:10,480 --> 00:14:14,200 Speaker 1: Colony bends down to adjust his shoe, so the shot 234 00:14:14,559 --> 00:14:17,840 Speaker 1: misses him. It just strikes his arm, breaks it and 235 00:14:17,880 --> 00:14:21,160 Speaker 1: almost shoots off his finger, but he's not killed. There's 236 00:14:21,200 --> 00:14:24,080 Speaker 1: a lesson there, maybe to always tie your shoe, I'm 237 00:14:24,080 --> 00:14:27,920 Speaker 1: not sure. But the Huguenots, of course, are enraged by 238 00:14:28,040 --> 00:14:31,280 Speaker 1: this incident, and Charles, who didn't know about it, promises 239 00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:34,720 Speaker 1: that he'll find the parties involved, not realizing of course, 240 00:14:34,760 --> 00:14:39,280 Speaker 1: that his mother is behind it. And remarkably, Coligny stays 241 00:14:39,360 --> 00:14:42,400 Speaker 1: in town instead of leaving, which I would have done, 242 00:14:42,600 --> 00:14:46,200 Speaker 1: because he trusts Charles and trusts that he'll figure this 243 00:14:46,280 --> 00:14:49,080 Speaker 1: out and set things right, believes him well, and fleeing 244 00:14:49,080 --> 00:14:51,240 Speaker 1: would have been a huge insult to the King once 245 00:14:51,240 --> 00:14:53,840 Speaker 1: he asked him to stay. And by this point too, 246 00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:57,360 Speaker 1: things are starting to get kind of scary in Paris. 247 00:14:57,720 --> 00:15:02,360 Speaker 1: The Huguenots are obviously furious that their leader has had 248 00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:06,560 Speaker 1: this assassination attempt, and the Catholic Parisians are starting to 249 00:15:06,560 --> 00:15:09,360 Speaker 1: get kind of angry too. I think they're tired of 250 00:15:09,440 --> 00:15:12,720 Speaker 1: the Huguenots being around. This party has gone on too 251 00:15:12,760 --> 00:15:17,120 Speaker 1: long by this point. But Catherine's involvement in this failed 252 00:15:17,120 --> 00:15:21,520 Speaker 1: assassination attempt cannot be found out, so she meets with 253 00:15:21,640 --> 00:15:25,520 Speaker 1: nobles secretly to determine what to do next, and their 254 00:15:25,600 --> 00:15:29,880 Speaker 1: decision is to kill all of the Huguenot nobles and 255 00:15:30,080 --> 00:15:33,920 Speaker 1: captains who are still in Paris, which makes you wonder 256 00:15:34,040 --> 00:15:37,320 Speaker 1: how they came to such a radical decision. And this 257 00:15:37,400 --> 00:15:41,680 Speaker 1: is where things get a little bit dicey. Historically, supposedly 258 00:15:41,840 --> 00:15:45,280 Speaker 1: the Royalists, you know, Catherine and her nobles, had heard 259 00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:48,840 Speaker 1: that the Huguenots were about to attack them, so in 260 00:15:48,960 --> 00:15:52,200 Speaker 1: order to avoid a coup, they decide, okay, well will 261 00:15:52,240 --> 00:15:56,280 Speaker 1: attack first. But later historians have said that it's probably 262 00:15:56,400 --> 00:15:59,880 Speaker 1: unlikely there was a major Protestant coup in the works 263 00:16:00,120 --> 00:16:04,560 Speaker 1: this time, although I watched an interesting video from historian 264 00:16:04,600 --> 00:16:08,200 Speaker 1: Barbara at Diefendorff at Boston University, and she said it 265 00:16:08,280 --> 00:16:12,480 Speaker 1: didn't really matter if the Protestants were actually going to 266 00:16:12,560 --> 00:16:15,440 Speaker 1: stage a coup or not. Just the fact that Catherine 267 00:16:15,440 --> 00:16:18,640 Speaker 1: and the other nobles thought it might happen was enough 268 00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:21,920 Speaker 1: to to warrant their strike in their eyes at least. 269 00:16:22,520 --> 00:16:24,360 Speaker 1: And this is there. Let me think about it. You 270 00:16:24,400 --> 00:16:28,000 Speaker 1: have all of the powerful Huguenots in your own capital, 271 00:16:28,240 --> 00:16:30,120 Speaker 1: some of them them are staying in your own palace 272 00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:33,360 Speaker 1: to love, and in a few days they're all going 273 00:16:33,400 --> 00:16:37,200 Speaker 1: to go home, back to their own palaces, maybe raise 274 00:16:37,280 --> 00:16:40,320 Speaker 1: their own armies. If they're planning a coup, it's the 275 00:16:40,360 --> 00:16:46,000 Speaker 1: time to strike. This is reminiscent of the Pozzi conspiracory reminiscing. Okay, 276 00:16:46,040 --> 00:16:48,840 Speaker 1: so they've made their decision, but they need the king's 277 00:16:48,880 --> 00:16:51,440 Speaker 1: approval to go through with it. And they break to 278 00:16:51,520 --> 00:16:54,680 Speaker 1: him that actually they were behind the plot the whole 279 00:16:54,680 --> 00:16:57,880 Speaker 1: time and convince him that the Huguenots are about to 280 00:16:57,920 --> 00:17:02,040 Speaker 1: try to pull this coup. And he's basically bullied into 281 00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:06,879 Speaker 1: giving his assent to execute a select list of people 282 00:17:07,119 --> 00:17:10,840 Speaker 1: to kill, and he supposedly says kill them all, kill 283 00:17:10,920 --> 00:17:14,119 Speaker 1: them all, or maybe one of the geezes says that 284 00:17:14,240 --> 00:17:18,639 Speaker 1: later as a direct quote of the king. But um, 285 00:17:18,680 --> 00:17:22,959 Speaker 1: we should emphasize that his ascent is to kill the 286 00:17:22,960 --> 00:17:25,440 Speaker 1: people on the list, and just the people on the 287 00:17:25,560 --> 00:17:28,880 Speaker 1: it's not consent to the massacre that ends up happening. 288 00:17:37,080 --> 00:17:40,040 Speaker 1: The killings are planned for the early morning on St. 289 00:17:40,040 --> 00:17:44,080 Speaker 1: Bartholomew's Day, August, and they're to be carried out by 290 00:17:44,119 --> 00:17:48,160 Speaker 1: the King's royal bodyguards and GIS troops. At the same time, 291 00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:51,560 Speaker 1: militiamen would be guarding the city's gates and barges would 292 00:17:51,560 --> 00:17:54,600 Speaker 1: block the sin so they're shutting off the city, and 293 00:17:54,640 --> 00:17:56,879 Speaker 1: the signal would be the three am bell of the 294 00:17:56,920 --> 00:18:00,520 Speaker 1: Palais de Justice. But the massacre starts and it earlier 295 00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:03,720 Speaker 1: when a bell rings out from a different church, and 296 00:18:03,800 --> 00:18:06,879 Speaker 1: the first one to be killed is COLLEENI, one of 297 00:18:06,920 --> 00:18:11,280 Speaker 1: the first major major leaders, and he's very disdainful of 298 00:18:11,359 --> 00:18:14,920 Speaker 1: his Geese guard assassin. He says, I should at least 299 00:18:14,920 --> 00:18:17,520 Speaker 1: be killed by a gentleman and not by this boar, 300 00:18:18,080 --> 00:18:20,800 Speaker 1: and then he's run through with the sword thrown out 301 00:18:20,840 --> 00:18:24,879 Speaker 1: the window, alive and later beheaded, and at the louver 302 00:18:25,040 --> 00:18:28,680 Speaker 1: there's all out slaughter going on. Henry of Navarre had 303 00:18:28,720 --> 00:18:31,359 Speaker 1: woken up early. He couldn't sleep, decides to play a 304 00:18:31,400 --> 00:18:33,760 Speaker 1: little game of tennis with his friends while he waits 305 00:18:33,800 --> 00:18:36,440 Speaker 1: for Charles to wake up, and on the way to 306 00:18:36,520 --> 00:18:39,000 Speaker 1: the tennis courts, he and his friends are stopped by 307 00:18:39,200 --> 00:18:42,959 Speaker 1: the King's men and separated. His companions are probably all 308 00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:46,800 Speaker 1: taken away and killed immediately, but Navarre is locked up 309 00:18:46,840 --> 00:18:49,920 Speaker 1: with his cousin, the Prince of Conde, for safety. These 310 00:18:49,960 --> 00:18:51,440 Speaker 1: two are going to be spared. They're not going to 311 00:18:51,560 --> 00:18:56,119 Speaker 1: be killed in this massacre of Protestants. The Huguenots staying 312 00:18:56,160 --> 00:18:58,600 Speaker 1: in the palace are dragged from their beds and have 313 00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:01,800 Speaker 1: their throats slit. Some try to hide some time to 314 00:19:02,040 --> 00:19:04,720 Speaker 1: run in the courtyard, but they're shot down by archers 315 00:19:04,880 --> 00:19:08,679 Speaker 1: or pushed toward the line of Swiss guards. And a 316 00:19:08,800 --> 00:19:12,520 Speaker 1: sad note about katherine daughters Margot Um. She's now, of course, 317 00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:15,440 Speaker 1: the wife of a Huguenot, and she's in the middle 318 00:19:15,480 --> 00:19:18,439 Speaker 1: of all of it. Yeah, her sister had tried to 319 00:19:18,520 --> 00:19:21,240 Speaker 1: warn her something was going on, didn't give her details 320 00:19:21,240 --> 00:19:24,280 Speaker 1: of the plot, but had begged her mother to let 321 00:19:24,320 --> 00:19:27,560 Speaker 1: Margot stay with them for the night, and Catherine wouldn't 322 00:19:27,560 --> 00:19:30,080 Speaker 1: allow it because she figured if her if her daughter 323 00:19:30,119 --> 00:19:34,640 Speaker 1: didn't return to the Huguenot apartments Um, the Protestants might 324 00:19:34,680 --> 00:19:37,080 Speaker 1: realize something was up. So yeah, Margot is in the 325 00:19:37,080 --> 00:19:40,040 Speaker 1: middle of all this. She's actually in bed when one 326 00:19:40,080 --> 00:19:44,040 Speaker 1: of her husband's men comes running in covered in blood 327 00:19:44,080 --> 00:19:47,359 Speaker 1: and clings to her for dear life being pursued you know, 328 00:19:47,560 --> 00:19:51,080 Speaker 1: by an assassin right behind him. The guy actually spares 329 00:19:51,160 --> 00:19:55,320 Speaker 1: his life, and Margot personally petitions for a couple more 330 00:19:55,359 --> 00:19:59,760 Speaker 1: of her husband's men. But by five am, nearly all 331 00:19:59,840 --> 00:20:03,439 Speaker 1: of the major French Protestants have been killed, so the 332 00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:07,359 Speaker 1: list has been killed by five By five am, but 333 00:20:07,440 --> 00:20:10,919 Speaker 1: the killing doesn't stop with the list. The rest of 334 00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:14,960 Speaker 1: the populace gets involved. Lots of French Protestants have brought 335 00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:18,440 Speaker 1: their families into town for the wedding and they can't escape. 336 00:20:18,560 --> 00:20:21,320 Speaker 1: Their homes are rated, their children are killed, their bodies 337 00:20:21,359 --> 00:20:24,399 Speaker 1: are thrown in the river, and personal issues that have 338 00:20:24,480 --> 00:20:27,159 Speaker 1: absolutely nothing to do with religion were also settled in 339 00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:31,160 Speaker 1: the chaos. Because if everyone's getting killed, who's going to know? 340 00:20:31,400 --> 00:20:35,000 Speaker 1: If you kill your creditor, or your enemy or your wife, 341 00:20:35,160 --> 00:20:37,879 Speaker 1: it's a good time to take care of things. Nobody 342 00:20:37,880 --> 00:20:43,199 Speaker 1: will notice. Um. So Charles obviously was not intending for 343 00:20:43,240 --> 00:20:46,600 Speaker 1: this level of bloodshed to happen, and he asks the 344 00:20:46,640 --> 00:20:50,280 Speaker 1: people of Paris to please stop, and they don't. It 345 00:20:50,320 --> 00:20:52,840 Speaker 1: goes on for three days, and then it spreads to 346 00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:56,800 Speaker 1: the provinces, where it goes on until October. And Katie 347 00:20:56,800 --> 00:20:59,200 Speaker 1: and I were talking about what sort of message would 348 00:20:59,240 --> 00:21:02,360 Speaker 1: that be. You have a guy rides out and says 349 00:21:02,359 --> 00:21:04,960 Speaker 1: they're killing everyone in Paris, you should do that where 350 00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:07,600 Speaker 1: you are. We're not sure how that works. The final 351 00:21:07,640 --> 00:21:09,719 Speaker 1: tally is a bit up in the air. A Catholic 352 00:21:09,760 --> 00:21:13,320 Speaker 1: apologist puts it at only two thousand, a Huguenot puts 353 00:21:13,320 --> 00:21:15,919 Speaker 1: it at seventy thousand, but it's likely that there were 354 00:21:15,920 --> 00:21:19,800 Speaker 1: at least three thousand people killed in Paris alone, and 355 00:21:19,840 --> 00:21:23,120 Speaker 1: a few senior Huguenots do manage to escape. A few 356 00:21:23,119 --> 00:21:26,160 Speaker 1: people have decided that they might want to move their 357 00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:29,600 Speaker 1: quarters across the river, you know, just in case trouble 358 00:21:29,680 --> 00:21:32,960 Speaker 1: broke out between all the Catholics and all the Huguenots 359 00:21:32,960 --> 00:21:35,600 Speaker 1: that were in Paris at once, and a few of 360 00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:39,480 Speaker 1: them ended up being able to escape, and uh they 361 00:21:39,520 --> 00:21:44,760 Speaker 1: were the seeds for new rebellion. So the aftermath is 362 00:21:44,800 --> 00:21:49,600 Speaker 1: that the Valvois cannot get their story straight about what happened. 363 00:21:49,760 --> 00:21:54,440 Speaker 1: Charles is telling contradictory tales to the Protestants, he says 364 00:21:54,520 --> 00:21:57,760 Speaker 1: that it was a popular uprising organized by the Geese. 365 00:21:57,800 --> 00:22:01,399 Speaker 1: You're just a personal vendetta, y'all. And then to the Catholics, 366 00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:04,159 Speaker 1: he says it was something that he specifically ordered to 367 00:22:04,240 --> 00:22:08,720 Speaker 1: prevent a conspiracy against the crown. But of course some Catholics, 368 00:22:08,760 --> 00:22:11,800 Speaker 1: like Philip the Second in Spain and the Pope in 369 00:22:11,960 --> 00:22:16,080 Speaker 1: Rome see it initially as oh, great France has finally 370 00:22:16,160 --> 00:22:21,000 Speaker 1: started a religious war, and they're really happy. Philip even 371 00:22:21,040 --> 00:22:25,680 Speaker 1: does a little jig supposedly, which seems very unlike him. Um. 372 00:22:25,840 --> 00:22:29,000 Speaker 1: But they realized pretty quickly that no, it wasn't a 373 00:22:29,080 --> 00:22:35,200 Speaker 1: religious for it was politically motivated, and stop being so congratulatory. 374 00:22:35,359 --> 00:22:38,919 Speaker 1: And many Protestants had been sticking to the line that 375 00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:42,199 Speaker 1: they were loyal to the king, thinking that he just 376 00:22:42,280 --> 00:22:45,160 Speaker 1: had bad advisors, that it wasn't him. But now they 377 00:22:45,160 --> 00:22:47,720 Speaker 1: decide that they can't be loyal to the man who 378 00:22:47,760 --> 00:22:52,600 Speaker 1: accepts responsibility for the massacre, understandably, and the Huguenots throw 379 00:22:52,680 --> 00:22:58,560 Speaker 1: off Calvin's views towards royal allegiance, which makes rebellion justifiable. Now, 380 00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:01,840 Speaker 1: so we have the is pamphlet battle that begins too, 381 00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:04,879 Speaker 1: and this is probably must of the engravings you've seen. 382 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:08,640 Speaker 1: Maybe Catherine standing there in black over piles of dead babies. 383 00:23:08,960 --> 00:23:12,560 Speaker 1: This is from this time period, and Charles is depicted 384 00:23:12,600 --> 00:23:16,240 Speaker 1: as a maniacal king who laughed when he watched his 385 00:23:16,320 --> 00:23:20,240 Speaker 1: people killed from his window. Or maybe he's this emotionally 386 00:23:20,359 --> 00:23:24,480 Speaker 1: disturbed man who is manipulated by his foreign mother, who's 387 00:23:24,520 --> 00:23:28,680 Speaker 1: the Black Queen, and who is not just foreign, she's Italian, 388 00:23:28,800 --> 00:23:32,639 Speaker 1: which makes it doubly bad. So ultimately we just have 389 00:23:32,800 --> 00:23:36,920 Speaker 1: these caricatures of these people instead of who they really were, 390 00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:40,160 Speaker 1: and Catherine de Medici has retained this reputation throughout much 391 00:23:40,160 --> 00:23:44,480 Speaker 1: of history. Charles was haunted by the massacre, actually and 392 00:23:44,560 --> 00:23:48,240 Speaker 1: chronically ill. He died soon afterward, and his brother became 393 00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:52,919 Speaker 1: Henry the Third, and Catherine, always involved in her children's lives, 394 00:23:52,960 --> 00:23:56,320 Speaker 1: continues to promote her son's thrown This is her favorite 395 00:23:56,320 --> 00:23:59,720 Speaker 1: son too, by the way, and mainly her role for 396 00:24:00,119 --> 00:24:02,440 Speaker 1: since he is a full grown man, is to rein 397 00:24:02,560 --> 00:24:05,840 Speaker 1: him in from his kind of dangerous inclinations sometimes. But 398 00:24:06,320 --> 00:24:09,920 Speaker 1: she dies in fifteen eighty nine, and eight months later 399 00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:16,840 Speaker 1: he's murdered by a deranged friar and he dies without children. 400 00:24:17,080 --> 00:24:20,919 Speaker 1: So the crown goes to a junior branch of the family, 401 00:24:21,320 --> 00:24:24,960 Speaker 1: the Bourbons, and his cousin, Henry of Navarre. Henry the Fourth, 402 00:24:25,640 --> 00:24:29,080 Speaker 1: he was the groom at the pre massacre wedding festivities, 403 00:24:29,200 --> 00:24:32,800 Speaker 1: who's married to Margot Valvois. But Margot and Henry, who 404 00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:35,359 Speaker 1: were never interested in each other in the first place, 405 00:24:35,400 --> 00:24:39,000 Speaker 1: to be honest, ultimately annul their marriage, which allows Henry 406 00:24:39,040 --> 00:24:41,919 Speaker 1: to make a new match, and with this new wife 407 00:24:42,320 --> 00:24:44,880 Speaker 1: he goes on to found the Bourbon line of kings 408 00:24:44,920 --> 00:24:48,119 Speaker 1: that ends nearly two hundred years later with Louis the 409 00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:51,840 Speaker 1: sixteenth and the French Revolution. And who is his wife, 410 00:24:52,240 --> 00:25:01,080 Speaker 1: Marie de Medici. Of course, thank you so much for 411 00:25:01,160 --> 00:25:04,320 Speaker 1: joining us on this Saturday. 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