August 24, 2004

•  

  
  

  432 YEARS AGO TODAY

  
  

  

  
  

  Aug 24 1572
  

  Troops loyal to the French crown alongside Catholic civilians massacre the Protestant Huguenots of Paris.

  
  

  The St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre began one of the most horrifying holocausts in history. The Reformation had spread to France. Over a third of the population embraced the Reformed Christian Faith.

  
  

  Alarm bells began to ring at the Vatican! France was her eldest daughter and main pillar—the chief source of money and power. . . . King Pepin of the Franks (the father of Charlemagne) had given the Papal States to the Pope almost 1000 years earlier. Almost half the real estate in the country was owned by the clergy.

  
  

  Back in Paris, the Court spiritual adviser—a Jesuit priest—  urged the King of France and his Court to massacre the Protestants—as penance for their sins. To catch the Christians off-guard every token of peace, friendship, and ecumenical good will was offered.

  
  

  Beginning at Paris, the French soldiers and the Roman Catholic clergy fell upon the unarmed people. Men, women, and children fell in heaps before the mobs and the troops. In one week, almost 100,100 Protestants perished.

  
  

   

  
  

  The rivers of France were so filled with corpses that for many months no fish were eaten. In the valley of the Loire, wolves came down from the hills to feel upon the decaying bodies of Frenchmen. The list of massacres was endless.

  
  

  Many were imprisoned—many sent as slaves to row the King's ships. The massacres continued. Wars, famine, disease and poverty finally led to the French Revolution.

  
  

  When news of the Massacre reached the Vatican there was jubilation! Cannons roared—bells rung—and a special commemorative medal was struck.

  
  

  

  
  

  Medal struck by Emperor Gregory XIII (1572-85) to commemorate the slaughter of over 100,000 French Christians

  
  

  The Pope commissioned Italian artist Vasari to paint a mural of the Massacre.

  
  

  http://www.reformation.org/bart.html

  
  

   

  • 5:39 pm
  • 2 Comments