The Massacre of Vassy, also known as the Massacre of Wassy, is the name given to the murder of Huguenot worshipers and citizens in an armed action by troops of Francis, Duke of Guise in Wassy, France on 1 March 1562. The tragedy is identified as the first major event in the French Wars of Religion. The series of battles that followed concluded in the signing of the Edict of Amboise the next year, on 19 March 1563.
The events surrounding the Massacre of Wassy became widely known by a series of forty engravings published in Geneva seven years later.[1]
After the ascent of Henry II to the French throne, followers of the religious teachings of John Calvin, known as Huguenots, were persecuted in France. Catherine de' Medici, regent of Charles IX, proposed the Edict of January with the hopes that Calvinism and Catholicism could co-exist in France and that fighting would cease.
On 1 March 1562, Francis (François), the second Duke of Guise, travelling to his estates, stopped in Wassy (Vassy) and decided to attend Mass. He found a large congregation of Huguenots holding religious ceremonies in a barn that was their church. Some of the duke's party attempted to push their way inside and were repulsed. Events escalated, stones began to fly, and the Duke was struck. Outraged, he ordered his men to fortify the town and set fire to the church, killing just over 80 unarmed Huguenots and wounding hundreds others. This started the Wars of Religion which would continue with intermissions for more than a century.
The national synod for the French Confession of the Reformed Church met in Paris and appealed to the Louis, prince de Condé to become the "Protector of the Churches." He, his clients, and their respective client networks took on the task. From this point, the Huguenot leadership moved away from the hands of individual pastors towards the noble "protectors" who took on a more belligerent tone.
Condé mobilized his forces quickly and moved decisively to capture strategic towns along the waterways, highways, and crossroads of France. He took a string of towns along the Loire and made his headquarters at Orléans. He also contracts with Protestant leaders of Germany and England for troops and money.
The royal forces were slower to respond as the permanent garrisons were located along the Habsburg frontiers. Catherine de' Medici was forced to turn to the Guise faction to deal with this alarming development. Guise in turn sought help from Pope Pius IV and Phillip II of Spain. The Protestants dug into in their garrisons, and the siege efforts to recapture the towns were long and costly. Only one open pitched battle was fought, the Battle of Dreux, which was a Catholic victory. Fighting continued, with Protestants capturing Anne de Montmorency, and the Catholics capturing Condé. The young Admiral Gaspard de Coligny managed to safely withdraw most of his Protestant forces to Orléans, which was then besieged during the winter of 1562-'63.
At Orléans, an assassin killed the Duc de Guise and Antoine de Bourbon had been previously killed at the Siege of Rouen (1562). These casualties mostly eliminated the first generation of leaders against the uprisings. With the Huguenot heartland in the south virtually untouched and the royal treasury haemorrhaging, the crown's position was weak and Catherine made efforts towards a settlement. Prisoners from the nobility were exchanged, and the Edict of Amboise was issued in March 1563 guaranteeing Protestants limited religious freedom. The decree permitted worship outside the walls of only one town per bailliage, although the nobility still had the freedom to do as they would on their estates. The results were generally unsatisfying to everyone causing further resentment and tension.
|
|
Wikis
Search
