Editing French Wars of Religion (section)

== {{anchor|1572–1573}} St. Bartholomew's Day massacre and "fourth" war (1572–1573) ==
{{Main|St. Bartholomew's Day massacre}}
[[File:Debat-Ponsan-matin-Louvre.jpg|thumb|upright=1.33|''One morning at the gates of the Louvre'', 19th-century painting by [[Édouard Debat-Ponsan]]. ([[Catherine de' Medici]] is in black)]]
With the kingdom once more at peace, the crown began seeking a policy of reconciliation to bring the fractured polity back together. One key part of this was to be a marriage between [[Henri IV of France|Navarre]], the son of Jeanne d'Albret and Antoine of Navarre, and [[Margaret of Valois]], the king's sister. Albret was hesitant, worried it might lead to the abjuration of her son, and it took until March 1572 for the contract to be signed.{{sfn|Knecht|2010|p=42}}

[[Gaspard II de Coligny|Coligny]], who had a price on his head during the third civil war, was restored to favour through the peace, and received lavishly at court in August 1571.{{sfn|Carroll|2009|p=187}}{{sfn|Holt|2005|p=81}} He firmly believed that France should invade the [[Spanish Netherlands]] to unify the Catholics and Huguenots behind the king. Charles, however, was unwilling to provide more than covert support to this project, not wanting open war with Spain. The council was unanimous in rejecting Coligny's policy and he left court, not finding it welcoming.{{sfn|Knecht|2010|p=45}}

In August, the wedding was finally held, and all the most powerful Huguenot aristocracy had entered Paris for the occasion. A few days after the wedding, [[Assassination of Admiral Coligny|Coligny was shot]] on his way home from council.{{sfn|Jouanna|2007|p=74}} The outraged Huguenot nobility demanded justice which the king promised to provide.{{sfn|Estebe|1968|p=109}} Catherine, Guise, Anjou, and Alba were all variously suspected, though the Huguenot nobility directed their anger primarily at Guise, threatening to kill him in front of the king.{{sfn|Holt|2005|p=83}}

The court, increasingly alarmed at the possibility of Protestant forces marching on the capital, or a new civil war, decided to pre-emptively strike at the Huguenot leadership.{{sfn|Holt|2005|pp=84–85}} On the morning of 24 August, several kill squads were formed, one going out under Guise, which killed Coligny around 4am, leaving his body on the street where it was mutilated by Parisians and thrown into the Seine.{{sfn|Holt|2005|p=88}}{{sfn|Carroll|2009|p=114}}

By dawn it was clear the assassinations had not gone according to plan, with militant factions of the population slaughtering their Huguenot neighbours under the claim that 'the king willed it'.{{sfn|Holt|2005|pp=88–91}} For the next five days, the violence continued as Catholics massacred Calvinist men, women, and children and looted their houses.<ref>Jouanna, p.&nbsp;201.</ref> King Charles&nbsp;IX informed ambassadors that he had ordered the assassinations to prevent a Huguenot coup and proclaimed a day of jubilee in celebration even as the killings continued.<ref>Lincoln, Bruce, ''Discourse and the Construction of Society: Comparative Studies of Myth, Ritual, and Classification'', Oxford University Press US, p. 98 {{ISBN?}}</ref> Over the next few weeks, the disorder [[St Bartholomew's Day Massacre in the Provinces|spread to more than a dozen cities]] across France. Historians estimate that 2,000&nbsp;Huguenots were killed in Paris and thousands more in the provinces; in all, perhaps 10,000 people were killed.<ref>Jouanna, p.&nbsp;204.</ref> Henry of Navarre and his cousin, the young [[Henri I de Bourbon, prince de Condé|Prince of Condé]], managed to avoid death by agreeing to convert to Catholicism. Both repudiated their conversions after they escaped Paris.{{sfn|Jouanna|2007|p=112}}{{sfn|Knecht|2016|p=108}}{{sfn|Sutherland|1980|pp=222–223}}

The massacre provoked horror and outrage among Protestants throughout Europe, but both [[Philip II of Spain|Philip&nbsp;II of Spain]] and [[Pope Gregory XIII|Pope Gregory&nbsp;XIII]], following the official version that a Huguenot coup had been thwarted, celebrated the outcome. In France, Huguenot opposition to the crown was seriously weakened by the deaths of many of the leaders. Many Huguenots emigrated to Protestant countries. Others reconverted to Catholicism for survival, and the remainder concentrated in a small number of cities where they formed a majority.{{sfn|Jouanna|2007|p=158}}{{sfn|Jouanna|2007|pp=160–169}}{{sfn|Holt|2005|pp=95–96}}{{sfn|Benedict|1978|p=224}}

=== {{anchor|1572–1573|fourth}} "Fourth" war (1572–1573) ===
The massacres provoked further military action, which included Catholic [[siege]]s of the cities of [[Sommières]] (by troops led by [[Henri I de Montmorency|Henri&nbsp;I de Montmorency]]), [[siege of Sancerre|Sancerre]], and [[Siege of La Rochelle (1572–1573)|La Rochelle]] (by troops led by the [[Henry III of France|duke of Anjou]]). The end of hostilities was brought on by the election (11–15&nbsp;May 1573) of the Duke of Anjou to the throne of Poland and by the [[Edict of Boulogne]] (signed in July&nbsp;1573), which severely curtailed many of the rights previously granted to French Protestants. Based on the terms of the treaty, all Huguenots were granted amnesty for their past actions and the freedom of belief. However, they were permitted the freedom to worship only within the three towns of La Rochelle, [[Montauban]], and [[Nîmes]], and even then only within their own residences. Protestant aristocrats with the right of high-justice were permitted to celebrate marriages and baptisms, but only before an assembly limited to ten persons outside of their family.<ref>Jouanna, p.&nbsp;213.</ref>