Massacre at Wassy: Catholics Kill 23 Huguenots, Igniting the French Wars of Religion
The Duke of Guise claimed he was just passing through town when his men attacked Huguenots worshipping in a barn. Seventy-four wounded, twenty-three dead in Wassy. It wasn't the first violence between French Catholics and Protestants, but this time the victims had royal permission to worship there. Catherine de Medici tried desperately to keep peace—she'd issued that edict protecting Huguenots just weeks earlier. But François de Guise rode straight to Paris afterward, celebrated as a hero. Eight civil wars would follow over the next thirty-six years, killing millions. The massacre that started it all? Guise insisted it was self-defense, that the Protestants threw stones first. A barn full of worshippers versus armed soldiers—and somehow, he convinced half of France.
March 1, 1562
464 years ago
Key Figures & Places
France
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Catholicism
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Huguenot
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Wassy
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French Wars of Religion
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Catholic Church
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François, Duke of Guise
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French Wars of Religion
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Huguenots
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Massacre of Vassy
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History of France
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1598
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Wassy
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Erster Hugenottenkrieg
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