Huguenot is who? Huguenots and Protestants. Huguenots in France

In the middle of the 16th century, the monarchy in France was going through hard times. The Italian wars, which ended in defeat, caused a severe crisis of power and economy. The French feudal lords, counting on high positions, new lands and military booty, were very disappointed and irritated by such a failure. All their accusations fell on the king and his courtiers. After the war, the aristocracy was practically ruined. Therefore, the nobility, as soon as the Huguenot movement arose, immediately began to support and use it against the central government, seeking to thereby achieve concessions for themselves. So who are the Huguenots in France? The answer to this question is found in the article.

Catholics and Protestants

Residents of Western Europe professed Catholicism, but by the beginning of the XVI century, discontent among believers began to increase about how the affairs of the Church are being conducted. They were sure that the Pope and his entourage were just thinking how to strengthen their power and become even richer. Demonstrating their greed and money-grubbing, the clergy thus set a bad example for the parishioners. These discontent led to the emergence of a new movement called the Reformation. His goal was to change the politics of the Christian church. The people who joined this movement were called Protestants, because they did not agree with the current state of affairs.

The emergence of a new current

Huguenot is a French Protestant of the 16th-17th centuries. The very first of them were called Lutherans in honor of the German monk Martin Luther, who lived in the city of Wittenberg. In 1517, he compiled a list of 95 items that he posted on the door of his church. This document not only denounced individual clergymen, but also was a kind of protest against the wrong policy of the entire Roman Catholic Church.

Luther was convinced that everyone has the right to study the Holy Scriptures independently. For this he translated the Bible from Latin into German. He was the first, and after him the Scriptures began to be published in other languages.

As might be expected, the Catholic Church condemned Luther. To a great surprise, it was supported not only by ordinary people, but also by some rulers in Europe. So, English King Henry VIII decided to divorce his wife and get married with Anna Boleyn. But the Pope did not give permission, so the ruler of England stopped relations with the Vatican, and then declared himself the head of the Church in his country.

After the German monk began to appear and other strong personalities who shared the ideas of the Reformation. As a result, several currents appeared in Protestantism. If in Germany such believers were called Lutherans, in France the Huguenot is a Calvinist. Its name was received by faith thanks to Jan Calvin (1509-1564). He was a famous French theologian, and in his writings he was able to present all the main aspects of the Christian faith.

I must say that after this separation, Catholic believers began to torture and even hang Protestants, while others, in turn, began to attack the adherents of the Pope. But they were all sure: forcing them to suffer their enemies, they save their souls from the eternal torments of hell.

Over time, Protestantism began to spread throughout France. First, the Huguenot is a believer who shared the views of the new religion. He could be a representative of the plebeian or bourgeoisie, as well as a descendant of the nobility or the feudal nobility. Later the concept expanded. In the 60's of the XVI century. And in the 20s of the XVII century. Huguenot is no longer just a believer, he belonged to a whole religious and political group of Protestant Calvinists.

Dividing into two camps

The beginning of military operations in France was facilitated by the weakness of the heirs of Henry II. His sons - Francis II, who ruled the whole year (1559-1560), Charles IX (1560-1574) and Henry III (1574-1589), often became a tool of intrigue, which was woven against each other by the court feudal nobility.

Charles IX ascended the throne at the age of ten, and the regent was his mother, Catherine de Medici, who ruled with her favorites. By the sixties, all the big feudal lords were divided into two powerful religious and political groups. One part of the nobles was on the side of Gizov. They professed Catholicism. On their side was Catherine de 'Medici, an Italian by birth. Another part of the nobility belonged to the opposition and represented the Huguenot party, led by the Bourbons, Admiral Coligny and the King of Navarre. I must say that at the court there were also politicians who did not join any of the warring parties. They tried to reconcile the enemies, which were Huguenots and Catholics.

The beginning of wars

On March 1, 1562, in the small town of Wassi, the Duke of Guise, with his armed supporters, suddenly attacked the people gathered for prayer. These were Huguenots, who managed to repel treacherous Catholics. After the armed incident, an open confrontation began. It was called the Huguenot Wars (1562-1598 gg.). They killed Antoine de Bourbon and Francois de Guise. Since then, the war, in which irreconcilable enemies - Huguenots and Catholics - has taken part in a series of tragic events that plunged France into real chaos.

Temporary truce

The next armed conflict ended in 1570. It was a religious and political confrontation that shocked the whole country. The end of the war was laid by the Saint Germain Peace. According to him, the French Huguenots received freedom of religion, as well as control over a number of powerful fortresses.

The ceasefire brought grief to the country and its people, but caused fierce discontent on the part of the Catholic noblemen, in particular, the Gizov family-an ancient French clan originating from the Carolingians.

Strengthening the influence of the court

The leader of the Protestants was Admiral de Coligny. Huguenot is convinced that he was included in the State Council, which operates under Charles IX Valois. De Coligny, whose influence at court was enormous, to further strengthen such a long-awaited world, persuaded the king to arrange a marriage between Margarita de Valois and Henry of Navarre.

Admiral Coligny was an excellent politician and diplomat, wishing prosperity to his country. He wanted France to become powerful, but Catholic Spain, considered at that time the queen of the seas, did not let it. The Admiral advised the King to render military assistance to Dutch Protestants fighting for their independence. He knew that if Charles IX agreed, then war with Spain could not be avoided. But Coligny also understood that it would rally the Huguenots and Catholics, since national interests are above all others.

Catherine de Medici (1519-1589 gg.), The mother of the young king, was very unhappy that the influence of the Huguenots at the court is increasingly growing. She did not want war with the Spanish Catholics. The Queen Mother believed that such actions would provoke a national catastrophe. In the event of war, the Pope and all of Catholic Europe would take up arms against France.

Causes of the massacre

In 1572, another attempt was made to reconcile the two warring sides. They came up with a plan according to which the sister of King Charles IX, Marguerite de Valois, was to marry the Protestant Henry of Navarre. Thus, this marriage could put an end to the bloodshed in France, and the war between the Huguenots and Catholics would end there.

The wedding was to take place on August 18. All noble Huguenots came to her. Most of them temporarily settled in the center of Paris, where houses of Catholic nobles were located. The Protestant nobility looked simply luxurious compared to them, and this caused great discontent among the city dwellers who, due to high taxes and food prices, could not live as well. A rich wedding was the cause of discontent, as a lot of money was spent on its organization, taken, of course, from purses and so poor taxpayers. Therefore, the situation in Paris was gradually heated until it reached its apogee.

The murder of Admiral de Coligny

The situation in the city was tense, and the Gizov family was not slow to use it. Together with Catherine de 'Medici they organized a conspiracy to assassinate de Coligny. On August 22, 1572, the admiral drove past Gizov's house, he was wounded in his hand by a shot fired directly from the window. This time the assassination attempt failed. But the Catholics were not going to give up their plans. On the night of August 24th a crowd of enraged armed men burst into the house, where the Admiral Huguenot of Coligny was brutally murdered. It was this crime that marked the beginning of the events that swept across the country. Thus began the bloody night of the Huguenots.

Bartholomew's Night

Arriving at the wedding in Paris, the supporters of Henry of Navarre on the night of August 23 to 24, 1572 were severely killed. This wild massacre of Huguenots in France claimed the lives of about 3 thousand people.

And it all began with the fact that Catherine de Medici managed to convince the young king of a conspiracy organized against him by Protestants. She told him that it was necessary to destroy all the nobles who were involved in this. The king succumbed to his mother's persuasion. Immediately followed by an order to bring to full combat readiness of the entire guard, as well as the closure of the city gate.

As soon as it became known about the murder of Coligny, the alarm sounded over Paris. He served as a signal for Catholics to start actions. Everyone ran out into the streets with weapons, and the night of the Huguenots began. Crowds of enraged townspeople broke into houses and killed everyone who did not want to be a Catholic. Not only Protestants suffered this night . Debtors killed their creditors, and who wanted to take revenge - brought their sentence to execution. Husbands, taking advantage of the moment, got rid of their bored wives, and lovers - from the men hindering them. The reason for this served as Huguenots, Bartholomew's Night for which was the last in their lives. All that dark that was hidden deep in human souls, suddenly burst out and tightened the city with a bloody shroud.

Since the massacre of the Huguenots in Paris occurred on the night before the day of St. Bartholomew, this event went down in history as the Bartholomew Night.

Bacchanalia

With the onset of the dawn, the murders did not stop. Catherine de 'Medici did not expect such a development of events. She planned to destroy only the most active Huguenot leaders, but everything went wrong. Pogroms and looting began in the city. Ordinary decent people died tens of hundreds, and this no longer depended on their religion. All the murderers, thieves and robbers emerged from their dens, feeling impunity.

The authorities were not in the city, so the bacchanalia lasted for a whole week. The guards, along with criminals, robbed everyone in a row. The only exceptions were soldiers of the Guards who remained faithful to the law and the king, but obviously they were not enough to restore order in the city.

Consequences of St. Bartholomew's Night

The unrest and unrest in the capital caused a chain reaction. Huguenots and Protestants massively exterminated not only in Paris, but also throughout France - in Bordeaux, Orleans, Lyons, Rouen and other cities.

To restore the rule of law and bring order to the country, a document was sent out to all provinces and cities on the orders of King Charles IX of France. It said that the murder of Protestant leaders occurred with his consent and allegedly helped to prevent an anti-state plot. In addition, it was officially stated that freedom of religion is not abolished.

Many Huguenots and Protestants, fleeing violence, left the territory of France, as a result of which their influence in the country was weakened.

Marrying Marguerite de Valois, Henry of Navarre survived. But in order to save his life, he had to accept Catholicism. He was followed by Henry Conde.

During the outrage, at least 5,000 people were killed. But, according to historians, this figure is many times greater, and is about 30 thousand. It must be said that the exact number of dead is still unknown.

War of the Three Henry

After the slaughter of the Huguenots, the war did not stop. They broke out with even greater force, as a result of which the western and southern lands separated from the north of France. There, a new union state of the Huguenots was established, governed by governors from among the local nobility. They most of all also have won from such "autonomy".

By the mid-1970s, as opposed to Protestants in the north of France, an alliance was formed, known as the Catholic League. His head was Henry Guise. This League had control over the government in Paris, and in every way prevented the intention of King Henry III to conclude a truce with the Huguenots.

In the mid-1980s, the confrontation between the two irreconcilable religious parties was again aggravated. A new conflict arose between the heirs of the throne, called the War of Three Henrykh (1585-1589), as it was attended by the King of France Henry III (Valois), Henry Bourbon (Navarre) and Henry Guise.

The reason for their quarrel was the statement of the latter that his family has more rights to the throne than the rest, since its ancestor is himself Charles the Great. The fact is that Henry III never acquired an heir, so the members of the League demanded that he recognize Giza as the official successor to the throne. It came to that in 1588 the king began to pull all loyal troops to the capital. Their goal was the arrest of Henry Gies and his supporters. This was learned by the Ligovites and organized an uprising in Paris against the king himself.

Henry III had to flee to Chartres. There he conceived a treacherous plan: to invite Giza allegedly with the goal of reconciliation. The leader of the League arrived to the king on December 22, 1588, but was stabbed by soldiers. Learning about this cunning, the capital refused to obey Valois and turned into a city-republic. Her example was followed by others.

The king realized that he was losing the country, and immediately announced Heinrich Navarre as his successor. Having enlisted mutual support and concluding an agreement, the two kings and their troops went to Paris. But Henry III never returned to the capital - he was killed on August 1, 1589. With his death, the Valois dynasty ceased to exist. The king of Navarre ascended to the throne, who became the new ruler of France - Henry IV. With his coming to power ended the brutal war between Catholics and Protestants.

Now the question of who such Huguenots are in France can simply answer that they were people of another faith, significantly different from Catholicism. Protestants rejected the worship of relics, icons, condemned the issuance of church indulgences. Such a relationship, the Pope and his clergy could not stand, so they declared the Huguenots heretics and accomplices of Satan. Persecutions began, which led to such destructive and bloody wars that lasted for decades.