The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Day
Although it comprised only a tiny minority of the population
(no more than ten per-cent), the French Huguenot or Calvinist faith, and its
rapid spread in France, had the effect of destabilizing the country by the
early 1560s. The Huguenot struggle for toleration, for the acceptance of two
faiths under one ruler, and the ensuing wars of religion (1562-1598) were the
occasion of some of the sixteenth century's worst excesses of religious
extremism. Nonetheless, this struggle also gave rise to eloquent pleas for
toleration and, with the Edict of Nantes (1598) at the end of the conflict, to
state-imposed, if ultimately temporary and limited, religious freedom.
François Dubois (1529-1584)
Reproduction of La Saint-Barthélemy, ca. 1572-84
Oil on wood, 94 x 154 cm, Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts de Lausanne
Photo: J.C. Ducret, Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts deLausanne
Reproduction of La Saint-Barthélemy, ca. 1572-84
Oil on wood, 94 x 154 cm, Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts de Lausanne
Photo: J.C. Ducret, Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts deLausanne
The famous painting of the Saint Bartholomew's Day
massacre in Paris on 24 August 1572 depicts scenes from the most notorious
incident in the French wars of religion and one of the most striking
examples of the extremes of religious intolerance in the age. The Huguenot
(French Calvinist) painter, François Dubois is reputed to have been an
eyewitness to the massacre of thousands of his fellow Huguenots on the streets
of Paris.
Comments
Post a Comment