Beneath the Cross Catholics and Huguenots in Sixteenth-Century Paris

by Diefendorf, Barbara B.

• ISBN13: 9780195070132
• ISBN10: 0195070135
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1991-10-31
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

The religious conflicts of sixteenth-century France, particularly the St. Bartholomew's Day massacres of 1572, continue to draw a good deal of attention from historians. What started as a limited coup against the Huguenot leadership became instead a conflagration that left two thousand or moreProtestants dead in the streets and ushered in a series of bloody religious battles. Until now, however, historians have been preoccupied with the political aspects of the conflicts, and histories have focused on the roles of the king and high noblemen in the assassinations that sparked themassacres, rather than the mass violence. In this compelling and unique study, Diefendorf closely examines popular religious fanaticism and religious hatred. She focuses on the roots and escalation of the conflicts, the propaganda of Catholic and Protestant preachers, popular religious beliefs andrituals, the role of the militia, and the underground activities of the Protestant community after the massacres. Drawing on a wide array of published and unpublished sources, Beneath the Cross is the most comprehensive social history to date of these religious conflicts.

Table of Contents

The City and Its People

The Most Catholic Capital

The Intensification of Religious Hatreds, 1557-1562

War and Peace, 1562-1567

The Renewal of War and the Failure of Peace, 1567-1572

The Massacre in Paris

The Underground Church

The Shadow of God's Wings

The Bellows of Satan

The War in the Streets

Conclusion: Paris in the Religious Wars

Notes

Bibliography

Index

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