Massacre at Vassy

The "Massacre of Vassy" was the trigger for the long brewing French Wars of Religion.

Based on the theology of John Calvin, the Huguenots were French Protestants who were persecuted and forced to leave France. Catherine de' Medici, Regent at that time to François II, in the Edict of January had proposed the co-existence of Calvinism and Catholicism in France, relying upon the idealistic idea that the Catholics and Calvinists would stop fighting. On March 1, 1562 Francois the second Duke of Guise, travelling to his estates, stopped in Vassy and decided to attend Mass. He found a congregation of Huguenots holding religious ceremonies. Outraged, he ordered his men to fortify the town and led them in setting fire to the church, killing just over 80 unarmed Huguenots and wounding hundreds others. This started the Wars of Religion which would continue with intermissions for more than a century.