The St Bartholomew's Eve Massacre: men, women and children are thrown out of windows or slaughtered with swords and pikes on the streets of Paris in 1572. Engraving after D. Dodd, 1765.

Massacre of Saint Bartholomew's Day: on the 24th of August 1572, the massacre of the French Huguenots in Paris, plotted by Catherine de Medici, was carried out by Roman Catholic nobles and other citizens. Bloodshed continued in Paris even after a royal order tried to stop the killing, and it spread to the provinces. Huguenots in Rouen, Lyon, Bourges, Orleans, and Bordeaux were among the victims. Instead of crippling the Huguenot party as Catherine had hoped it would do, the massacre revived hatred between Roman Catholics and Huguenots and helped provoke a renewal of hostilities. Thenceforth the Huguenots abandoned the principle of obedience to the civil magistrate, and adopted the view that rebellion and tyrannicide were justifiable under certain circumstances