1562 Riots of Toulouse, Background, Edicts on religion, Effect on Toulouse
Not only men but women openly expressed their faith, a contemporary account notes "They had laid aside their prayer-books and beads which they had worn at their girdles, their ample robes, and dissolute garments, dance, and worldly songs, as if they had been guided by the Holy Ghost". Large numbers of students were also attracted to the Reformed Church in Toulouse including the student preacher Able Niort. Other notable Reformed preachers in Toulouse were Bignolles (ambitious but with a difficult personality) and Jean Barrelles who had been trained in Geneva, censured by the Sorbonne, and had served a prison sentence in Toulouse.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Background, Edicts on religion, Effect on Toulouse
With continuing reports of unrest in Southern France, Catherine de Médicis sent a governor to Toulouse to oversee the defense of the city. The Parlement registered his commission on September 24, 1561, but he was openly opposed by the capitouls who did not let him enter the city. He was only able to enter when the election of new capitouls was held.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Background, Edicts on religion, Effect on Toulouse
Things looked hopeful for the Reformed Church throughout France with the October 1561 Colloquy of Poissy.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Background, Edicts on religion, Effect on Toulouse
In Toulouse the newly elected capitouls faced quick criticism from the Parlement who sought to revoke their election. The town militia, which had been reviewed on Christmas Eve to quell any ideas of violence, was also criticized by Parlement, who charged it had been turned into a Protestant military force by the capitouls.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Background, Edicts on religion, Effect on Toulouse
Catholic suspicion over Protestant loyalty to France was heightened when staunchly Catholic Blaise de Lasseran-Massencôme, seigneur de Montluc arrived in Bordeaux in December 1561 to share the royal lieutenancy of Guyenne with Charles de Coucis, seigneur de Burie. There he discovered that the Reformed Churches in Guyenne had adapted the church structure of synods, colloquies, and consistories to build a Protestant military organization (Gueyenne had been divided into seven colloquies, where each church within it had its own military captain). Monluc was offered a bribe of 40,000 écus to not oppose them. Two chefs-général or "protectors" had been elected for each of the areas of the parlements of Bordeaux and Toulouse. There were fears that this organization was a planned attempt to turn Guyenne into a republic modeled after Geneva.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Background, Edicts on religion, Effect on Toulouse
In January 1562, the Edict of St. Germain was issued officially recognizing the existence of French Protestants and guaranteeing freedom of conscience and private worship. It forbade Protestant worship within towns but permitted Protestant synods and consistories. The Edict of St. Germain arrived in Toulouse in February 1562 and the Parlement was displeased to see it, as like all other parlements it had been removed from enforcing the limited rights of worship given to Protestants. The capitouls in contrast, fully endorsed and enforced the edict. The Parlement only registered the edict with the provision that "in cases of necessity or abuse, it would administer the edict itself." As the capitouls applied the edict, they found that the Parlement was fully prepared to obstruct them as much as possible.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Background, Edicts on religion, Effect on Toulouse
By March 1562 notable members of Toulouse's community formed a Reformed Church Consistory (a congregation's governing body of elected officials that include the Elders and the Deacons). By this time the Reformed Church in Toulouse was already baptizing, marrying, and providing funerals for its members.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Escalations
The majority of the Catholic citizenry of Toulouse were unhappy about the edicts requiring toleration to Protestants and in many instances were only held to compliance with it by the police powers of the city's militia. On February 7, 1562, a militia of one hundred soldiers was called out to keep armed Catholics and armed members of the Reformed Church separated. The militia guarded an open-air service Reformed Church members held at their barn-like church building (which had been built outside the defensive walls of Toulouse in 1558).


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Escalations
This service, with Abel Niort preaching, was the first one open to any and all interested in hearing the ideas of the Reformed Church and brought out 5,000 attendees. The Catholics already upset by the news that Reformed Church members had taken possession of a number of towns very close to Toulouse set up demonstrations to counter the event. As the Reformed members sang Psalms at their service, the Catholic authorities called for public prayers, citywide fasts, and held a general procession parade (putting thousands of Catholics on the street). A Franciscan named Melchior Flavin was so strident in his tone that his effect on the Catholic faithful made the capitouls fearful of a breach in the peace.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Escalations
As tensions mounted, a man by the Dalbade river was caught singing Psalms during the season of Lent – he was stoned to death by a Catholic mob and then his body was dragged to the palace of Parlement.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Escalations
When a member of his listening audience thought a Dominican preaching at the Basilica of St. Sernin was speaking heresy, he yelled "You lie, you sneaking monk! ", and then murdered the preacher.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Escalations
In another instance one of the town guard ordered to protect a Protestant congregation during its services in the faubourgs accidentally shot a Reformed Church member in the head.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Escalations, National events
While emotions in Toulouse continued to escalate, events throughout France did nothing to ease these emotions but indeed inflamed them all the more.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Escalations, National events, Court manoeuvring
Under Spanish promises of his own independent kingdom (rather than being a vassal king), Antoine of Navarre secretly sided with the Duke of Guise and his Catholic allies (often referred to as the Triumvirate). Antoine began taking lessons on Catholicism and quarreled with his wife about his desire to take their son to Catholic Mass or to attend the Catholic baptism of the Spanish ambassador.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Escalations, National events, Court manoeuvring
The Spanish ambassador told Catherine de Medici in the name of his King that she must banish the Protestants Jeanne d'Albret, Coligny, and D'Andelot from the royal court, and must command Antoine's wife to raise their son within Catholicism. Catherine expelled him from France and took other action against a couple of the Triumvirate's aristocrat supporters. Her reaction angered Antoine who moved closer to the Triumvirate.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Escalations, National events, Court manoeuvring
Religious riots were breaking out accompanied by bloodshed in Sens, Abbeville, Tours, Marseilles, Toul in Lorraine, and in Cahors and Agen (where Montluc brutally suppressed them). In most cases the Protestants were on the losing end of these conflicts.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Escalations, National events, Massacre of Vassy
Though the city was about 500 miles north of Toulouse, the Massacre of Vassy that occurred on March 1, 1562, was seen as a dread event by Protestants throughout France. In Languedoc at (Béziers, Cahors, Carcassonne, Castelnaudary and Grenade) spontaneous Protestant revolts occurred upon hearing of the massacre.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Escalations, National events, Massacre of Vassy
The events that led to the Massacre center on Francis, Duke of Guise. The Duke had travelled to Saverne to meet with the Lutheran Duke of Württemberg on February 15, 1562. There Guise worked to convince the German Lutherans that the French Reformed Church and its recognition of Calvin were working against the interests of other Protestants and was able to secure a promise of neutrality should there be armed conflict between the Catholic French and the Reformed Church of France.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Escalations, National events, Massacre of Vassy
Upon returning to France, the Duke left Joinville with a contingent of his troops, having been informed of Protestant worship in the town of Vassy, and began to journey towards Paris to re-join the royal court. Adjusting his route to go through Vassy on March 1, 1562, his troops encountered a Reformed Church service in progress, having heard its bells from afar. The interchange between Guise's troops and the Reformed members resulted in the Massacre of Vassy. The results were the deaths of 63 Reformed Church members and the wounding of hundreds more, along with their church being burnt to the ground.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Escalations, National events, Massacre of Vassy
On March 16 the Duke, along with all the notable members of his family (except the Cardinal of Lorraine and the duke of Elbœuf) arrived at Paris. There he received a hero's welcome for his deeds at Vassy. In Paris he met with his supporters the constable, and the marshal St. André. Counter to the Duke's hopes, the Protestant Louis, Prince of Condé was unmoved and did not flee Paris. In response the Duke brought in nearly ten thousand additional horsemen. This show of numbers caused Condé to withdraw to Meaux, where he was soon met by Coligny and D'Andelot.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Escalations, National events, Massacre of Vassy
At this point Antoine of Navarre finally showed his intentions openly by attending Mass on Palm Sunday, March 22, 1562. This caused Catherine de Medici to fear that the Guises would seize the boy King so she made plans to move him to Blois. Antoine refused to allow this as Blois was seen as a center of Protestant activity. The Spanish ambassador also protested this and declared it as evil counsel from L'Hospital. Due to this reaction Catherine moved the King to Fontainebleau.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Escalations, National events, Massacre of Vassy
Catherine did not follow the advice of the constable (who may have become resentful of the Guise ascendency). He had called for her to announce the Crown's intention to maintain the Edict of St. Germain and condemn the massacre of Vassy. Instead worrying that a Protestant reaction would only end with end of the royal Valois dynasty she began to show favor to Spain. Due to the regional structure of the Reformed Church's synods the news of the massacre spread quickly among the Protestants across the provinces. In this manner the news reached Toulouse and Reformed Minister Barrelles informed the congregation from the pulpit.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Escalations, National events, Condé's troops
On March 29 the Prince of Condé returned to Paris with Coligny and D'Andelot and three thousand horsemen. All the bridges were drawn up as if the city was under attack. Condé announced it was his intention to enter Paris under arms just as the Duke had done. Not allowed entrance he quartered his troops at St. Cloud and held the highroad from Paris to Orleans at Longjumeau. The purpose of Condé's position was to cut Paris off from Fontainebleau (as Admiral Coligny had moved with forces to Montreuil).


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Escalations, National events, Condé's troops
In this position, Condé hoped to force the Guises to make a settlement or failing that be able control the Loire and divide France in half (Guyenne, Poitou, and most of Languedoc at his back, where Protestants held increasing political power). Guessing Condé's plans the Guises managed to seize the King and Catherine and move them to Melun which they controlled. In the hands of the Guise, the boy King issued a command that Condé lay down his arms. Condé ignored this order and moved to secure his troops in Orleans. The Guises attempted to prevent this but were foiled by a rapid advance by D'Andelot.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Burial riot
On Thursday April 4, 1562, while still under the toleration established by the edicts, a group of Reformed Church members of Toulouse were accompanying a merchant who belonged to their faith through the Saint-Michel faubourg as he proceeded towards a Reformed Church cemetery to bury his wife. The dead woman's parents and her confessor insisted that she had died a Catholic and that therefore she must be buried in a Catholic cemetery, in ground they held to be holy (holding the Protestant site as "unholy ground"). At the same time a general procession parade of thousands of Catholics was being held for the feast day of Saint-Salvador (the Holy Savior) which was the namesake of one of Toulouse's churches.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Burial riot
Observing the Protestant funeral procession as it passed closer to the seat of Parlement, a number of Catholics refused to let it proceed and then took possession of the body by force. Both sides fell into violent struggle. The tocsin alarm bell was rung out by a priest, with the majority responding being Catholics from the general procession. It was later determined that even priests had disguised themselves so that they could secretly take an active hand in the riot.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Burial riot
A contemporary Reformed Church source recalled "Stones were thrown at the Protestants, and swords were brandished. Many were hurt and several were killed. Amongst the latter were to be found a replacement for a procurator at the Parlement named Vitalis, another called Monsieur de Bazac from Viterbe, Claude Carron, a cloth-finisher, and a student, as well as many others drowned in the sewers."


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Burial riot
A contemporary Catholic source, while accusing the Protestants of grave robbing, wrote "the tocsin was sounded and they were greeted on their arrival [at the cemetery] by the noise and clamor of a Catholic mob, amassing from without in great number, heavily armed with whatever their fury had put in their hands: thick ends of sticks, long hatchets, cudgels, long billhooks, forks, spades, slings and stones. They set to work ransacking four heretic houses and ran amok, overturning everything so sadly and horribly, and shamefully to the town". The bloody rioting spread from the faubourg of Saint-Michel into the cathedral quarter of Saint-Etienne and continued throughout the following day. As the riot continued homes were broken into and ransacked for pillage.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Burial riot
Toulouse's Reformed community sought safety by invading and taking over the town hall, the Hôtel de Ville, thus creating a standoff. At first the canons of the cathedral Saint-Etienne stalled any resolution by telling the Parlement that there was nothing serious occurring, but when news of homes being ransacked reached them, a group of parlement judges and capitouls tried to appease the mob by appearing in their red robes of authority. The Catholic mob threw stones and took gun shots at the capitouls while the judges withdrew to the court precincts.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Burial riot
According to a contemporary Catholic source, two capitouls named Assézat and Ganelon upon finding the Hôtel de Ville turned into a Protestant fortress returned with 500 armed men. They walked "around with these troops calling on the people at the sound of a trumpet to lay down their weapons on both sides. Returning to the law court these troops found its windows boarded up and, from there, they made a sortie outside the city walls to assail the inhabitants of the suburbs who showed that they lacked nothing in courage, even though they were no match for them in armor. The capitouls were frightened by such opposition and they let these half-crazed butchers...kill some of the more ill-advised and exposed individuals...and in the evening they made their retreat [back into the city]."


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Burial riot
A meeting between eight senior judges, four capitouls, the seneschal and the town council were able to determine the terms for a truce.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Burial riot
By the next day, parlement president Jean de Mansencal (whose own son, studying at university, had converted to the Reformed Church) was able to present terms and secure the truce with the Reformed Church members agreeing to disarm and withdraw to the faubourgs. The truce allowed the Reformed Church members to maintain two hundred unarmed guards in line with the Edict of Saint-Germain, the Catholics were allowed a similar number to serve under four professional captains and answer to the capitouls, all other soldiers were forced to withdraw and the ringing of the tocsin upon the Reformed's withdrawal was forbidden.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Burial riot
By the end of the riot many people lay murdered, the majority being Reformed Church members (artisans, students, and legal clerks).


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Burial riot
Under the terms of the truce an investigation charged 106 people with incitement, six of which were condemned to death. Ignoring the terms of the truce, the Catholic-dominated Parlement interfered, pardoning all the condemned Catholics, so the only people executed for the riot were four Reformed members hung on April 11 at the four corners of the Place Saint-Georges. The body of the woman over which the riot had begun, had been buried in a Catholic cemetery by priests who helped seize it.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Burial riot
Reformed members saw this pardoning of Catholics who killed Protestants as part of a pattern in the region, a pattern which included the recent shielding of Catholics who had committed the Massacre of Cahors. A contemporary Reformed Church commentator charges conspiracy on the commissioners named Dalzon and de Lozelargie sent to investigate the violence by Parlement. He claimed that the commissioners conferred with the rioting Catholics and while returning to tell Parlement that all was calm, incited violence. He wrote "But in reality they had told them as they left: 'Kill them all; ransack the lot of them.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Burial riot
We are your fathers; we will protect you'. This came out afterwards in documentary evidence which, however, was seized and burnt after the entire dissipation of the reformed church [in the city] by those had an interest in covering it all up, even to the extent of executing most of those who had prepared the evidence and those who had been prepared to come forward and give testimony."


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Burial riot, National events
Even as the burial riot went on in Toulouse, outside events continued to encourage hostility between Catholics and members of the Reformed Church. These events would set the stage for larger, deadlier riots in the city.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Burial riot, National events, Paris under the Triumvirate
On April 5 the constable of Paris had the Reformed Church building at the Port of St. Antoine torn down. Its pulpit, forms, and choir where burnt and pieces of the wreckage carried away as souvenirs by a Catholic mob. Troops were placed on the streets to arrest anyone suspected of being a Protestant and a house to house search was made looking for Protestant preachers. At this time the Guises moved the boy king from Melun to an even stronger fortification at Bois de Vincennes east of Paris.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Burial riot, National events, Paris under the Triumvirate
Coligny and D'Andelot offered to meet Catherine to discuss the situation if family members of the Triumvirate went as hostages to Orleans to ensure they were not harmed. The Queen Regent was in agreement, but was overruled by the Triumvirate. At this time it was still hoped that the Council of Trent or a national Council might still bring a peaceful resolution.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Burial riot, National events, Paris under the Triumvirate
The Duke of Guise sent out a letter to the provinces, which claimed to have been directed by the boy King. The letter instructed authorities that they were to disregard the edicts of toleration, claimed that the Protestants wanted to make Condé king. It said that Paris's parlement had declared itself a tutor for the boy King and taken a "resolution to exterminate all those of the Huguenot religion as guilty of divine and human lèse majesté". A copy of the letter reached Toulouse by way of Montpellier on April 10, 1562.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Burial riot, National events, Condé's rebellion
On April 12, 1562, at Orleans, Condé formally took command of the Protestant soldiers, naming Admiral Coligny and D'Andelot as his lieutenants. They outlawed idolatry, blasphemy, violence, and robbery within the territories under their control. They declared their motive was solely to liberate the boy King from captivity, to punish the insolence of the disloyal and the enemies of the church. The start of the civil war had begun. The Protestants saw their actions as a righteous rebellion from the Guises whom they viewed as usurping tyrants holding the King a prisoner, the Guises saw their opponents as treasonous heretics.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Burial riot, National events, Condé's rebellion
Catherine de Medici tried again to broker peace, but neither side was trusting enough to be the first to lay down their arms. By late April, the Guises supporters Montmorency and Antoine of Navarre began to waver when they learnt how much territory was under Condé and troops were moving to Orleans by the thousands. The Duke remained firm, in part because the question of whether the massacre of Vassy would be attributed to him (neither the Court of the Parlement of Paris nor the peers of France had absolved him from guilt).


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Burial riot, National events, Condé's rebellion
Further worries resulted due to the Protestants position allowing them to intercept most of the attempted communications to the King of Spain. On April 24, the Guises strengthened their position in Paris when the Cardinal of Lorraine brought in another thousand horsemen. That same date a letter was sent to Toulouse authorities from Paris, claiming the Edict of Saint-Germain and its proscribed toleration could never have been valid for the Languedoc region as it was a border province.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Burial riot, National events, Appeal to Catholic nations
Catherine de Medici continued to fear that Protestant actions would result in the end of the royal dynasty and began to ally with the Triumvirate. Montomrency proposed that she ask the papal nuncio to ask the Pope for money and troops, but Spain was seen as the major Catholic power at this time and so she bid the Triumvirate to ask King Philip II of Spain for assistance. They did so, sending the request with a letter by Antoine of Navarre professing his Catholic faith. On May 8, the boy King Charles IX formally requested military assistance from Spain, Catholic regions of Switzerland, Catholic regions of Germany, Savoy, the Pope, and Catholic princes of Italy.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection
As outside events added fuel to the flames of sectarian hatred, tensions continued to simmer in Toulouse between the Catholics and Reformed Church members. The capitouls tried to prevent violence by controlling the traffic of weapons into the city, but found it impossible. As historian Mark Greengrass writes, "Monasteries, priests, as well as scholars in the university, maintained caches of small arms and continued to do so, despite the truce.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection
Judges kept garrisons within their private houses and some bourgeois 'monopolisseurs', such as the wealthy Pierre Delpuech, already involved in the arms trade, profited from the additional business that the alarm in the city brought them." In addition the Catholic captains set over the militia by the terms of the truce began to openly defy the capitouls  authority over them (as they viewed them as Protestant heretics).


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection
Theodore Beza accompanying Condé in Orleans sent out a letter to the Protestants across the provinces asking for money and arms for their troops. Toulouse responded to the letter by sending funds (though just as in other regions, the amount was not as much as the leadership had hoped). In addition Reformed Church members within Toulouse began to secretly house Protestant troops within their private estates as the beginning of a levy to send on to Orleans.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection
Perhaps the event that escalated tensions the most was caused by the sénéchal and Parlement who decided that the militia must be reinforced to prevent insurrection. To achieve this they moved to convoke a ban-et-arrière ban which would order all the nearby Catholic nobles to appear in full armor with their warriors. Both Catholic moderates and Protestants within the capitouls protested against the move. They cited the city's charter that forbid armed soldiers from assembling within Toulouse without their permission. The Parlement ignored their protests and on May 10, over two hundred Catholic princes and their retinues entered through the main gate.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection
As tensions escalated the month-long truce could no longer hold. This resulted in far greater violence than the events of the burial riot with much of it again centering on the Hôtel de Ville.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection, Condé plot
Certain that neither justice for their dead nor safety for themselves would be possible under the current political situation, in April Pierre Hunault, sieur de Lanta (one of the Protestant capitouls) veered off his civic trip to Paris and went to Orléans to contact Louis, Prince of Condé. Prince Condé (a convert to the Reformed Church of France and the brother of King Antoine of Navarre) had become the champion of resistance to the domination of the Crown by the staunchly Catholic Guise family.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection, Condé plot
He was seen as a protector of Protestants and had begun to seize and garrison strategic towns along the Loire. Condé told the capitoul to capture Toulouse for the Protestants. The plan was to copy the keys to all the gates of the city's defensive walls and capture the city using the Protestant soldiers already being secretly housed in Toulouse along with troops levied by Lanta from his properties east of the city in Lauragais. The plan would go into effect on May 17 with one of the goals being the strategic seizure of the Hôtel de Ville.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection, Condé plot
Whether Lanta was ever able to coordinate with Reformed Church members within Toulouse remains unknown, but he did begin to levy troops throughout the villages around his country estate (including Blagnac, Colomiers, and Seilh). Lanata's return and his suspicious activities did not go unnoticed by agents of Blaise de Lasseran-Massencôme, seigneur de Montluc the Catholic military lieutenant in Gascony. Montluc forwarded his suspicions to Mansencal, president of the Parlement of Toulouse, saying that he believed Lanta was set to take the city with 1,200 troops on Pentecost (April 18). The Parlement immediately met in emergency session.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection, Condé plot
Thirty-seven parlementaires signed a document charging over twenty of their colleagues with heresy. Some were viewed as unacceptably moderate (Politiques or Nicodemites), some for being humanists, others on suspicion of Protestant sympathies (not for being Protestants themselves but for allowing their wives or family members to attend Protestant services), still others were viewed as convinced Calvinists. Fully purged, the Parlement issued decrees to counter the planned insurrection by requesting additional military assistance from Anne de Joyeuse to garrison strategic locations in the city including fortifying the Hôtel de Ville. They also discussed how to ban Reformed Church services within the walls of Toulouse.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection, Condé plot
Becoming aware of Parlement's discussions, the consistory and other notable Reformed Church members of Toulouse quickly held their own meeting. The consistory made up of city notables urged caution hoping to prevent armed strife. The captains wanted to consider practical and realistic objectives given their situation. It was the zeal of Minister Barrelles that carried the day, determining that as troops were already secretly in the city and more were waiting outside that the time to act was upon them.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection, Condé plot
It was judged that Parlement's actions had forced the conspirators hand and an immediate coup was attempted that night – May 12, 1562. Led by some of their capitouls, Reformed Church members at nine p.m. let Captain Saux and some of the Protestant militia in from the suburbs outside the walls through the Porte Villeneuve gate. These troops captured the Hôtel de Ville and took three capitouls prisoner. Protestant forces also captured the three universities and threw up barricades made of dirt filled barrels across the streets leading into the quartiers that they had captured. All of this took place before the dawn of May 13 with little opposition and no bloodshed.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection, Street fighting
In light of this treason, the councilors of Parlement passed a sentence of arrest on the magistrates who were taking part. They unilaterally deposed all the capitouls and ordered their property seized. This action was taken, even though only two capitouls were known Reformed members, two had no known previous association with Protestantism (though it is always possible that they converted on the job), and the others were viewed as firm Catholics (but ones who favored moderation and peace). The Parlement bypassed the normal election procedure and appointed a new slate of capitouls, all of whom were staunchly Catholic and at least two of which were members of Toulouse's Catholic syndicat.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection, Street fighting
While the Hôtel de Ville was held by Reformed Church members, the Catholic faction was led from the nearby seat of Parlement, the Palais de Justice. They turned the chancery of into an operations room, with the rest of the structure serving as a barracks for the Catholic forces. From here they sent forth military commands, such as ordering all removable shop awnings to be taken down to prevent them from being used as Protestant sniper hides. They also commanded all captains and gentlemen in the nearby areas to come and give military assistance.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection, Street fighting
With both camps entrenched, Parlement quickly had the gunpowder stored in Bazacle Mills seized and requisitioned the King's treasury and any silver within the city. President Mansencal also established a war fund to which all the judges were required to make a contribution. Out in the streets both sides threw up more barricades which soon led to bitter fighting between denominations.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection, Street fighting
Appearing on the streets of Toulouse in their red robes the councilors of Parlement commanded the populace to take up arms against the members of the Reformed Church. Five or six of their number were dispatched to proclaim to the Catholic citizenry that they should "Pillage, kill boldly, with the approval of the pope, of the king, and of the court." These also gave out "a white cross as a mark of distinction for their persons and houses" to those that answered their call.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection, Street fighting
The Parlement ordered all Catholic combatants to display these crosses on themselves and their homes and decreed that all other Catholics must place a display of lighted candles in their windows. Any qualms that Catholics may have had over killing their neighbors were met with the declaration that such actions were part of a "holy war" and clergy loyal to the Parlement offered dispensation in advance to those who agreed to kill heretics.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection, Street fighting
Between 3,000 and 8,000 Catholics answered the call and joined in the street fighting. These included the town guard, a supplementary militia of around 400, private troops garrisoned in wealthy homes, and the Catholic knights and their retinues that had responded to the arrière-ban. They were met by around 2,000 Protestants which included the secret levies of militia and bands of students. The Protestants, while woefully outnumbered, were far better armed, having been successfully sneaking weapons and ammunition into the city since the burial riot. They had also confiscated the arsenal at the Hôtel de Ville which included a great number of pikes, armor, arquebuses and cannon. Urban warfare gripped Toulouse and events quickly descended into chaos.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection, Street fighting
Protestants made use of buildings with overhangs as platforms for musketeers and stone-throwers, they also used their own homes to connect their forces between streets. Catholics often negated these tactical advantages by burning these homes to the ground.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection, Street fighting
On the 14th, Parlement ordered a purge of its militia forces. Though records do not explain why, two captains professing to be Catholic were slain and two more wounded in the courtyard outside the Palais de Justice. After this purge, their militia focused solely on apprehending people that Parlement suspected of Protestantism.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection, Street fighting
On the Catholic side all Protestants were viewed in the same light as those holed up in the Hôtel de Ville - being viewed as not only heretics but open traitors. Those not in the Hôtel de Ville were seized in their homes, thrown from windows, or dragged to the Garonne River and thrown in. Even Protestants being taken to prison by town constables were massacred by mobs of angry Catholics.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection, Street fighting
Still the majority of those arrested did make it to prison and the arrests of Protestants were so numerous that those in jail for merely criminal charges but who were not charged with heresy were released to make more room for captured Reformed Church members. Arriving at jail Protestants were stripped, beaten, and males had their beards torn off. When the prisons were filled to capacity, those arrested on suspicion of Protestantism were stripped naked and thrown into the river – those attempting to swim were shot with arquebuses.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection, Street fighting
As the great number of Reformed Church members in Toulouse were from the higher classes, the hysteria was so out of control that any well-dressed passenger was viewed as a Protestant, taken from the vehicle and slain.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection, Street fighting
The Reformed Church members focused on Catholic churches and monasteries. In total they captured ten of these types of Catholic buildings, including large monasteries belonging to the Dominican and Franciscan Observantists orders. Monks captured in these raids were taken to the Hôtel de Ville and held prisoner.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection, Street fighting
Among the fiercest fighters were university students of either denomination. The students were well prepared for guerrilla tactics and street fighting. They were more deadly than even the nobility's armored mounted cavalry forces whose horse-mounted tactics did not transfer well to the narrow streets of Toulouse and whose armor became cumbersome. Much of the violence, especially that performed by members of the Reformed Church took on a ritualistic tone. Catholic churches were ransacked, with statues and other images destroyed. A band of drunken Protestants broke into the parish church of Saint-Georges and destroyed any Catholic statues, paintings, or other imagery.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection, Street fighting
Other Protestants at Saint-Orens mocking the doctrine of Transubstantiation took hold of Sacramental bread prepared for the Catholic Eucharist and defiled it. One account records a Protestant woman at the Église du Taur church defecating on either the Catholic baptismal font, while another source speaks of a woman doing the same upon the altar to show her contempt for the Catholic's sacrifice of the Mass. Catholic items in these churches that they could not manage to destroy (such as the relics/remains of Thomas Aquinas) along with other expensive objects were taken to the Hôtel de Ville.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection, Street fighting
Likewise some of the Catholic actions seem ritualistic as well, with corpses of those deemed heretics denied any sense of a holy burial by being cast in the Garrone River or "mutilated in a systematic fashion." As the riots continued these ritualistic elements faded in the name of efficiency; historian Greengrass describes the scene: "Once the violence became more organized, the ritualistic elements were submerged beneath the familiar elements of civil war...


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection, Street fighting
Bodies were dumped in the river Garonne, sewers in the city were scoured out, quartiers were set alight, not as ritual cleansings and purification of the city but as a natural recourse in the strategy of urban warfare when the prisons were full and the sewers offered some refuge.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection, Street fighting
The greater violence perpetrated by the Catholics was not necessarily an expression of their outrage at the desecration of their religious symbols and their failure to find Protestant ritual objects to attack in return; it was the inevitable result of a sectarian conflict in a confined space in which Catholics outnumbered Protestants and had the assistance of professional soldiers to whom killing came easily."


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection, Street fighting
As most of the Catholics in the mob were illiterate and viewed books as a means that spread Protestantism, they were quick to support Parlement's edict to raid booksellers' shops (regardless if they sold Protestant works or not), arrest the bookseller, and then remove all their books and set them on fire in the public gathering places.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection, Street fighting
As events escalated some in the mobs took advantage of the situation to settle personal scores. Both sides engaged in pillaging homes of their opponents. With even judges, court officials, medical doctors, and lawyers having their homes ransacked. While most of these homes were owned by people suspected of being in the Reformed Church, in some cases the wealthy had their property pillaged even if they were not believed to be Protestants. One such case was Jean de Bernuy who as an ethnic Jew, had come to Toulouse to escape the Spanish Inquisition and made a fortune selling Isatis tinctoria.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection, Street fighting
His elegant townhome was ransacked by a Catholic mob under the baron de Clermont and both of his daughters were raped without anyone ever charging him of Protestantism. His neighbor Mathieu Chauvet was captured and held for ransom. Foreigners and temporary residents were also robbed. Most of the damage to Toulouse was due to this ransacking pillage, with the conservative total estimate being 20,000 écus.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection, Street fighting
Throughout May 13–14 areas engulfed in street fighting spread to a wider and wider area, moving from around the Place Saint-Georges, to the Place Saint-Sernin, the Porte du Bazâcle, and the streets leading to the cathedral. Greengrass postulates that this closeness to the cathedral and the attacks on the monasteries may be why "the Catholic clergy appeared muted or paralyzed" during these riots, unlike the previous one.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection, Street fighting
By May 15 the Catholics brought four thick oaken mobile defense structures onto the streets that acted as mobile shields. These structures were mounted on two wheels and were rather large for the streets. By pushing these in front of them the Catholics were able to get close to the enemy with the structure absorbing any weapon's fire. These were successful though the Protestants were able to capture one of them.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection, Street fighting
Reformed Church members began to utilize the cannons they had won with their capture of the Hôtel de Ville. One was dragged to the Three Pigeons inn and around barricades to halt a Catholic mobile shield, two smaller cannons were moved to the top of the tower in the Collège de Périgord in hopes that they could destroy the spire of the Saint-Sernin (a famous site of Catholic pilgrimage) and thereby control the whole quarter. A last cannon was taken to the top of the Hôtel de Ville itself to shore up defenses.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection, Street fighting
Also on May 15, Reformed Church members began using the ancient Roman sewer that ran to the Garonne river to move around or to find shelter. Catholics flushed the system with a large amount of water and capturing twenty five Protestants threw them from a bridge into the Garonne river where they drowned.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection, Street fighting
In the beginning of the riots the Protestants had focused on Catholic ritual objects to vent their anger upon and followed a policy of trying to avoid committing violence on their opponents. Prisoners were treated with consideration, banished rather than executed, and great attempts to convert them to what they deemed true Christianity were made. But as events continued and the situation grew more desperate for them, Protestant policy shifted towards more killing. The Catholic policy remained the same throughout the riots; they deemed Protestants both heretics and traitors who must be exterminated in the name of "holy war". This explains their slaughter of unarmed Protestant prisoners held in the conciergerie and Parlement's prison, and their willingness to hold other Protestants under water till they drowned or watch them burn to death inside their homes.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection, Street fighting
It is estimated that at least 200 people viewed as Protestants were slain in this street fighting, though some historians (such as Greengrass) hold that such a figure is far too low.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection, Burning of Saint-Georges
The Catholics responded to the tactic of Reformed Church members using homes to connect Protestant troops in different streets or as firing platforms by setting those homes on fire.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection, Burning of Saint-Georges
The members of the Reformed Church throughout the city had around 1,000 troops and "the allegiance of at least one student nation", but promised reinforcements from Protestant noblemen in the region never arrived. In contrast Catholic aristocrat warriors (such as Anne de Joyeuse, Antoine de Lomagne the sieur de Terride, and Monluc) sent troops into the city. In addition every Catholic church within five or six leagues of the town rang out their tocsins, rallying bands of peasantry into the fray.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection, Burning of Saint-Georges
These superior numbers did not always equate with easy success and more desperate tactics had to be used. Greengrass writes: "Catholics had particular difficulty in the rue des Couteliers and towards the Daurade church, an artisan quarter where Huguenot support was strong. There, Catholics instituted a campaign of terror, sectarian murder, pillage and imprisonment which remind the historian of some of the events [during the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre] in the Quartier Latin in Paris ten years later."


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection, Burning of Saint-Georges
Despite the growing opposition, the Reformed Church members within the Hôtel de Ville were, due to force of arms (which included a cannon), able to hold off the growing opposition.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection, Burning of Saint-Georges
On Friday, May 15, frustrated by the standoff, the Catholic leadership attempted to both dislodge the Reformed Church members, remove cover for any escape route, and end street fighting in that area by setting fire to all Protestant homes in the Saint-Georges quarter (where the Hôtel de Ville was located). The Parlement declared anyone attempting to extinguish the flames would be guilty of a capital offense, which resulted in some Catholic homes burning as well. In the end, more than 200 homes were burnt to the ground.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection, Burning of Saint-Georges
The Reformed Church members within the Hôtel de Ville continued to hold their position from Monday through Saturday. All talk of truce had been rejected by the zealous minister Barrelles whom had turned the town hall into a Reformed temple. Protestant sources describe him as "courageous and zealous, but very thoughtless and not always inspired by the spirit of God". Even in the midst of the siege he had a vicious argument with a Protestant captain over ransoming captured notables back to the enemy. In the end he had the captain thrown into the Hôtel de Ville prison as well. Still, with the city around him ablaze, even he could not long ignore the reality of their military situation.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection, Truce
As the riots continued throughout the week some of the city's notables sought to avoid the conflict or find a way to end it as peacefully as possible. Several of Toulouse's magistrates were determined to remain neutral while both sides descended into bloodshed. Many left the city or moved to quieter areas within it (occasionally sending out attempts to see if Reformed friends or family members and their homes were safe), other notables stayed within their properties protected by a heavy guard.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection, Truce
Those under their own guard were viewed with suspicion by the Catholic faction, and proposals to invoke their aid where rejected by the Catholic syndicat. The viguier (a type of judge) named Jean Portal attempted to remain neutral on his garrisoned property near the Palais de Justice, but his doors where torn down and he was seized by a Catholic mob who suspected him of Protestantism.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection, Truce
On the Catholic side, many of the nobles, who had responded to the ban and arrière-ban, were appalled at the cost the Protestant resistance and their tactics of urban warfare was having on their armored troops. Catholic Captain Ricaud was so devastated at the loss of so many of his troops within just two days of fighting that he withdrew to an Augustinian monastery, refused all food and drink, and wailed about the great loss of gens de bien (good/honest folk). The nobles were also dismayed that the Protestants had no respect for the status of their bloodlines and casualties among the gentry were high. One Catholic noble was even thrown by Protestant townsfolk into the river weighted down by his gilded armor.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection, Truce
Among the Protestants, Captain Sauxenes grew ever more dismayed at the carnage. He began to release some of the Catholic notables that had been taken prisoner (especially the women and children). For these actions he was accused of treason by the zealous Minister Barrelles.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Insurrection, Truce
On May 14, private contacts between factions led to an attempt at negotiations over the barricades at Saint-Rome between Captain Saux and Pierre Delpuech but they fell flat. Nothing was achieved until Saturday May 16, after six hours of early morning fighting and parlement judge Antoine de Resseguier using his skills as a mediator. The Reformed's Captain Saux reached an agreement with the captain of the Catholic troops and Catholic nobleman Raymond de Pavia baron de Fourquevaux of Narbonne. A truce lasting until Sunday night would be called allowing the Protestants to leave Toulouse, never to return. Nothing was laid out about the Protestants' possessions or their worship. Toulouse's capitouls joined a number of Catholic notables after Saturday evening Mass at a Carmelite Church to hastily ratify the terms. News of the terms spread and situational details were negotiated over each barricade.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Massacre
Even before the riots there had been a shortage of grain supplies throughout the town, and as the days of rioting stretched on, the Reformed Church members (within the Hôtel de Ville and strongholds in the university colleges) began to run out of food even for the women and children that had joined them there. This presence of refugees is also believed to have hindered their military (estimates put the number of refugees as already over two thousand by Thursday). The Protestants had never been able to control the river and so were cut off from both the mills alongside it and receiving supplies through it. They did capture some stores from the monasteries, but these were also quickly exhausted.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Massacre
The Reformed Church members' strategic position in the town had always been weak. The expected outside reinforcements of de Lanta, d'Arpajon and other Protestant nobles from Guyenne and the Albigeois never reached the city, having been blocked by royal troops under orders of Blaise de Lasseran-Massencôme, seigneur de Montluc the provincial lieutenant. A few reinforcements did arrive from the Lauragais and Pamiers on Friday and entered through the few gates that the Protestants held, but their numbers and training were inferior to the troops of the Catholic nobility that had answered the ban and arrière-ban.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Massacre
The morale of the Reformed Church members quickly sank when they realized that there was little hope of additional reinforcements. Relying heavily on their captured cannons and having failed to capture the eighteen casks of powder and mills at the Porte du Bazâcle, their military supplies of gunpowder were soon as scarce as their food supplies.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Massacre
The Governor of Narbonne was sent by the Parlement of Toulouse to discuss the peace terms with those inside the Hôtel de Ville. The Reformed Church members agreed to leave the Hôtel and their other strongholds, abandon their arms and possessions inside, and leave Toulouse forever under the promise that they would be unmolested. As Saturday night fell, starting between eight and nine p.m. the Reformed Church members in large numbers began to file through the only Protestant-controlled exit from the walled city, the gate of Villeneuve. Some of their number watched from the rooftop of the Hôtel, singing Protestant hymns to their departing fellows.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Massacre
With only the gate of Villeneuve being seen as a safe passage through the city walls, and with the number of Protestant refugees so large and progressing so slowly (due to carrying possessions and family members), the exodus from Toulouse lasted throughout Saturday night and all the way past eight p.m. Sunday night.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Massacre
As that Sunday was Pentecost, the Reformed Church members within the Hôtel de Ville held a Lord's Supper service and with prayers and tears began leaving its safety defiantly singing Psalms in French. They were accompanied by the town trumpeter who had climbed the Hôtel's tower and played psalms and hymns which were heard throughout the city. It was hoped that as it was Pentecost around the time of vespers, the majority of the Catholic population would be at their Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. The Catholic leadership had ordered the city watch to supervise the truce from the Church towers, and it was hoped that they could maintain discipline over their co-religionists.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Massacre
The historian G. de Felice charges that corrupt clergy members had instructed their listeners that the Catholic Church's teaching of juramentum contra utilitatem ecclesiasticam prœstitum non tenet ("No oath contrary to ecclesiastical utility [the interests of the Church] is binding"), meant that any promise to someone deemed a heretic did not have to be upheld. In any event, the promise of safety was not upheld – those who had abandoned their weapons and left the Hôtel de Ville were soon met by an angry Catholic mob.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Massacre
As soon as the last detachment of Reformed Church members had left the protection of the walls around the Hôtel and made their way towards the gate of Villeneuve, tocsin bells began to ring out. Large mobs of angry Catholics ran out of their churches, seized their weapons and began to chase down and massacre unarmed Protestant men, women, and children. Reformed Church members had to run a gauntlet of Catholics intent on killing and screaming for Protestant blood along with cries of Vive la Croix! ("Long live the Cross"). In addition to the swarming mobs chasing them through the town, the unarmed Reformed Church members were also met outside the walls by Catholics who had forced a violation of the truce by ordering city guards at gunpoint to open another gate so they could intercept the fleeing Protestants.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Massacre
The peasants from nearby villages up to ten miles away that had responded to calls of help from the Parlement earlier in the week, having no training with firearms, had remained outside the city. As they had been told that it was not only permitted but honorable to kill any Protestant on sight and pillage their goods, a thousand such peasants intercepted and slaughtered many trying to flee to Protestant-friendly towns.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Massacre
Outside the confines of Toulouse (which had allowed the Protestants to use urban terrain and tactics to withstand the overwhelming number of Catholics and negate the advantage of mounted armored knights), even if they had been armed they would have had no chance in the plat pays (flat places) that lay between them and Protestant friendly towns. No town not dominated by Protestants could be seen as safe for them; even those who had disguised themselves as peasants from the fields, or as priests trying to pass through Lavaur (to get to Montauban), were found out and slaughtered.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Massacre
Inside Toulouse revenge killings continued. Blaise de Lasseran-Massencôme, seigneur de Montluc, having been barraged with pleas from Parlement arrived there with his forces the day after the insurrection had ended. In his writings Montluc reports that up to 400 Protestants were slain, by his own armored and mounted troops and by mobs of Catholic peasants, while trying to escape Toulouse.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Massacre
Many bodies of those slain outside the walls would lay there half-eaten on the roadsides until identified and collected by the capitaine de la santé.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Massacre
All contemporary sources hold that more were slain outside the walls than in the streets of Toulouse. It is estimated that around 3,000 to 5,000 people had died in the combined rioting and massacre, with the vast majority being Protestants.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Trials
Throughout the day after the massacre, even with the insurrection crushed, a feeling of hysteria continued to grip Toulouse. Property and homes continued to be ransacked, while the town guard continued to pursue those suspected of Protestantism. Even those who had remained uncommitted could come under suspicion depending on what side of the barricades they were found on, or which friends they had visited the night of May 12. The Parlement soon produced lists of suspects and those who had shown a lack of Catholic commitment were shown a lack of mercy by town officials.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Trials
Soon after, Parlement began inquires on the events. Those Protestants that constables had managed to bring to prisons alive were summarily judged by the Parlement and found guilty of capital offenses save for a handful of cases. Investigations soon expanded to seek out those who might have secretly supported the coup and those who might be secret heretics. Between two and three hundred were publicly executed for heresy and the town's provost Captain Saux (a leading Reformed Church member whom had survived the riots) was quartered. Another four hundred were executed for contumacy. Around two hundred were burnt in effigy. In the end nearly a thousand people were investigated by the Parlement.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Trials
Confiscations of property for those the Parlement declared had taken part in the attempted coup were widespread, and accusations have been made that witnesses were bribed or threatened with "ecclesiastical menaces" to increase this property forfeiture. (Felice states: "The clergy had published a motion enjoining, under pain of excommunication and eternal damnation, not only the denunciation of heretics, but even of those, who had given them counsel, help, or favor.")


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Trials
Such a situation caused abuses, one of the more outrageous included the hanging of a twelve-year-old boy who had arrived from Montauban, the Parlement had declared him a heretic for being unable to recite the Ave Maria, despite his protest that he hadn't been taught it yet.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Trials
Other than the fate of a group Augustinian nuns (who had abandoned their cloister in order to return to the world to get married and were sentenced to whipping plus three years of imprisonment), little is known about the fate of women during these trials as it was assumed that they were merely following the wills of their husbands.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Trials
The Parlement had the decree issued on the first day of the insurrection, which had stripped the capitouls of their offices and seized their property, inscribed into a marble slab and placed at Toulouse's Capitol.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Trials
According to city records, the Parlement of Toulouse made the city 22,236 livres tournois from sales of property confiscated from those it found guilty of heresy or contumacy from 1562 to 1563.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Aftermath
Historian Joan Davies relates to what lengths the Protestants of Toulouse had to face in order to worship according to their beliefs, writing "Under the terms of the peace of Amboise, March 1563, the Protestants of Toulouse no longer had the right to worship in their own city but were assigned a lieu du culte first at Grenade, then Villemur, both over twenty kilometers away. There is no evidence that they retained the service of a pastor, but a consistory was still active in 1564, hoping to reconstitute the church. By September 1567, those who wished to attend the cêne had to travel to Montauban; in 1572, Toulousain Protestants can be found at Villemur and trying to worship at Castanet, just outside the city, where the seigneur claimed the right to hold services."


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Aftermath
The famous Reformed theologian Pierre Viret had been working in southeast France (Nîmes, Montpellier, and Lyons) beginning in 1561, he had intended to go to Toulouse in March 1563 but upon hearing of the riots, he returned to Protestant-dominated Lyon after touring Languedoc and the Dauphiné. As the Wars of Religion continued, Pierre d'Airebondouze in Geneva was asked to convey a message to Calvin by Viret. He had been contacted by an official from Toulouse claiming he could raise between three and four thousand Protestant soldiers in the surrounding region of Languedoc if rich fugitives from Toulouse would contribute funds. Viret had secured promises of funds from the Toulousain refugees in Lyon, but many had soon after fled to Geneva following a Protestant defeat near their new home.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Aftermath
Following the riots the populace of Toulouse became well trained in the methods of organized confessional militancy. In 1563 the Catholic populace was called by the Parlement to enroll in leagues dedicated to preserving the religious purity of France. These people were led by Catholic warriors from the nobility, ranking members of the Catholic hierarchy, and city officials. Members were to mark their homes and clothing with white crosses. All who joined "of whatever dignity" had to take an oath to preserve the state religion. Anyone league members encountered who refused to take the oath was to "be considered rebels".


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Aftermath
This practice was reinvigorated in 1568 reformed with the title "crusade" rather than league. Toulouse's "crusade" received a papal bull of approval in March 1568. This group was later folded into the Catholic League that formed in 1576 with the express intention of preventing the Protestant Henry of Navarre from becoming King.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Aftermath
Historian Gayle K. Brunelle states that "As a result [of the city's experience during the 1562 Protestant uprising], not only was Toulouse one of the earliest cities to support the Catholic League, but the Parlement and the city government, cleansed of Protestants, hunted sorcerers and heretics with a relentless, almost obsessive, ferocity until the end of the sixteenth century."


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Aftermath
As the capitouls had been purged of those tolerant of Protestants and replaced with members whose Catholicism was beyond question, the only opposition to a tendency towards ultra-Catholicism in the city's leadership was from a faction of magistrates in Parlement who favored moderation. Even this faction occasionally came under suspicion seen as being Nicodemite.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Aftermath, Later persecutions
As the Wars of Religion engulfed the country, the member of the Reformed Church in Toulouse that had survived the events of 1562 continued to face persecution. Historian Mark Greengrass states, "The opening of each new phase of the civil wars was marked by another wave of repression of rebels and heretics in which the memories of the 'impious and unhappy civil war' of 1562 formed a powerful stimulus".


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Aftermath, Later persecutions
In 1568 between four and five hundred were slain in the night and their bodies thrown into the Garonne river. In addition to the night pogrom, sixteen members high officers (including many from Parlement) were placed under arrest for suspicion of heresy, while sixteen more fled to Montauban and Castres.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Aftermath, Later persecutions
In 1572, in reaction to the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in Paris, Toulouse officials ordered all suspected Reformed Church members to be placed in confinement (some held within Catholic convents, others in the municipal prison). On the night of October 3 (over a month after the Paris massacre) two merchants (father and son) named Delpeche arrived from Paris. They claimed they had orders "to kill all" Protestants. As evening progressed the Delpeches gained supporters and these self-appointed executioners took the Reformed Church members from their cells and murdered them.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Aftermath, Later persecutions
Between 200 and 300 Reformed Church members were slain in this manner. Among those killed were three councilors of the Parlement whose bodies, draped in their official robes, were hung from a tall tree in front of the seat of Parlement. Among those slain was Jean de Coras. Unlike other areas of France which responded with mob violence and indiscriminate killing, Toulouse's response to the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre was cold, efficient, and systematic. With knowledge of the killings, many surviving Toulousain Protestants (like others throughout France) abandoned their faith through abjuration at this time.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Aftermath, Later persecutions
By 1762 Toulouse's treatment of Protestants was met with some outrage over its execution of Jean Calas by breaking at the wheel.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Aftermath, Annual festival
In celebration of their victory over a Protestant coup, the Parlement of Toulouse created an annual festival (fête) for "The Deliverance" to be held every May 17. Pope Pius IV issued a papal bull approving of the religious ceremony and attaching indulgences and benediction to it. As the Wars of Religion dragged on, interest in the celebration began to wane in the late 1580s; supporters of the Catholic League were successful in reinvigorating the annual procession to celebrate the city's "liberation". The fete for the city's "deliverance" became one of the longest continual ceremonies in all of Old Regime France – being annually celebrated from 1563 to 1791, with the official orders of Toulouse assembling each May 17 for a solemn general procession.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Aftermath, Annual festival, The 200th anniversary
The Fête was the largest of Toulouse's general processions and the celebration of its 200th anniversary was (as historian Robert A. Schneider states) "one of the great moments in Toulouse's history, commemorating the two-hundredth anniversary of this glorious event. It was a lavish spectacle, attracting...thirty thousand tourists and pilgrims. And its popularity was enhanced by the renewal of a papal bull originally issued in 1564 granting faithful indulgences for attending prayers at either the cathedral or the Basilica Saint-Sernin."


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Aftermath, Annual festival, The 200th anniversary
A fireworks display was offered held on scaffolding set up to look like a temple. Several items on the scaffolding recalled the triumph of the Catholics over the Protestants 200 years before. One inscription stated "Religion graced and defended this place with its illustrious and precious blood. It is here that faith triumphed wondrously. Calvin, seeing this, shuddered. ... The relics of the saints are Toulouse's honor." Higher up the scaffolding another inscription stated "The Faithful believer will find here his only entrance. ... Harmony and peace reign in this place. ... Those who are excluded perish without help. ...


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Aftermath, Annual festival, The 200th anniversary
This way, and by no other, one ascends to heaven." Over the inscription of the word "Religion" a statue personifying it held a chalice in one hand, a cross in the other, and crushed under its feet a prostrate figure of Calvin. After being postponed by rain the fireworks were set off on May 17.


1562 Riots of Toulouse, Aftermath, Annual festival, The 200th anniversary
Still outraged over Toulouse's execution of Jean Calas just months before, the whole celebration was seen with particular disgust by the Enlightenment writer Voltaire, who called it "the procession to thank God for four thousand murders."


1562 in literature
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1562.


1562 in poetry
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature (for instance, Irish or France).


1562 in poetry, Births
Death years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:


1562 in poetry, Deaths
Birth years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:


1562 in science
The year 1562 in science and technology included a number of events, some of which are listed here.


1563
Year 1563 (MDLXIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.


1563 Act For the Relief of the Poor
The 1563 Act for the Relief of the Poor is a law passed in England under Queen Elizabeth I. It is a part of the Tudor Poor Laws.


1563 Act For the Relief of the Poor
It extended the Poor Act of 1555. It further provided that those who refused, after exhortation by the bishop, to contribute to poor relief could be bound over to the Justice of the Peace and assessed fines.


1563 London plague
In 1563, London experienced its worst episode of plague during the sixteenth century. At least 20,136 people in London and surrounding parishes were recorded to have died of plague during the outbreak. Around 24% of London's population ultimately perished, but the plague affected London's insanitary parishes and neighbourhoods the most.


1563 London plague, London in 1563
In 1563 the City of London was overcrowded, unsanitary, and poorly-policed. Queen Elizabeth reigned in her 5th year and the government struggled with a rapidly increasing population. Although sanitation was a constant problem, the city had gone over a dozen years without a plague epidemic and many contemporary Londoners were unconcerned about the disease. That changed in 1563 when plague suddenly erupted in Derby, Leicester, and London with such virulence that sickness spread to English troops garrisoned at Havre, weakening them and causing a surrender to French forces.


1563 London plague, The plague in London
The first cases of plague began to appear in June. According to manuscripts by John Stow kept at Lambeth Library, weekly bills of mortality for 1563 show the first 17 recorded plague deaths for the week ending 12 June. Elizabeth began coordinating a government response to the epidemic by communicating orders to her people through the Church. Churchwardens and curates were instructed to tell parishioners staying with those sick with plague not to come to church until several weeks after they die or recover. Strict countermeasures were taken at the local level to combat the epidemic such as painting blue crosses on the houses of the infected and government orders to kill and bury all stray cats and dogs "for the avoidance of plague," with special officers appointed to carry out the cull.


1563 London plague, The plague in London
Many people still believed that plague was caused by inhaling corrupt airs known as "miasmas." In another well-intentioned but likely ineffective effort to cleanse London, orders were given by Queen Elizabeth's Council on 9 July that all householders at seven in the evening should make bonfires in the street to consume the corrupt air. Cases began to steadily increase over the next few weeks, with plague killing 131 Londoners for the week ending 3 July before sharply increasing to hundreds of deaths per week by 30 July.


1563 London plague, The plague in London
Tudor physician William Bullein records the contemporary testimony of a beggar witnessing those fleeing the epidemic: "I met with wagons, cartes, and horses full loden with young barnes, for fear of the black Pestilence..." The urban neighborhoods within London's walls were among the hardest hit by the epidemic of 1563, with the worst afflicted areas being Saint Poulkar's parish, Fleet Ditch's Turnagain lane, and Seacoal lane. S. Poulkar's was the most severely affected parish, having large quantities of fruit merchandise and filth in the lanes attracting rats. The areas around Fleet river were notorious for being overcrowded and unsanitary, and plague spread wildly in these localities.


1563 London plague, The plague in London
A prominent London physician named Dr. Geynes, known for invoking Galen and being citationed by the government for it, died on 23 July from plague. Another physician, Dr. John Jones, contracted plague after staying in the house of a sick person but survived the illness. Dr. Jones promotes the theory of contagion in his Dyall of Auges, writing that "I myself was infected by reason that unawares I lodged with one who had it running from him." As London's death toll soared, fear of the plague became palpable in the Royal Court.


1563 London plague, The plague in London
On 21 August, Lord Burleigh drafted Queen Elizabeth's order for the removal of Lady Katherine Grey and the Earl of Hertford from the Tower, out of "great fear that [the plague] may enter into our said Tower." By the end of August nearly 1,000 Londoners per week were dying, and London was experiencing widespread panic. Elizabeth and the Royal Council decided to avoid the City of London entirely. The Queen moved the Royal Court to Windsor Castle and erected a gallows in the town square, threatening to hang anyone who followed them from London. She prudently  banned the transportation of goods into Windsor from London, as she too had a fear of contagion. A pious queen, Elizabeth also wrote to the Archbishop of York to recommend universal prayer and fasting for hastening "remedy and mitigation" of the plague in her realm.


1563 London plague, The plague in London, Autumn peak and winter decline
An average of 1,449 people were dying weekly between 27 August and 1 October, peaking at 1,828 plague deaths in London for the week ending 1 October. Queen Elizabeth's government gave new orders on 30 September that all houses with infected individuals should have their doors and windows boarded up and that no person inside shall make contact with persons outside for 40 days. This strict quarantine may have had an immediate effect, with plague deaths the next week dropping over 30% to 1,262 for the week ending 8 October.


1563 London plague, The plague in London, Autumn peak and winter decline
It is normal during plague outbreaks for the disease to subside or break in a community during the winter months, as rats and their fleas retreat from snow and their resources thin out. By 2 December deaths had fallen to 178 per week and the Common Council released an order that none of the houses where plague patients had been can be rented out. Cases continued to decline to 13 deaths for the week ending 21 January 1564 before plague dissipated from the city.


1563 Noël
1563 Noël, provisional designation 1943 EG, is a stony Flora asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 8 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 7 March 1943, by Belgian astronomer Sylvain Arend at the Royal Observatory of Belgium in Uccle, and named after the discoverer's son.


1563 Noël, Orbit and classification
Noël is a member of the Flora family, one of the largest groups of stony asteroids in the main-belt. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.0–2.4 AU once every 3 years and 3 months (1,185 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.09 and an inclination of 6° with respect to the ecliptic. Noël was first identified as 1930 EF at the Crimean Simeiz Observatory in 1930, extending its observation arc by 13 years prior to its official discovery observation.


1563 Noël, Physical characteristics
The S-type asteroid is characterized as a transitional Sa-subtype on the SMASS taxonomic scheme.


1563 Noël, Physical characteristics, Rotation period
Between April 2008 and June 2015, five rotational lightcurves were obtained from photometric observations by Czech astronomer Petr Pravec at the Ondřejov Observatory near Prague. All lightcurves show a well-defined rotation period between 3.548 and 3.550 hours with a brightness variation of 0.15 to 0.18 in magnitude (U=3).


1563 Noël, Physical characteristics, Rotation period
In April 2008, a photometric observation by astronomer Julian Oey at the Kingsgrove Observatory, Australia, gave a concurring period of 3.550±0.002 hours and an amplitude of 0.14 (U=3).


1563 Noël, Physical characteristics, Diameter and albedo
According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Noël measures 7.2 kilometers in diameter and its surface has a high albedo of 0.37, while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.24 – derived from 8 Flora, the family's principal body and namesake – and calculates a larger diameter of 9.0 kilometers.


1563 Noël, Naming
This minor planet was named in honor of the discoverer's son, Emanuel Arend (H 138).


1563 in literature
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1563.


1563 in poetry
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1563 in poetry, Births
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1563 in poetry, Deaths
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1563 in science
The year 1563 in science and technology included a number of events, some of which are listed here.


1564
Year 1564 (MDLXIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.


1564 Srbija
1564 Srbija (IPA: [sř̩bija]), provisional designation 1936 TB, is a dark asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 36 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 15 October 1936, by Serbian astronomer Milorad Protić at the Belgrade Astronomical Observatory in Serbia. It is named for the country of Serbia.


1564 Srbija, Classification and orbit
The C-type asteroid is also classified as an X-type in the Tholen taxonomy. It orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 2.5–3.8 AU once every 5 years and 8 months (2,070 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.20 and an inclination of 11° with respect to the ecliptic. Srbija's observation arc begins 3 years prior to its official discovery observation with its first identification as 1933 FR1 at Heidelberg in 1933.


1564 Srbija, Physical characteristics
Astronomers Maryanne Angliongto and Milan Mijic at Cal State LA, United States, obtained a rotational lightcurve of Srbija in May 2006. It gave a rotation period of 29.64 hours with a brightness variation of 0.37 magnitude (U=2). In November 2009, photometric observations by James W. Brinsfield at Via Capote Observatory (G69), California, gave a shorter period of 9.135 hours with an amplitude of 0.17 (U=3).


1564 Srbija, Physical characteristics
According to the space-based surveys carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite and NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Srbija measures between 29.48 and 43.23 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has an albedo between 0.042 and 0.10. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for carbonaceous asteroids of 0.057 and calculates a diameter of 37.12 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 10.88.


1564 Srbija, Naming
This minor planet was named in honour of the now sovereign state of Serbia in its transliterated native pronunciation (Serbian: Србија / Srbija). Srbija's discovery in 1936 was the first minor planet discovery made at Belgrade Observatory. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center in December 1952 (M.P.C. 844).


1564 in literature
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1564.


1564 in poetry
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1564 in poetry, Births
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1564 in poetry, Deaths
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1564 in science
The year 1564 in science and technology included many events, some of which are listed here.


1565
Year 1565 (MDLXV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.


1565 Lemaître
1565 Lemaître, provisional designation 1948 WA, is a highly eccentric Phocaea asteroid and sizable Mars-crosser from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 8 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 25 November 1948, by Belgian astronomer Sylvain Arend at the Royal Observatory of Belgium in Uccle, Belgium. It was named after cosmologist and priest Georges Lemaître.


1565 Lemaître, Classification and orbit
Lemaître is a Mars-crossing asteroid, as it crosses the orbit of Mars at 1.666 AU. It is also an eccentric member of the Phocaea family (701). This asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.6–3.2 AU once every 3 years and 8 months (1,353 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.35 and an inclination of 21° with respect to the ecliptic. As no precoveries were taken, and no prior identifications were made, Lemaître's observation arc begins on the night following its official discovery observation.


1565 Lemaître, Physical characteristics
In the SMASS taxonomy, Lemaître is characterized as a Sq-type, a transitional class of stony S-type and Q-type asteroids.


1565 Lemaître, Physical characteristics, Lightcurves
In September 2007, a rotational light-curve of Lemaître was obtained from photometric observations by American astronomer Brian D. Warner at his Palmer Divide Observatory, Colorado. It gave a rotation period of 11.403 hours with a brightness variation of 0.04 magnitude (U=2), superseding a provisional period of 2.4 hours with an amplitude of 0.03 magnitude, derived from photometric observations made by Arnaud Leroy, Bernard Trégon, Xavier Durivaud and Federico Manzini two months earlier (U=1+).


1565 Lemaître, Physical characteristics, Diameter and albedo
According to the surveys carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite and NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Lemaître measures between 6.90 and 8.00 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has an albedo between 0.22 and 0.334. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for Phocaea asteroids of 0.23 – derived from 25 Phocaea, the family's most massiv member and namesake – and calculates a diameter of 8.76 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 12.5.


1565 Lemaître, Naming
This minor planet was named in honour of Belgian priest, astronomer and professor of physics, Georges Lemaître (1894–1966), widely regarded as the father of the Big Bang theory. The lunar crater Lemaître also bears his name. Lemaître was the first minor planet to be numbered after the end of World War II. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 1 June 1975 (M.P.C. 3824).


1565 in literature
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1565.


1565 in poetry
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1565 in poetry, Births
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1565 in poetry, Deaths
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1565 in science
The year 1565 in science and technology included many events, some of which are listed here.


1565–1566 papal conclave
The 1565–66 papal conclave (20 December – 7 January) was convened on the death of Pope Pius IV and ended in the election of Pope Pius V.


1565–1566 papal conclave, Background
Cardinal Vitellozzo Vitelli was Camerlengo; Cardinal Francesco Pisani, the most senior of the cardinals was Dean of the sacred College. The conclave was made up of several small groups aligned either by family relations, such as those who favored Francesco Gonzaga; and by locale, such as the Florentines. A separate division lay between some of the younger cardinals eager to press the reforms of the Council of Trent, and their senior colleagues whose views of reform leaned towards the Inquisition, which use appeared sometimes to border on the political.


1566
Year 1566 (MDLXVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.


1566 Icarus
1566 Icarus (/ˈɪkərəs/ IK-ə-rəs; provisional designation: 1949 MA) is a large near-Earth object of the Apollo group and the lowest numbered potentially hazardous asteroid. It has is an extremely eccentric orbit (0.83) and measures approximately 1.4 km (0.87 mi) in diameter. In 1968, it became the first asteroid ever observed by radar. Its orbit brings it closer to the Sun than Mercury and further out than the orbit of Mars, which also makes it a Mercury-, Venus-, and Mars-crossing asteroid. This stony asteroid and relatively fast rotator with a period of 2.27 hours was discovered on 27 June 1949, by German astronomer Walter Baade at the Palomar Observatory in California. It was named after the mythological Icarus.


1566 Icarus, Orbit and classification
Icarus orbits the Sun at a distance of 0.19–1.97 AU once every 13 months (409 days; semi-major axis of 1.08 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.83 and an inclination of 23° with respect to the ecliptic. The body's observation arc begins with its official discovery observation at Palomar in 1949.


1566 Icarus, Orbit and classification
At perihelion, Icarus comes closer to the Sun than Mercury, i.e. it is a Mercury-crossing asteroid. It is also a Venus and Mars-crosser. From 1949 until the discovery of 3200 Phaethon in 1983, it was known as the asteroid that passed closest to the Sun. Since then hundreds of Mercury-crossers have been found, the closest ones are now being 2005 HC4 and (394130) 2006 HY51 (also see List of Mercury-crossing minor planets § List).


1566 Icarus, Orbit and classification, Meteor shower
Icarus is thought to be the source of the Arietids, a strong daylight meteor shower. However other objects such as the short-period sun-grazing comet 96P/Machholz are also possible candidates for the shower's origin.


1566 Icarus, Orbit and classification, Close approaches
Icarus has an Earth minimum orbital intersection distance of 0.0352 AU (5,270,000 km), which translates into 13.7 lunar distances (LD). This near-Earth object and potentially hazardous asteroid makes close approaches to Earth in June at intervals of 9, 19, or 28 years.


1566 Icarus, Orbit and classification, Close approaches
On 14 June 1968, it came as close as 0.042482 AU (6,355,200 km; 16.533 LD). During this approach, Icarus became the first minor planet to be observed using radar, with measurements obtained at the Haystack Observatory and the Goldstone Tracking Station.


1566 Icarus, Orbit and classification, Close approaches
The last close approach was on 16 June 2015, when Icarus passed Earth at 0.05383 AU (8,053,000 km; 20.95 LD). Before that, the previous close approach was on 11 June 1996, at 0.10119 AU (15,138,000 km), almost 40 times as far as the Moon. The next notably close approach will be on 13 June 2043, at 0.0586 AU (8,770,000 km) from Earth.


1566 Icarus, Naming
This minor planet was named after Icarus, son of Daedalus (also see 1864 Daedalus) from Greek mythology. They attempted to escape prison by means of wings constructed from feathers and wax. Icarus ignored his father's instructions not to fly too close to the Sun. When the wax in his wings melted he fell into the sea and drowned. The naming was suggested by R. C. Cameron and Dr. Folkman. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center in January 1950 (M.P.C. 347). Both mythological figures are honored with the lunar craters Icarus and Daedalus.


1566 Icarus, Physical characteristics
Radiometric observation characterized Icarus as a stony S-type and Q-type asteroid.


1566 Icarus, Physical characteristics, Rotation period
Since 1968, several rotational lightcurves of Icarus were obtained from photometric and radiometric observations. During the asteroid's close approach in June 2017, observations of the fast-moving object were taken by Italian astronomers Virginio Oldani and Federico Manzini, Brian Warner at the Palmer Divide Station (U82) in California, and by Australian astronomers at the Darling Range and Blue Mountains Observatories (Q68).


1566 Icarus, Physical characteristics, Rotation period
Lightcurve analysis gave it a consolidated rotation period of 2.2726 hours with a brightness variation of 0.22 magnitude (U=3). Icarus is a relatively fast rotator, near the threshold where non-solid rubble piles fly apart.


1566 Icarus, Physical characteristics, Spin axis
Analysis of 2015 radar observations obtained at the Arecibo Observatory and the Goldstone Observatory yields a spin axis of (270.0°, −81.0°) in ecliptic coordinates (λ, β).


1566 Icarus, Physical characteristics, Diameter and albedo
According to several radiometric, photometric, and radar observations, including the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Icarus measures between 1.0 and 1.44 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.14 and 0.51.


1566 Icarus, Physical characteristics, Diameter and albedo
Analysis of the radar data obtained at the Arecibo and Goldstone observatories in June 2015 gives the body's dimensions: 1.61 × 1.60 × 1.17 kilometers, with equivalent diameter of 1.44 kilometers. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link adopts an albedo of 0.14 based on the radar-derived equivalent diameter of 1.44 kilometers and absolute magnitude of 16.96.


1566 Icarus, Research interests
Icarus is being studied to better understand general relativity, solar oblateness, and Yarkovsky drift. In its case, the perihelion precession caused by general relativity is 10.05 arcseconds per Julian century.


1566 Icarus, Project Icarus
"Project Icarus" was a student project conducted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the spring of 1967 as a contingency plan in case of an impending collision with 1566 Icarus.


1566 Icarus, Project Icarus
This project was an assignment by Paul Sandorff for his group of MIT systems engineering graduate students to devise a plan to use rockets to deflect or destroy Icarus in the case that it was found to be on a collision course with planet Earth. Time magazine ran an article on the endeavor in June 1967 and the following year the student report was published as a book.


1566 Icarus, Project Icarus
The students' plan relied on the new Saturn V rocket, which did not make its first flight until after the report had been completed. During the course of their study, the students visited the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, where they were so impressed with the Vehicle Assembly Building that they wrote of "the awesome reality" that had "completely erased" their doubts over using the technology associated with the Apollo program and Saturn rockets.


1566 Icarus, Project Icarus
The final plan hypothesized that six Saturn V rockets (appropriated from the then-current Apollo program) would be used, each launched at variable intervals from months to hours away from impact. Each rocket was to be fitted with a single 100-megaton nuclear warhead as well as a modified Apollo Service Module and uncrewed Apollo Command Module for guidance to the target. The warheads would be detonated 30 meters from the surface, deflecting or partially destroying the asteroid. Depending on the subsequent impacts on the course or the destruction of the asteroid, later missions would be modified or cancelled as needed. The "last-ditch" launch of the sixth rocket would be 18 hours prior to impact.


1566 Icarus, Project Icarus, In fiction
The report later served as the basis and inspiration for the 1979 science fiction film Meteor.


1566 celestial phenomenon over Basel
A series of mass sightings of celestial phenomena occurred in 1566 above Basel, Switzerland. The Basel pamphlet of 1566 describes unusual sunrises and sunsets. Celestial phenomena were said to have "fought" together in the form of numerous red and black balls in the sky before the rising sun. The report is discussed among historians and meteorologists. The phenomenon has been interpreted by some ufologists to be a sky battle between unidentified flying objects. The leaflet written by historian Samuel Coccius reported it as a religious event. The Basel pamphlet of 1566 is not the only one of its kind. In the 15th and 16th centuries, many leaflets wrote of "miracles" and "sky spectacles".


1566 celestial phenomenon over Basel, History
The event is reported to have taken place in Basel, Switzerland in 1566. According to Samuel Coccius, on 27-28 July and 7 August, many local witnesses in Basel reported seeing three celestial phenomena. The first is described as an unusual sunrise, the second as a total eclipse of the moon with a red sun rising, and the third like a cloud of black spheres in front of the sun.


1566 celestial phenomenon over Basel, The phenomenon described
The text of the broadsheet can be translated as giving the following description of the event:


1566 celestial phenomenon over Basel, The phenomenon described
It happened in 1566 three times, on 27 and 28 of July, and on August 7, against the sunrise and sunset; we saw strange shapes in the sky above Basel.


1566 celestial phenomenon over Basel, The phenomenon described
During the year 1566, on the 27th of July, after the sun had shone warm on the clear, bright skies, and then around 9 pm, it suddenly took a different shape and color. First, the sun lost all its radiance and luster, and it was no bigger than the full moon, and finally it seemed to weep tears of blood and the air behind him went dark. And he was seen by all the people of the city and countryside.


1566 celestial phenomenon over Basel, The phenomenon described
In much the same way also the moon, which has already been almost full and has shone through the night, assuming an almost blood-red color in the sky. The next day, Sunday, the sun rose at about six o'clock and slept with the same appearance it had when it was lying before. He lit the houses, streets and around as if everything was blood-red and fiery. At the dawn of August 7, we saw large black spheres coming and going with great speed and precipitation before the sun and chattered as if they led a fight. Many of them were fiery red and, soon crumbled and then extinguished.


1566 in literature
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1566.


1566 in poetry
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1566 in poetry, Births
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1566 in poetry, Deaths
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1566 in science
The year 1566 in science and technology included many events, some of which are listed here.


1567
Year 1567 (MDLXVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.


1567 Alikoski
1567 Alikoski, provisional designation 1941 HN, is a rare-type carbonaceous asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 67 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 22 April 1941, by Finnish astronomer Yrjö Väisälä at Turku Observatory in Southwest Finland. It was later named after Finnish astronomer Heikki Alikoski.


1567 Alikoski, Classification and orbit
This asteroid orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 2.9–3.5 AU once every 5 years and 9 months (2,101 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.08 and an inclination of 17° with respect to the ecliptic. Alikoski's observation arc begins with a precovery taken at Turku in 1938, extending it by 3 years prior to the asteroid's official discovery observation.


1567 Alikoski, Physical characteristics, Spectral type
Alikoski is characterized as both a carbonaceous C-type asteroid and as a rare PU-type in the SMASS and Tholen taxonomic scheme, respectively.


1567 Alikoski, Physical characteristics, Rotation period
In March 2004, a rotational lightcurve of Alikoski was obtained by American amateur astronomer Robert Stephens at Santana Observatory in California. Lightcurve analysis gave a well-defined rotation period of 16.405 hours with a brightness variation of 0.16 magnitude (U=3).


1567 Alikoski, Physical characteristics, Diameter and albedo
According to the space-based surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, the Japanese Akari satellite, and NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Alikoski measures between 62.36 and 77.10 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has a low albedo between 0.04 and 0.062. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link adopts the results obtained by IRAS, that is, an albedo of 0.0626 and a diameter of 67.83 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 9.47.


1567 Alikoski, Naming
This minor planet was named in honor of Finnish astronomer Heikki Alikoski (1912–1997), assistant to the discoverer from 1937 to 1956, and an observer and discoverer of minor planets himself. He also helped greatly in establishing the Turku Astronomical-Optical Institute. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 20 February 1976 (M.P.C. 3930).


1567 in literature
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1567.


1567 in poetry
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1567 in poetry, Births
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1567 in poetry, Deaths
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1567 in science
The year 1567 in science and technology included a number of events, some of which are listed here.


1568
Year 1568 (MDLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.


1568 Aisleen
1568 Aisleen, provisional designation 1946 QB, is a stony Phocaea asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 12.5 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 21 August 1946, by South African astronomer Ernest Johnson at Johannesburg Observatory in South Africa. It is named for the discoverer's wife, Aisleen Johnson.


1568 Aisleen, Orbit and classification
The S-type asteroid is a member of the Phocaea family (701), a group of asteroids with similar orbital characteristics. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.8–3.0 AU once every 3 years and 7 months (1,318 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.25 and an inclination of 25° with respect to the ecliptic. As no precoveries were taken, and no prior identifications were made, Aisleen's observation arc begins with its official discovery observation at Johannesburg.


1568 Aisleen, Physical characteristics, Rotation and pole
In August 2000, a rotational lightcurve of Aisleen was obtained from photometric observations made by Glen Malcolm at the Roach Motel Observatory (856) in California. The analysis gave a well-defined rotation period of 6.68 hours during which the brightness varied by 0.56 in magnitude (U=3). In April 2014, photometric observations by Brian D. Warner gave a period of 6.683 hours with an amplitude of 0.31 magnitude (U=3). A modeled lightcurve from various data sources gave a concurring period of 6.67597 hours and found a pole of (109°,−68°).


1568 Aisleen, Physical characteristics, Diameter and albedo
According to the surveys carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite and NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Aisleen measures between 11.98 and 14.04 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has an albedo between 0.130 and 0.21. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for Phocaea asteroids of 0.23 – derived from 25 Phocaea, the family's most massiv member and namesake – and calculates a diameter of 12.67 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 11.7.