St. Bartholomew's Day massacre St. Bartholomew's Day massacre The St. Bartholomew's Day massacre () in 1572 was a targeted group of assassinations and a wave of Catholic mob violence, directed against the Huguenots (French Calvinist Protestants) during the French Wars of Religion. Traditionally believed to have been instigated by Queen Catherine de' Medici, the mother of King Charles IX, the massacre took place a few days after the wedding day (18 August) of the king's sister Margaret to the Protestant Henry III of Navarre (the future Henry IV of France). Many of the most wealthy and prominent Huguenots had gathered in largely Catholic Paris
Paris in the 16th century of two hundred twenty "sergeants à verge" who were stationed at the city gates and major intersections. The night watch was maintained by a separate force of about two hundred forty men, composed of the "Chevalier du guet" and his sergeants. The earlier night watch, which had consisted of members of the merchants, was abolished in 1559 because of its ineffectiveness In the first part of the 16th century, the merchants still had considerable control of commercial matters and disputes, but in the second half of the century most of these rights were taken away. In 1563 a system commercial