Paris in the 16th century on September 5, 1557, thirty were from noble families. In 1561-62, the number of Protestants in Paris was estimated at between ten and fifteen thousand; in France as a whole, three million, or fifteen percent of the population. The Massacre of Saint-Bartholomew's Day on August 23–24, 1572 killed between two and three thousand Protestants; it was followed by a large-scale emigration of Protestants out of the city, primarily to Sedan, Montbeliard and Geneva. In 1598, with the Edict of Nantes, the Protestant were again able to open a church a Grigny, on the banks of the Seine outside the city.
Paris in the 16th century Paris is estimated by modern historians to have been about 250,000 at the beginning of the 16th century, growing to 350,000 by 1550, then dropping down to 300,000 by the end of the century, due to the plague epidemic of 1580, and the long siege of the city during the Wars of Religion. The area of the city covered about 439 hectares within the city walls. Several new neighborhoods, formally rural, were populated over the course of the century, notably the Faubourgs Saint-Honoré, Saint-Martin, and Montmartre. Despite efforts of the government to keep the area outside of the walls clear