This assassination began the series of events known as the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre. For the next five days, the city erupted as Catholics massacred Calvinist men, women, and children and looted their houses. King Charles IX announced that he had ordered the massacre to prevent a Huguenot coup and proclaimed a day of jubilee in celebration even as the killings continued. Over the next few weeks, the disorder spread to more than a dozen cities across France. Historians estimate that 2,000 Huguenots were killed in Paris and thousands more in the provinces; in all, perhaps 10,000 people were killed. Henry of Navarre and his cousin, the young Prince of Condé, managed to avoid death by agreeing to convert to Catholicism. Both repudiated their conversions after they escaped Paris.