grace to Christendom, he expressed his desire that the Huguenots should be entirely extirpated. When Cardinal Orsini, his special legate, informed Charles IX. that the Pope was greatly dissatisfied that the slaughter had not been more extensive and complete, the King was much displeased, and replied that it was unreasonable on the part of His Holiness to ask for more, adding that he had already put seventy thousand Huguenots to the sword, and if he had shown compassion to the remainder it was in order that they might become good Catholics. The Queen-Mother could hardly restrain her rage. Salviati had never seen her so furious.'' In the Bull which Gregory issued, in approval of the Massacre, he declared that, forasmuch as God had armed the King of France to inflict vengeance on the heretics for the injuries done to religion, and to punish the leaders of the rebellion that had devastated the kingdom, Catholics should pray that he might have grace to pursue the auspicious enterprise to the end, and so complete what he had begun so well.' 2

How the Pope showed his joy at even this inadequate shedding of heretical blood by processions of the clergy, by illuminations and other public rejoicings, by the Bull and the commemorative medal, and by proclaiming a jubilee, and how he permitted the assassin of Coligny to be presented to him by the Cardinal of Lorraine and the French ambassador, and how the head of the Admiral was sent to him as an acceptable offering (not, however, reaching its destination), and how he summoned from Florence Vasari, the painter of the greatest reputation of his day, to represent on the walls of the Vatican, where his frescoes are still to be seen, the bloody episodes of those terrible days when the unoffending Protestants were slaughtered in the streets of Paris, and how he expressed the hope that the example set by the French King would be followed by the other princes of Christendom, are facts which

Salviati's despatch, September 22, 1572, quoted by Lord Acton, p. 60.

2 Lord Acton in the North British Review. This Bull, as is well known, is not included in the published collection of Papal Bulls. It furnished incon venient evidence of the complicity of the Church of Rome in a revolting crime, and consequently attempts have been made to prove that it is fictitious, as the case of the medal struck to commemorate the Massacre.

can be falsified or denied, but cannot be disproved. De Thou's History,' as is well known, was put in the Index, because in it he expressed his disapproval of the Massacre.

The Pope, whilst rejoicing over the slaughter of the Huguenot heretics on religious grounds, was not insensible at the same time to the political advantages which he hoped to derive from the destruction of the Huguenot leaders. We have seen, from a despatch addressed by the Venetian Senate to their ambassador at Paris, that the Papal Nuncio at Venice had expressed the hope that Charles, now that he had exterminated the Huguenots, would be free to join the League against the Turks-which His Holiness had much at heart.

The endeavours of Catholic writers to remove from the Church of Rome the stain of this infamous deed, and to prove that Gregory XIII. was neither implicated in it nor approved of it, have signally failed. The attempts to suppress evidence and to falsify the proofs which might tend to show its complicity in it, have only had the effect of confirming the suspicion of its guilt. Signor Gar, after an examination of the documents in the Venetian Archives, comes to the conclusion that the horrible Massacre of St. Bartholomew had been long premeditated, and that the Roman Court, if it did not directly promote it, certainly rejoiced at it as an auspicious event, as did Spain and, too surely, the Venetian Republic, with the other Italian States.' Lord Acton also (a Roman Catholic, be it remembered) comes to the same conclusion, and declares that the opinion that the Massacre of St. Bartholomew was a sudden and unpremeditated act cannot be maintained;' and after referring to the attempts of Möhler and other Catholic writers to pervert facts and to falsify evidence in order to exculpate the Church of Rome, concludes his admirable paper on the Massacre by these remarkable words, worthy of remembrance by those who deal with historical questions which require to be treated without religious or political bias: Such things will cease to be written when

6

'La Strage di San Bartolommeo. P. 24 of the introduction to his translation of Lord Acton's article in the North British Review.

VOL. II.-NO. I.

I

men perceive that truth is the only merit which gives dignity and worth to history.''

In concluding these remarks I must remind you that I have not attempted to give a history of the Massacre of St. Bartholomew. My only object has been to submit to you the information relating to it which is furnished by documents preserved in the Venice Archives. For a full history of that event I venture to recommend to you the masterly article by Lord Acton to which I have so frequently referred, and which is as noteworthy for the learning and research which it displays as for its judicial and impartial spirit. Those of our members who may wish to inquire more fully into the true history of an event so deeply interesting to us as descendants of Huguenots, should study that article, which I should be glad to see republished, if possible, under the auspices of our Society.

I have found a Report (probably from the Venetian ambassador at Paris) in the Venice Archives, headed, The Reasons which induced the Huguenots to take up Arms against the Most Christian King.' Although it does not directly relate to the Massacre of St. Bartholomew it is of some interest and importance as showing the belief of the Huguenots that some scheme for their destruction had been formed by the QueenMother. It was, probably, sent to Venice at the end of 1570, and is included in a collection of miscellaneous papers, without any indication of its author. It has not, I believe, been published. The following are the reasons assigned :—

The arrival of the Duke of Alva in Flanders, and the executions which His Excellency subsequently carried out, such as those of the Counts Egmont and Horn.

'The coming of 6,000 Switzers for the service of the King. 'Letters of the Queen that had fallen into the hands of the Huguenots, in which she wrote to the Catholic King (Philip II.) that immediately on the arrival of the Switzers she would turn her attention to what she had promised His

2.

Article in the North British Review, p. 70.

Miscellanea di Atti diversi manoscritti.' Filza, N. 119-120.

Majesty, which the Huguenots interpreted to mean their extermination, and on this account they excited the people.'

The intention of the King, of which the Huguenots had obtained knowledge, that they were to be forced to live as Catholics.2

The arrival at Court of the Cardinal of Lorraine and the Duke of Guise.

'The arrival, also, of the Cardinal Santa Croce, when it was rumoured that the King intended to publish [the decrees of] the Council of Trent.

'Letters written by the Most Christian King to various baillies and seneschals, directing them to put into execution 3 that which should be ordered them, which letters were intercepted by the Huguenots.

'And the Reports made by the maîtres des requêtes sent through the Provinces to ascertain who had contravened the Edict of Pacification with respect to their pretended reformed religion, especially as it was found that the greater number of them, and probably even all of them, had incurred the penalties prescribed by the Edict.'

This document then states the conditions upon which the Huguenots were prepared to come to an understanding with the King, which were the following:

That in order to free the kingdom of France from tyranny all foreigners should be expelled, and especially the Italians, who were the inventors of new impositions and taxes.

"That His Majesty should disarm and dismiss the Switzers; that all the imposts and taxes placed upon the people for the last ten years should be abandoned.

'That all donations made to the King and his predecessors

Gli Ugonotti interpretarono che fosse a destruttion loro, e con questo sollevarono gli animi de' populi.'

La disposizione dell' animo del Re, penetrata da gli Ugonotti, a voler ch' essi Catholicamente vivessero.' The meaning of this sentence is somewhat obscure.

''Che si tenessero pronti per far l'essecuzione che loro sarebbe ordinata.' The Huguenots may have believed these words to refer to orders to be given for their destruction.

I processi verbali fatti da ministri di richieste.'

Capitoli proposti dagli Ugonotti per accordarsi col Re.'

for the last ten years should be revoked, and should be made over to the public treasury (fisco) in order that the King's debts should be paid out of them.

That all those who have administered the finances for the last ten years should render account.

'That the Huguenots should be allowed to live in liberty according to their consciences, and that the Edict of January should be suspended.

'That they should be pardoned for having contravened the Edict of Pacification with respect to baptisms, marriages, and other practices of their religion.

'That the [Huguenot] nobility be maintained in their privileges, immunities, and exemptions, as in the time of King Louis [XII.].

'That as soon as possible the States-that is, the Councils -should be held.

That as a security for that which may be accorded to them, Cologne, Calais, and Metz should be handed over to them, and that the Duke of Alençon should be given to them as a hostage in Germany.'

ADDENDA.
I.

Despatches from Giovanni Michiel and Sigismondo Cavalli, not hitherto published, of which the 'Rubrica,' or précis, is given in the Rubricario' in the Venetian Archives.

August 13, 1572. Rapresentano diversi avisi delle cose et stato di Fiandra, et che Francesi Ugonoti erano alla Frontiera di Picardia per tentare di passare à Mons, et che perciò il Re di Navarra solicitava le sue nozze acciò che la molta cavallaria che era con lui potesse andar à questa impresa.

Che l' armiraglio haveva havuto stretissimo negozio con l'Ambtor della Regina d' Inghilterra per che la si scopri à guerra aperta contra de Spagnoli.'