Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary

Counsel in the Wake of Massacre

Joshua Lamb

313: Reformation Church History

November 2, 2015

Introduction

The reformation period in France had many notable figures. While Calvin is the most well-known, others such as Theodore Beza were influential in guiding the church during this tumultuous time in history. French Calvinists (Huguenots) had much hope that the government of France would provide them with freedom of worship, but the events of St. Bartholomew’s Day in 1572 dealt a devastating blow to the movement. In the wake of this devastation, Theodore Beza and others provided council to the churches that is timeless and relevant even for today. This paper will examine the political intrigue leading to the massacre, the events of the massacre itself, council during the aftermath, and modern applications.

The Stage is Set

In order to understand the massacre of Saint Bartholomew’s day, it is necessary to place ourselves in the setting of Paris at the time. French culture as a whole was enamored with the idea of Gallicanism, which can be described as a sort of nationalism that believed the monarch should have equal authority to the pope¹. There was a cultural perception that the state should be allowed a certain measure of imposition into the religious affairs of the Catholic church. There was also the view by the religious wing of the University of Paris (the Sorbonne) that the ideas of Luther were heretical and calamitous. These forces of culture led to negative sentiment towards the Huguenots within the city of Paris, as well as a respect for the decisions of the monarch. Another piece to consider is the information war that was going on in the city of Paris. Catholic priests such as Simon Vigor were vehemently attacking Protestantism – calling it the ‘cancer within the body’ and encouraging that it be purged². The view by Catholics in Paris was that Protestantism was a great heresy. This sentiment no doubt helped the massacre to spread within and out of Paris on the fateful day and months following. Meanwhile, the Huguenots began to develop a theory of resistance, based on Calvin’s writings. In sum, this theory was that if kings proved to be tyrants then it was appropriate and even necessary to resist them³. Storm clouds were certainly gathering over the city of Paris.

In addition to national temperament, there are key players that must be understood in order to get a clear picture of the massacre and aftermath that followed. We start our examination with Admiral Gaspard de Coligny. Coligny was a notable Huguenot leader and military commander. He was very taken up with the protestant cause in France and sought to help the group achieve a peaceful and independent existence. At the time leading up to the massacre, his intention was to take his forces to assist William of Orange in the low countries⁴. Coligny had an amiable relationship with the young king, Charles IX. We will postpone our discussion on Charles for a moment and turn to the Queen Mother, Catherine de Medici. Catherine was a woman of sweeping influence. After the death of her husband, Catharine was thrust onto the world stage and for the most part possessed great power until her death. She wielded considerable influence over her son Charles and could be thought in many ways to be the power behind the throne. Her objective was often to strategically play the forces of Catholicism and Protestantism off of each other in order to ensure that she retained influence and perpetuated the Valois monarchy. Although she identified as Catholic, religion was not really as important to her as maintaining a balance of power. It is perhaps for this reason that she did not take kindly to the friendship between Admiral Coligny and her son, the young king⁵. She reasoned that as long as Coligny held influence, that Charles may eventually become Protestant⁶. It is at this point that we have record that Theodore Beza was in repeated contact with Coligny, warning him of the danger that he faced from the royal court⁷. In August of 1572 this danger became a tragic reality.

The Massacre

On 21 August 1572, Hoguenot leaders and noblemen gathered in the city of Paris to celebrate the wedding between Catherine de Medici’s daughter, Marguerite, and Henry of Navarre (son of the pious Queen of Navarre, Jeanne d'Albret). It was thought that a marriage such as this would help to heal the relationships between the royal court and the Huguenot party. Although the participants celebrated the wedding, the predominantly catholic city of Paris viewed the wedding guests with contempt as foreigners and outsiders⁸.

All was safe enough until the day following the wedding, when an assassin attempted to take Coligny’s life. His life was spared due to a distraction, sometimes described as stooping to tie his shoe. Nevertheless, he was still wounded by the bullet, and elected to stay in Paris⁹. This decision left the royal court in a state of panic. Would Coligny order Huguenot troops to march on the city of Paris? Catherine pressured her son into agreeing that Coligny must be eliminated. The two great threats in Catherine’s mind were Spain without and the Huguenots within. If civil war was to occur, why not remove the Huguenot leadership while they were in Paris for the wedding? The next few days surely afforded the greatest opportunity to strike. By the evening of 23 August it was agreed by Catherine and Charles that Huguenot leaders must die¹⁰.

The orders were given and Coligny was killed at the hands of the Duke of Guise and his body was thrown out of the window¹¹. Soldiers went throughout the quarter killing many of the Huguenot leaders that were in the city, along with some that were at the Louvre. It is at this point that the spark was lit for the whole city to be set ablaze with violence. Records indicate that the Duke of Guise ordered some of the men to kill the Huguenots for “it is the King’s command”¹². While this was most likely a directive for soldiers to take out the protestant leadership in the particular quarter, it was overheard and spread rapidly. When it reached the ears of catholic commoners in Paris, it was likely they interpreted it as a license to act on the rhetoric they had heard from catholic pulpits for quite some time. As a result, the targets of violence spread from the Huguenot leadership to anyone in Paris who had identified as protestant. The streets were overwhelmed with bloodshed. People used it as an opportunity to settle scores with neighbors. The level of rage and barbarism has been well documented. Expectant mothers and young children were not safe. Huguenots were dragged through the streets and thrown into the Seine river¹³. Parisians used the opportunity to give full vent to their frustrations over religion, politics, and everything else. Thousands perished. Reports state that Catherine and Charles took pleasure in the violence of the night, even sending letters directing it¹⁴. The attacks continued for weeks before soldiers were fully able to contain the violence. As news spread of the massacre, Paris set a precedent for several other cities in France. Tragically, many perished in these places as well. News of the massacre reached Pope Gregory XIII, who was gleeful over the killings¹⁵.

The Aftermath

Word about the massacre traveled to Geneva. Beza and others mourned over the massacres as they announced the news from the pulpit on the 31^st^ of August¹⁶. Beza’s unheeded warnings to Coligny over the political situation had been to no avail. Beza was not surprised that something could happen, but shocked over the outcome¹⁷. Geneva took swift action to establish special prayer services and initiate contact with local authorities¹⁸. It is this decisive and swift action that enabled them to prepare for the influx of refugees that were soon to stream in from Paris and other cities. Within two weeks, there were 400-500 refugees that had come into Geneva, in need of food and shelter.

Although Beza began to fear for his own life, he nevertheless spearheaded a citywide relief effort to help these destitute refugees. He was deeply concerned about how they were being provided for and sought financial assistance from the city government and also from his contacts in the Reformed churches across Europe (Beza was on good terms with several reformers outside Geneva, including Philip Melancthon¹⁹). These refugees were fellow Christians and in Beza’s words “It deeply pains me, that we have almost nothing to give to these miserable brothers who were shipwrecked in such a violent storm and landed here almost naked”²⁰. A brutal winter and damaged harvest left many in Geneva worn out and beaten down.

Compounding these physical needs were the lies put out by the throne regarding the events of the massacre. The official report was that the massacre was the king’s reaction to a possible Huguenot revolt. Much time could be spent discussing the political sphere, but the greater injury was the information put out the following months, accusing Beza and others of sedition for helping the refugees that came into Geneva. A man named Pierre Charpentier published a pamphlet in 1573 which accused the pastors in Geneva of seditious behavior and in no uncertain terms, being the cause of the massacre²¹. Heinrich Bullinger urged that Beza respond to these accusations in order to avoid confusing the Reformed supporters in Europe. Beza and a Geneva companion, Simon Goulart, wrote prolifically to combat this vicious misinformation that was rapidly being spread.

The Company of Pastors in Geneva was now in the heart of a crisis. Refugees were flocking to the city, well beyond what it could financially support. The massacres had inflamed the tensions between the Huguenot party and the crown. Wicked men had placed the blame for the massacres on the very people that they had killed. Many Huguenot leaders were not available because they had perished in the attacks. Now men such as Charpentier who were once thought of as protestant were showing their true colors as enemies of the reformed religion and slandering Geneva in the press. Thousands of people were apostatizing back to Roman Catholicism out of fear for their lives. Many of the faithful felt abandoned by God. How were they to be addressed?

Council

Beza and Goulart recognized the need to encourage and direct God’s people during this trying time. It is important to note that Goulart himself was in Paris and witnessed firsthand the massacre of Saint Bartholomew’s Day before fleeing to Geneva²². These men were well acquainted with grief, and providentially placed by God to lead the church in this difficult time. Their council focused on two broad areas: resistance and submission. Although these two ideas may appear to be antithetical, they were to operate in different spheres.

Firstly, the counsel to resist took up the Huguenot “theory of resistance” that had started several years earlier. A few years prior to the massacre, the Huguenot bastion city of La Rochelle had already published in no uncertain terms that kings who became tyrannical were no longer necessary to be obeyed under God. This theory of resistance, as discussed in a previous section, was now cemented after that massacre. In 1574, Beza published Authority of Magistrates over their Subjects in which he argued that lesser magistrates had the role of resisting a tyrant king²³. This was biblical and necessary counsel, further clarifying a relationship between state and church that had been present in Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion.

Secondly came the counsel to submit. At the same time Beza was publishing these works, he was also writing to encourage the faithful in their walk among these circumstances. These downtrodden believers were asking one question “Has God abandoned us?”. In order to answer this question, we have to start with the posture of Beza and Goulart. Since the beginning of the massacres, they were resolute in stating that God’s hand was not shortened to save, and that believers were ultimately hoping for a heavenly home²⁴.

Goulart and Beza answered with the firm message “God has not abandoned us”. What then was the reason for this great suffering? Goulart stated there were three reasons for suffering: chastisement of sin, demonstrating the genuineness of their faith, and teaching them to glorify Him²⁵. Scott M. Manetsch summarizes that in the face of this suffering, Goulart advised, “Christians should not become angry with God or doubt his fatherly love. Rather, they must adopt a posture of repentance and trust by acknowledging God's goodness, confessing their sins, submitting to the divine will, and rooting their hope more firmly in eternal life.²⁶”

Beza and Goulart used this wisdom to comfort many fearful Christians. In public, they printed works analyzing and discouraging apostasy and working with churches to conduct church discipline on those who had left the faith. In private, they wrote letters they encouraged Christians who were fearful and downtrodden. Beza’s letters focused on encouraging believers to continue listening to sermons, partaking of the sacraments, and reading the Scriptures in private²⁷. This council is valuable not only for their generation, but also for the church today as it faces intense persecution throughout the world. Even believers that don’t find themselves in mortal danger will still find themselves in testing times, because the Lord chastises every son whom He receives (Hebrews 12:6).

Modern Applications

When we go through suffering, or address others in suffering, there are things we are to believe and things we are to do. Goulart’s council in particular is valuable, because it comes from a man that saw the horrors of the massacre himself and went on to encourage others. His three reasons for suffering are valuable to consider. We often ask “why is this happening?” and while God has hidden specific details from us, He has still provided much in His Word that is plain. Following Goulart’s reasoning, we can ask: Is there sin in my life that God is chastising me for in order that I would repent? Is this to prove my faith as genuine, that I may be further encouraged in the Gospel? Is this teaching me to depend on Christ in my weakness, that I might glorify Him and be comforted by Him? These three questions represent the three broad areas of thought that we can consider in times of suffering. Our wise God has hidden specific answers from us in trials for the very purpose that we would humbly lean on Him during them. Churches can certainly use Goulart’s council in a variety of situations in which people suffer.

After reflecting on these questions, we can use Beza and Goulart’s council to encourage believers during trial. Combining their wisdom, there are seven actions which believers can take: Acknowledgement, Confession, Sermons, Scriptures, Sacraments, and Submission.

Firstly, the believer should start with acknowledgement of God’s goodness in their lives. This might be the last thing the believer feels like doing in trial, but it is vital to re-center our thinking on God Himself. Recall past times in which God has been good. Meditate on the Father’s goodness in sending the Son to atone for Sin. Think of the goodness and favor of God in His election and adoption. Even amidst fierce persecution, Goulart and Beza shows us in their lives that God is faithful, good, and can be trusted.

Secondly, the believer should confess any unrepentant sin in their life that God may be chastising them for as they go through trial. It is important for the counselor to be aware that this may not be the cause of their suffering. Blameless Job suffered. Christ the spotless Lamb suffered. Nevertheless, this should still be an early step in the process in order to be reconciled in communion with God.

Thirdly, listen to sound and edifying sermons which will serve to uplift the soul and increase trust and love towards God. This world ultimately is not our home, and we must in a sense “hear word about the heavenly country” to which we are destined to reside.

Fourthly, private reading and meditation of the Scriptures has no equal in benefit to the soul. It is easy for sufferers to lose sight of the Word and wander off into vain thinking that God doesn’t love them because of the harshness of external circumstances. But the Word stands ready and calling to those who would read of God’s love towards His chosen. Lady Wisdom is calling in the street, the water of life is had without price to those who would come to the well and drink.

Fifthly, suffering believers should be encouraged to partake in the sacraments. The Lord’s Supper is a special grace to remind us, in every condition, of God’s love toward us in sending His Son.

Sixthly, the believer must be counseled to submit to the providence of God in this particular trial. This is not a one-time counsel, but something that is ongoing and repeated. In our list this is placed last because it is often wrongfully addressed first. Believers should never be exhorted in private to “just submit” without also placing it in the context of wisdom like the other steps listed. God has provided an abundance of grace to believers in trial, and those who counsel must likewise be gracious towards those in trial. Ultimately, it is the believer’s duty to submit in trial, but they are to learn and perform this duty in the context of the means of grace God has provided for them.

Conclusion

We have the benefit of viewing the massacre of Saint Bartholomew’s Day in context. We are privileged to see the counsel that flowed from the pens of men such as Theodore Beza and Simon Goulart, to believers who were ruthlessly betrayed by their own civil government. The question they asked “Has God abandoned us?” has come from the lips of God’s people all over the world. And God has appointed prophets, counselors, and pastors to encourage God’s people that He has never once abandoned them. A glimpse into one of the most horrific events in history shows us that even there, God is faithful and present with His people. It is a message the church must and will take up in our own day. As Simon Goulart eloquently states, “There is no bodily or spiritual affliction or grief of any sort, which cannot easily be overcome by the meditation on the providence of God, especially of his special care for those whom he has elected to salvation in Jesus Christ. To him be honor and glory forever. Amen.”²⁸

BIBLIOGRAPHY

PRIMARY WORKS

Registres des Conseils. Archiv d’Etat de Geneve, 1572.

Simon Goulart. Discours Chrestiens. Vol. 28, n.d.

Theodore Beza. Correspondance de Theodore de Beze. Edited by Hippolyte Aubert, Henri Meylan, and Alain Dufour. Vol. 1–21. Geneva: Librairie Droz, 1960.

SECONDARY WORKS

Baird, Henry Martyn. Theodore Beza: the counsellor of the French Reformation,1519-1605. Burt Franklin research & source works series

1. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2004.

Diefendorf, Barbara B. Beneath the cross: Catholics and Huguenots in sixteenth-century Paris. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991.

Fuller, Thomas. Abel redevivus, or, The dead yet speaking: the lives and deaths of the modern divines. A new ed. London: William Tegg, 1867.

Grant, A. J. The Huguenots. Home university library of modern knowledge 171. London: T. Butterworth Ltd, 1934.

Gray, Janet Louise Glenn. The French Huguenots: anatomy of courage. Grand Rapids, Mich: Baker Book House, 1981.

Manetsch, Scott M. “Simon Goulart (1543-1628) and the consolation of troubled souls.” Calvin Theological Journal 49, no. 2 (November 2014): 201–220.

Manetsch, Scott M. Theodore Beza and the quest for peace in France, 1572-1598. Studies in medieval and Reformation thought v. 79. Leiden ; Boston: Brill, 2000.

Registres des Conseils. Archiv d’Etat de Geneve, 1572.

Roche, O. I. A. The days of the upright: the story of the Huguenots. 1st ed. New York: C. N. Potter, 1965.

Simon Goulart. Discours Chrestiens. Vol. 28, n.d.

Theodore Beza. Correspondance de Theodore de Beze. Edited by Hippolyte Aubert, Henri Meylan, and Alain Dufour. Vol. 1–21. Geneva: Librairie Droz, 1960.

Treasure, G. R. R. The Huguenots. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2013.

Zoff, Otto, E. B. Ashton, and Jo Mayo. The Huguenots: fighters for God and human freedom. New York: L. B. Fischer, 1942.

¹. . A. J. Grant, The Huguenots, Home university library of modern ↩

knowledge 171 (London: T. Butterworth Ltd, 1934), 10.

². . G. R. R. Treasure, The Huguenots (New Haven: Yale University ↩

Press, 2013), 168.

³. . Treasure, The Huguenots, 169. ↩

⁴. . Janet Louise Glenn Gray, *The French Huguenots: anatomy of ↩

courage* (Grand Rapids, Mich: Baker Book House, 1981), 127.

⁵. . Gray, The French Huguenots, 129. ↩

⁶. . Otto Zoff, E. B. Ashton, and Jo Mayo, *The Huguenots: fighters ↩

for God and human freedom* (New York: L. B. Fischer, 1942), 135.

⁷. . Henry Martyn Baird, *Theodore Beza: the counsellor of the French ↩

Reformation,1519-1605*, Burt Franklin research & source works series
475 (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2004), 249.

⁸. . Treasure, The Huguenots, 170. ↩

⁹. . Treasure, The Huguenots, 170. ↩

¹⁰. . Barbara B. Diefendorf, *Beneath the cross: Catholics and ↩

Huguenots in sixteenth-century Paris* (New York: Oxford University
Press, 1991), 96.

¹¹. . Gray, The French Huguenots, 139. ↩

¹². . Diefendorf, Beneath the cross, 99. ↩

¹³. . O. I. A. Roche, *The days of the upright: the story of the ↩

Huguenots*, 1st ed. (New York: C. N. Potter, 1965), 138.

¹⁴. . Gray, The French Huguenots, 143. ↩

¹⁵. . Gray, The French Huguenots, 151. ↩

¹⁶. . Scott M. Manetsch, *Theodore Beza and the quest for peace in ↩

France, 1572-1598*, Studies in medieval and Reformation thought v.
79 (Leiden ; Boston: Brill, 2000), 32.

¹⁷. . Baird, Theodore Beza, 248. ↩

¹⁸. . Registres des Conseils (Archiv d’Etat de Geneve, 1572), 67, ↩

136.

¹⁹. . Thomas Fuller, *Abel redevivus, or, The dead yet speaking: the ↩

lives and deaths of the modern divines*, A new ed. (London: William
Tegg, 1867), 212.

²⁰. . Theodore Beza, Correspondance de Theodore de Beze, ed by. ↩

Hippolyte Aubert, Henri Meylan, and Alain Dufour, vol. 1–21 (Geneva:
Librairie Droz, 1960), 14:244 Translated by Scott M. Manetsch.

²¹. . Manetsch, *Theodore Beza and the quest for peace in France, ↩

1572-1598*, 47.

²². . Scott M Manetsch, “Simon Goulart (1543-1628) and the ↩

consolation of troubled souls,” *Calvin Theological Journal* 49, no.
2 (November 2014): 207.

²³. . Gray, The French Huguenots, 157. ↩

²⁴. . Baird, Theodore Beza, 251. ↩

²⁵. . Simon Goulart, Discours Chrestiens, vol. 28, n.d., 35 ↩

Translated by Scott M. Manetsch.

²⁶. . Simon Goulart, Discours Chrestiens, 28:33 Translated by Scott ↩

M. Manetsch.

²⁷. . Manetsch, Theodore Beza and the quest for peace in France, ↩

1572-1598, 43.

²⁸. . Simon Goulart, Discours Chrestiens, 28:270 Translated by ↩

Scott M. Manetsch.