St Bartholomew's Day Massacre On 24–25 August 1572, the St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre took place, unleashing a wave of Catholic mob violence across France. Catholics assassinated Huguenot leaders and indiscriminately slaughtered Huguenots (French Protestants) throughout the city. This unleashed a Europe-wide torrent of persecution of, and violence against, Protestants, and marked the resumption of the Religious Wars in France. Some 3000 were killed in Paris, and as many as 70,000 in all of France by November 1572. Many Huguenots fled to Britain. Among them were skilled artisans, including numerous clockmakers, such as John Vallin and his son Nicholas, who contributed to the development of the London clockmaking market during the late 1500s. You can read more about the massacre and Huguenot artisans in the Clocktime article Huguenot makers and their contributions to London clockmaking. Image Credit François Dubois (Amiens, 1529 - Genève, 1584) Le Massacre de la Saint-Barthélemy, vers 1572 - 1584 Huile sur bois, 94 x 154 cm Lausanne, Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts. Don de la Municipalité de Lausanne, 1862 inv. 729 © Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts de Lausanne
