Gaspard II de Coligny in the context of Assassination of the Duke of Guise (1563)

⭐ Core Definition: Gaspard II de Coligny

Gaspard de Coligny, seigneur de Châtillon (French pronunciation: [ɡaspaʁ də kɔliɲi]; 16 February 1519 – 24 August 1572), was a French nobleman, Admiral of France, and Huguenot leader during the French Wars of Religion. He served under kings Francis I and Henry II during the Italian Wars, attaining great prominence both due to his military skill and his relationship with his uncle, the king's favourite Anne de Montmorency. During the reign of Francis II he converted to Protestantism, becoming a leading noble advocate for the Reformation during the early reign of Charles IX.

With the outbreak of civil war in 1562, Coligny joined the Huguenots in their fight against the Crown. He served as a lieutenant to Louis, Prince of Condé throughout the first two civil wars, before becoming the de facto leader of their military efforts after Condé's death during the third civil war. Due to accusations levelled at him by the assassin of the Catholic Francis, Duke of Guise, in 1563 the powerful Guise family accused him of responsibility for the assassination, and unsuccessfully tried to bring a case against him. Coligny was assassinated at the start of the St Bartholomew's Day massacre, in 1572, on the orders of Henry, Duke of Guise.

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Gaspard II de Coligny in the context of St. Bartholomew's Day massacre

The Saint Bartholomew's Day massacre (French: Massacre de la Saint-Barthélemy) in 1572 was a targeted group of assassinations and a wave of Catholic mob violence directed against the Huguenots (French Calvinist Protestants) during the French Wars of Religion. Traditionally believed to have been instigated by Queen Catherine de' Medici, the mother of King Charles IX, the massacre started a few days after the marriage on 18 August of the king's sister Margaret to the Protestant King Henry III of Navarre. Many of the wealthiest and most prominent Huguenots had gathered in largely Catholic Paris to attend the wedding.

The massacre began in the night of 23–24 August 1572, the eve of the Feast of Saint Bartholomew the Apostle, two days after the attempted assassination of Admiral Gaspard de Coligny, the military and political leader of the Huguenots. King Charles IX ordered the killing of a group of Huguenot leaders, including Coligny, and the slaughter spread throughout Paris. Lasting several weeks in all, the massacre expanded outward to the countryside and other urban centres. Modern estimates for the number of dead across France vary widely, from 5,000 to 30,000.

View the full Wikipedia page for St. Bartholomew's Day massacre

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