August 24 – The St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre in Paris

On this day in Tudor history, 24th August 1572, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, on the Feast of St Bartholomew, an awful massacre took place across the Channel in the city of Paris. It was followed by further atrocities in other towns and cities in the country.

Those who suffered were Huguenot men, women and children, French Protestants.

But what happened and why?