The religious conflicts of 16th-century France, in particular the St Bartholomew's Day massacres of 1572, continue to draw a good deal of attention from historians. What started as a limited coup against the Huguenot leadership became instead a conflagration that left 2000 or more Protestants dead in the streets and ushered in a series of bloody religious battles. Previous histories of the religious conflicts have been preoccupied with their political aspects, explaining for example the roles of the king and other high noblemen in the assassinations that sparked the massacres, but not the mass violence. Diefendorf focuses on popular religious fanaticism and religious hatred. She examines the roots and escalation of the conflicts, the propaganda of Catholic and Protestant preachers, popular religious beliefs and rituals, the role of the militia, and the underground activities of the Protestant community after the massacres. Using an array of published and unpublished sources, she provides a comprehensive social history of these religious conflicts.
- ISBN10 0195065549
- ISBN13 9780195065541
- Publish Date 31 October 1991
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 26 June 2010
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 283
- Language English