Historical Perspectives: Santa Clara University Undergraduate Journal of History, Series II Volume 14 Article 7 2009 “The eineS Ran Red With Blood”: Developments in Protestant Propaganda Before and After the Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre Samantha Rauer Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarcommons.scu.edu/historical-perspectives Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Rauer, Samantha (2009) "“The eineS Ran Red With Blood”: Developments in Protestant Propaganda Before and After the Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre," Historical Perspectives: Santa Clara University Undergraduate Journal of History, Series II: Vol. 14 , Article 7. Available at: http://scholarcommons.scu.edu/historical-perspectives/vol14/iss1/7 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Historical Perspectives: Santa Clara University Undergraduate Journal of History, Series II by an authorized editor of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Rauer: “The Seine Ran Red With Blood” 18 Historical Perspectives June 2009 “The Seine Ran Red With Blood” 19 “The Seine Ran Red With Blood”: Devel- printed works – The Affair of the Placards. On the morning of October 17, 1534, anti-Catholic posters opments in Protestant Propaganda suddenly appeared throughout Paris, Blois, Rouen, Before and After the Saint Tours and Orléans. Their content attacked the Catho- Bartholomew’s Day Massacre lic Eucharist with a headline that read “TRUE ARTI- CLES ON THE HORRIBLE, GROSS AND INSUFFER- ABLE ABUSES OF THE PAPAL MASS.”1 After this Samantha Rauer event, the previously conciliatory King Francis I abandoned his attempts to protect Protestants in There exist certain landmark dates in history which France. Protestant sympathizers were sent to the appear on countless timelines and history books; the Châtelet prison, and leaders such as John Calvin fled Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre is among these. In to Geneva. Hostility between Catholics and Protestants this essay, I seek to show how Protestant propaganda increased greatly over the next three decades. Catho- changed after the Massacre of Saint Bartholomew and lics believed Huguenots to be immoral, a danger to to suggest what this shift implies about the Huguenot community, and therefore intolerable. Threatened by community as a whole. Although scholars have con- the other’s attacks, both groups took to aggression in firmed the importance of reactions to the massacre of self-defense.2 Throughout this period, French Saint Bartholomew, less attention has been paid to Protestant propaganda was suppressed by the Catholic how it altered the nature and function of Protestant majority. As a result, Huguenot printed works did not propaganda. I would argue that Huguenot propaganda focus so much on attacking Catholics as they did on became sharply more aggressive after Saint nurturing the Protestant community. Bartholomew’s Day. The anger sparked by its horrific The French situation contrasts with that of Ger- violence was very much reflected in the propaganda many where Protestant propaganda circulated freely campaign that followed. The violence of the Saint and Evangelical cities prohibited Catholic publications. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre did not only provoke In the German-speaking world, propaganda found powerful reactions; it turned the Protestant printing power in the masses. The German peasantry was industry into a vehicle for violence. In the process, the attracted to the easily accessible and digestible pam- Huguenot voice transformed from a subtle and infor- phlets. In addition, Evangelical pamphlets were mative appeal for solidarity into a blatant and passion- usually simple and cheap, allowing for fast production ate call for action. In order to understand the nature of French Protestant propaganda in the years prior to the Saint 1 Mack P. Holt, The French Wars of Religion, 1562-1629 (New Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, it is crucial to recognize York: Cambridge University Press, 2005): 18. 2 the climate of fear under which it operated. One event Barbara Diefendorf, Beneath the Cross Catholics and Huguenots in Sixteenth-Century Paris (New York: Oxford in particular led to the suppression of Huguenot Univeresity Press, 1991): 50-64. Published by Scholar Commons, 2009 1 Historical Perspectives: Santa Clara University Undergraduate Journal of History, Series II, Vol. 14 [2009], Art. 7 18 Historical Perspectives June 2009 “The Seine Ran Red With Blood” 19 “The Seine Ran Red With Blood”: Devel- printed works – The Affair of the Placards. On the morning of October 17, 1534, anti-Catholic posters opments in Protestant Propaganda suddenly appeared throughout Paris, Blois, Rouen, Before and After the Saint Tours and Orléans. Their content attacked the Catho- Bartholomew’s Day Massacre lic Eucharist with a headline that read “TRUE ARTI- CLES ON THE HORRIBLE, GROSS AND INSUFFER- ABLE ABUSES OF THE PAPAL MASS.”1 After this Samantha Rauer event, the previously conciliatory King Francis I abandoned his attempts to protect Protestants in There exist certain landmark dates in history which France. Protestant sympathizers were sent to the appear on countless timelines and history books; the Châtelet prison, and leaders such as John Calvin fled Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre is among these. In to Geneva. Hostility between Catholics and Protestants this essay, I seek to show how Protestant propaganda increased greatly over the next three decades. Catho- changed after the Massacre of Saint Bartholomew and lics believed Huguenots to be immoral, a danger to to suggest what this shift implies about the Huguenot community, and therefore intolerable. Threatened by community as a whole. Although scholars have con- the other’s attacks, both groups took to aggression in firmed the importance of reactions to the massacre of self-defense.2 Throughout this period, French Saint Bartholomew, less attention has been paid to Protestant propaganda was suppressed by the Catholic how it altered the nature and function of Protestant majority. As a result, Huguenot printed works did not propaganda. I would argue that Huguenot propaganda focus so much on attacking Catholics as they did on became sharply more aggressive after Saint nurturing the Protestant community. Bartholomew’s Day. The anger sparked by its horrific The French situation contrasts with that of Ger- violence was very much reflected in the propaganda many where Protestant propaganda circulated freely campaign that followed. The violence of the Saint and Evangelical cities prohibited Catholic publications. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre did not only provoke In the German-speaking world, propaganda found powerful reactions; it turned the Protestant printing power in the masses. The German peasantry was industry into a vehicle for violence. In the process, the attracted to the easily accessible and digestible pam- Huguenot voice transformed from a subtle and infor- phlets. In addition, Evangelical pamphlets were mative appeal for solidarity into a blatant and passion- usually simple and cheap, allowing for fast production ate call for action. In order to understand the nature of French Protestant propaganda in the years prior to the Saint 1 Mack P. Holt, The French Wars of Religion, 1562-1629 (New Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, it is crucial to recognize York: Cambridge University Press, 2005): 18. 2 the climate of fear under which it operated. One event Barbara Diefendorf, Beneath the Cross Catholics and Huguenots in Sixteenth-Century Paris (New York: Oxford in particular led to the suppression of Huguenot Univeresity Press, 1991): 50-64. http://scholarcommons.scu.edu/historical-perspectives/vol14/iss1/7 2 Rauer: “The Seine Ran Red With Blood” 20 Historical Perspectives June 2009 “The Seine Ran Red With Blood” 21 and distribution. Mark Edwards refers to this entire their faith.”6 Most book-smugglers simultaneously process as the “West’s first large-scale media cam- operated another legitimate publishing business. The paign.”3 In France, Huguenots did not enjoy the most frequently distributed material included copies of support of the masses; rather, they were a repressed the New Testament, the Psalms, and Jean Crespin’s minority. Protestant printing could not compete with Histoire des Martyrs.7 Catholic propaganda which had the full support of the The bible held special importance for Catholics and mainstream printing industry.4 Repressive legislature Protestants alike during the Reformation. Both groups took a no-toleration approach towards printing, selling agreed on the authority of scripture; they disagreed or even owning heretical literature.5 Since French over interpretation. Catholics believed that the pope or Protestants risked imprisonment if caught, they ecumenical council had the right to interpret scripture, depended upon a more secure and tightly knit system while Martin Luther campaigned for the self-evident for sharing ideas and material. truths of “Scripture alone.”8 Presses in Geneva are said Early Huguenot printing relied upon a clandestine to have fueled the French Reformation by printing network of printers and booksellers. The printing bibles.9 In 1559, Genevan editors Nicolas Barbier and community was a reflection of the larger underground Thomas Courteau produced a miniature octavo bible Protestant network present in Paris prior to Saint measuring only 190 by 125 millimeters. These tiny Bartholomew’s Day. The ties associated with the book bibles were