WEBVTT 1 00:00:20.399 --> 00:00:26.600 Hello and Welcome to Western SIEV episode three hundred and six, the Saint Bartholomew's 2 00:00:26.679 --> 00:00:30.920 Day Massacre. Once the ink was dry on the Treaty of Saint Germaine, 3 00:00:31.199 --> 00:00:36.640 Catherine went back to her favorite pastime, arranging marriage matches for her remaining children. 4 00:00:37.600 --> 00:00:42.399 The biggest catch remained the Princess Margott, who was beautiful, alluring, 5 00:00:42.479 --> 00:00:47.479 and also a princess. Philip of Spain wanted to marry her to the Portuguese 6 00:00:47.600 --> 00:00:53.000 king, who seemed much more interested in reading Senator Thomas aquinas he literally went 7 00:00:53.079 --> 00:00:57.719 nowhere without it than talking to women. But Philip hoped that the match would 8 00:00:57.799 --> 00:01:03.000 keep Catherine firmly in the ultra cattle camp and away from Protestant temptation. They 9 00:01:03.000 --> 00:01:07.680 has, of course annoyed the remaining leading French Huguenots at court, but proving 10 00:01:07.680 --> 00:01:11.879 that this had nothing to do with religion at all, Catherine decided instead to 11 00:01:11.920 --> 00:01:15.760 pursue a match between Henri, the Duke of Anjous, and Elizabeth, the 12 00:01:15.799 --> 00:01:23.439 First of England. Elizabeth Recall was two decades older than on Ju, and 13 00:01:23.519 --> 00:01:27.959 on Ju had absolutely no interest in being married to a heretic twenty years his 14 00:01:29.120 --> 00:01:34.599 seniorear and he put the kebash on the whole idea. But in at least 15 00:01:34.599 --> 00:01:40.599 one respect, Catherine had some success. On November fifth, fifteen seventy, 16 00:01:41.000 --> 00:01:48.159 Elizabeth of Austria Charles, the ninth proposed bride, reached France. Catherine wanted 17 00:01:48.400 --> 00:01:53.120 their wedding to be magnificent, despite the reality that her treasury was already empty 18 00:01:53.400 --> 00:02:00.159 and a war torn France certainly could not afford it. Now. Unbeknownst to 19 00:02:00.239 --> 00:02:05.239 the newly arrived Elizabeth, Charles had a mistress in Paris named Marie Toucheaux, 20 00:02:05.799 --> 00:02:09.759 the daughter of a bourgeoisie Protestant. He had decided that he loved Marie from 21 00:02:09.800 --> 00:02:15.120 their first encounter in Orleans back in fifteen sixty nine, and had carried on 22 00:02:15.199 --> 00:02:20.039 a secret love affair for many months during that summer. A portrait of her 23 00:02:20.520 --> 00:02:25.080 shows a girl with strawberry blonde hair and a pretty round face. Charles entrusted 24 00:02:25.080 --> 00:02:30.280 his secret to Margott and asked her to take Marie into her household as one 25 00:02:30.280 --> 00:02:35.159 of her ladies. As the courtiers amused themselves during the summer evenings, the 26 00:02:35.280 --> 00:02:38.840 king's personal guard would at his single played tambourines and pipes to create a noisy 27 00:02:38.840 --> 00:02:44.560 commotion, allowing him to escape and meet with his mistress. One day, 28 00:02:44.599 --> 00:02:47.039 he gave her a piece of paper upon which he had written the champ to 29 00:02:47.879 --> 00:02:52.520 Marie asked what it meant, and Margaret explained that he had created an anagram 30 00:02:52.560 --> 00:02:57.360 for her name. When the court returned to Paris, Catherine discovered the relationship, 31 00:02:57.759 --> 00:03:00.520 and, after making inquiries about the girl, approved of this liaison. 32 00:03:01.199 --> 00:03:07.240 She harbored no aspirations whatsoever to control Charles or detach him from her, and 33 00:03:07.319 --> 00:03:15.319 so this girl was perfectly acceptable to Catherine. The king's mistress was nowhere close 34 00:03:15.479 --> 00:03:19.719 to what Catherine had experienced. Was Diane de Poitier. In fact, she 35 00:03:19.800 --> 00:03:23.719 proved to be a completely benign influence upon the king and bore him a baby's 36 00:03:23.719 --> 00:03:29.280 son, whom they named after his father. Always known as the Petite Charles, 37 00:03:29.919 --> 00:03:34.919 he became a particular favorite, interestingly enough, among Catherine's grandchildren, and 38 00:03:35.159 --> 00:03:39.599 was later given the title the Duke of Angloomey. Petite Charles was notable among 39 00:03:39.680 --> 00:03:46.280 Catherine's descendants for his longevity. He clearly inherited a strong constitution from his mother 40 00:03:46.319 --> 00:03:53.319 and actually survived well into the reign of Louis the fourteenth always being conscious of 41 00:03:53.599 --> 00:03:57.680 being the son of a king petite, Charles was nevertheless careful never to annoy 42 00:03:57.719 --> 00:04:02.680 anyone, particularly Louis behaved courteously towards him, but of course, understandably, 43 00:04:02.719 --> 00:04:09.280 Louis the fourteenth considered ungloom may to be a relic of the past. Now, 44 00:04:09.360 --> 00:04:13.280 despite this affair, Charles very much loved his new wife, Elizabeth. 45 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:16.600 She was a saintly woman who went to Mass twice per day and spent many 46 00:04:16.639 --> 00:04:23.000 more hours at prayer. Charles and Elizabeth first entered the capitol together on March 47 00:04:23.040 --> 00:04:27.319 the sixth, fifteen seventy one. Catherine, despite a lack of funds, 48 00:04:27.519 --> 00:04:30.839 has spared no expense. In fact, she had mortgaged her own jewelry to 49 00:04:30.920 --> 00:04:38.800 pay for much at the pageantry. During the wedding ceremony, Charles's procession stomped 50 00:04:38.800 --> 00:04:44.079 at the Notre Dame Cathedral, where there was an enormous banquet. On March 51 00:04:44.120 --> 00:04:47.360 the eleventh, Charles gave a speech to the Parliament of Paris in which he 52 00:04:47.399 --> 00:04:53.199 paid eloquent homage to his mother's, telling his listeners quote, after God, 53 00:04:53.680 --> 00:04:57.040 the Queen, my mother is the person to whom I am the most indebted. 54 00:04:57.680 --> 00:05:01.240 Her tenderness for me and for my people. Her tireless work, energy 55 00:05:01.480 --> 00:05:05.800 and wisdom, I have assured the running of state affairs so well during a 56 00:05:05.839 --> 00:05:10.480 time when because of my age I was unable to take charge of them myself, 57 00:05:11.079 --> 00:05:15.800 that even the tempests of civil war have been unable to harm my kingdom 58 00:05:15.199 --> 00:05:20.600 end quote. This tribute, of course, had been orchestrated, like everything 59 00:05:20.639 --> 00:05:26.879 else in the celebrations, by Catherine herself, and it also contained the veiled 60 00:05:26.879 --> 00:05:30.680 message that she would continue to keep charge of state affairs if always standing politely 61 00:05:30.920 --> 00:05:35.959 and tactfully a few paces behind her son. Despite the King's talk of his 62 00:05:36.040 --> 00:05:42.800 mother's success in guarding the kingdom during the civil Wars, the unsurprising but glaring 63 00:05:42.839 --> 00:05:46.959 absence of the Huguenot princes and other nobles holed up in La Rochelle was duly 64 00:05:47.040 --> 00:05:54.360 noted. Elizabeth herself was crowned at San Denis on March the twenty fifth, 65 00:05:54.399 --> 00:06:01.639 fifteen seventy one. Meanwhile, affairs abroad had gotten slightly more serious. In 66 00:06:01.680 --> 00:06:06.199 early fifteen seventy one, William of Orange attempted to build up a coalition of 67 00:06:06.279 --> 00:06:14.079 forces from Germany to liberate the Netherlands. Orange's brother Louis of Nassau was at 68 00:06:14.160 --> 00:06:20.319 La Rochelle, where he hoped French Protestants might lend their military support, and 69 00:06:20.439 --> 00:06:24.279 Charles, for his part, when he got word of it, thought this 70 00:06:24.360 --> 00:06:28.600 might be a good chance to lead his troops into some real military action. 71 00:06:30.079 --> 00:06:34.959 Catherine did her best now to walk a diplomatic tightrope. Flemish rebels had been 72 00:06:35.040 --> 00:06:41.800 using La Rochelle as a base from which to assault Spanish shipping. Catherine was 73 00:06:41.959 --> 00:06:45.560 willing to look the other way about this, as it gained her support amongst 74 00:06:45.600 --> 00:06:50.639 her Protestant nobility, but she didn't want these attacks to go so far as 75 00:06:50.720 --> 00:06:56.759 to instigate a war with Spain. She knew that would be an abject disaster 76 00:06:56.959 --> 00:07:03.079 to be avoided at all costs. But the problem was that increasingly Catherine found 77 00:07:03.079 --> 00:07:09.519 her efforts undermined by the actions of her own son. Charles now wanted to 78 00:07:09.519 --> 00:07:15.959 make foreign policy decisions for himself. The problem was he was both terrible at 79 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:23.959 it and even worse at keeping his stratagem's secret. Everyone knew what he was 80 00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:30.240 doing long before he did it. Case in point Tuscany, the Pope had 81 00:07:30.279 --> 00:07:34.519 recently given Tuscany to Cosimo de Medici, a family relation of Catherine, but 82 00:07:34.920 --> 00:07:41.879 one whom she despised. The Habsburgs were incensed at the Pope's pretensions, given 83 00:07:41.920 --> 00:07:48.040 that Tuscany was traditionally Imperial territory. To defend his new land, Cosimo reached 84 00:07:48.040 --> 00:07:54.000 out to Charles, who quickly agreed to an anti Spanish, anti Habsburg alliance, 85 00:07:54.600 --> 00:08:00.120 though it gave him nothing and only committed his forces to more conflicts and 86 00:08:00.120 --> 00:08:05.920 his kingdom could handle worse. Still, Charles didn't keep any of this secret, 87 00:08:05.439 --> 00:08:11.240 so Philip of Spain knew exactly where the King of France stood, and 88 00:08:11.319 --> 00:08:16.360 neither did this workout for Cosimo, by the way, he quickly realized Charles 89 00:08:16.399 --> 00:08:22.240 had no idea what he was doing, and so when Charles tried to use 90 00:08:22.319 --> 00:08:28.680 this packed offensively instead of the defensive alliance it was supposed to be, Cosimo 91 00:08:28.199 --> 00:08:35.320 wrote frantically urging the young king to follow his mother's advice, since Cosimo clearly 92 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:41.320 saw this alliance as defensive, while Charles thought the two had agreed to some 93 00:08:41.360 --> 00:08:46.679 sort of a blank check alliance. Charles continued negotiating with the Protestants in law 94 00:08:46.759 --> 00:08:52.879 Rochelle, who wanted him to invade the Netherlands alongside Louis of Nassau. The 95 00:08:54.000 --> 00:08:58.440 idea, at least as it was being pitched, was to liberate the territory 96 00:08:58.480 --> 00:09:03.519 from the Spanish, most of it to the native Dutch, who were Protestants, 97 00:09:03.559 --> 00:09:07.639 and then a small section of border territory would be ceded to France. 98 00:09:07.799 --> 00:09:13.919 It was all the height of naivete, but Charles was all in on it. 99 00:09:15.039 --> 00:09:20.120 To Catherine, this was anathema. Her entire goal since the death of 100 00:09:20.120 --> 00:09:26.519 her husband had been to avoid foreign wars, especially with Spain, whose Mexican 101 00:09:26.559 --> 00:09:33.759 and Peruvian possessions continued for the moment to function as Philip's personal atm piece abroad 102 00:09:33.360 --> 00:09:39.480 stability at home. Those were Catherine's mantras. Thus far, she had only 103 00:09:39.519 --> 00:09:46.840 ever succeeded at the former. Charles looked to undo even that. Now, 104 00:09:46.919 --> 00:09:54.320 Catherine was fine entertaining everybody else's wild ambitions so long as that bought her time 105 00:09:54.399 --> 00:10:00.919 and peace. She just didn't want France to commit to anything major. When 106 00:10:00.919 --> 00:10:05.879 the Spanish heard about Charles's not so secret deal with the Dutch rebels, Philip 107 00:10:07.000 --> 00:10:11.960 was furious and declared in no uncertain terms this was going to lead directly to 108 00:10:11.039 --> 00:10:20.039 war, and after repeated promises of safe conduct. Colonie finally left La Rochelle 109 00:10:20.480 --> 00:10:28.159 and made the trek to blue As in September fifteen seventy one. Catherine was 110 00:10:28.240 --> 00:10:33.759 desperate to get the admiral back into the Fold. To get him back at 111 00:10:33.759 --> 00:10:41.559 the Royal Council. Rochelle was now essentially a politically independent enclave in France, 112 00:10:41.600 --> 00:10:46.759 and that was by no means good for the Kingdom. Catherine also needed to 113 00:10:46.799 --> 00:10:50.039 get it back under royal control, and to do that she needed Colonie. 114 00:10:52.480 --> 00:10:56.879 Charles spent the next several weeks showering the old admiral with gifts and studiously returning 115 00:10:58.200 --> 00:11:05.200 all his lost properties. Simultaneously, word reached the court at Bluawe that Cosimo 116 00:11:05.440 --> 00:11:09.879 was no longer interested in fighting the Spanish in the Netherlands. He had in 117 00:11:09.919 --> 00:11:15.120 fact joined in the ongoing war against the Ottoman Turks and recently taken part in 118 00:11:15.159 --> 00:11:20.120 the massively important Battle of Laponto. The Ottomans will actually be the subject of 119 00:11:20.159 --> 00:11:22.480 our next episode, as much has gone on in that direction since the death 120 00:11:22.480 --> 00:11:28.879 of Suliman the Magnificent. Catherine was overjoyed, as she had been looking on 121 00:11:28.120 --> 00:11:35.600 any excuse to pump the brakes on the Dutch problem. Charles was exuberant when 122 00:11:35.639 --> 00:11:39.480 he heard news of Laponto. That was, at least until someone reminded him 123 00:11:39.519 --> 00:11:46.080 that most of the Turkish fleet had actually been on loan from France. Hence 124 00:11:46.120 --> 00:11:50.759 the losses were actually French ships. That deflated the mood at court a bit, 125 00:11:50.799 --> 00:11:56.159 though Charles remained seemingly intent on invading the Netherlands, though literally everyone at 126 00:11:56.159 --> 00:12:01.320 court told him that was a terrible idea. Meanwhile, in Paris, the 127 00:12:01.320 --> 00:12:07.279 mood remained tense, the Geese faction continued to be absent. Coliagnie seemed to 128 00:12:07.320 --> 00:12:13.000 be back in the royal good graces, though the staunchly Catholic Queen Elizabeth recoiled 129 00:12:13.000 --> 00:12:18.960 from his presence as though the old warrior were Satan himself. Colin Yi was 130 00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:24.399 probably the only person now at court who wanted Charles's invasion of the Netherlands to 131 00:12:24.480 --> 00:12:30.399 go forward. In late fifteen seventy one, the plot to assassinate Elizabeth the 132 00:12:30.440 --> 00:12:35.279 First of England and place Mary Stewart on the throne fell apart, as we 133 00:12:35.360 --> 00:12:41.759 know, but the upshot of the whole affair was to shift foreign policy in 134 00:12:41.840 --> 00:12:48.879 France, because England was driven closer to France in an anti Spanish alliance. 135 00:12:48.960 --> 00:12:54.039 Charles was keen for such a match, and as though Anjou could no longer 136 00:12:54.120 --> 00:12:58.799 be thrown in as a marital prospect for the English Queen, his younger brother 137 00:13:00.080 --> 00:13:05.720 and Sois might serve the purpose. Plus, Charles detested his younger brother and 138 00:13:05.840 --> 00:13:11.559 was happy to see him off if Elizabeth would take him. As usual, 139 00:13:11.720 --> 00:13:18.240 Elizabeth dawdled and allowed the talks to proceed while refusing a definite answer. The 140 00:13:18.320 --> 00:13:24.759 discussions did result in the Treaty of Blueas in fifteen seventy two. However, 141 00:13:24.519 --> 00:13:33.440 this was essentially a defensive and a commercial pact. Elizabeth's value as an ally 142 00:13:33.559 --> 00:13:39.320 became doubtful when the French discovered that she had secretly also opened discussions with the 143 00:13:39.399 --> 00:13:43.200 Duke of Alba at his request, only a month before signing the Treaty of 144 00:13:43.240 --> 00:13:48.679 Blueis, with the aim of restoring commercial relations between England and the Spanish Netherlands. 145 00:13:48.519 --> 00:13:54.559 These had been suspended in fifteen sixty nine and were proving costly to both 146 00:13:54.600 --> 00:14:00.759 countries. Although the English had found other outlets in Hamburg, the additional and 147 00:14:00.799 --> 00:14:07.600 commercial associations with the Netherlands were mutually profitable and preferable. By fifteen seventy two, 148 00:14:07.799 --> 00:14:13.840 Spanish shipping suffered severe interruptions due to the constant attack from William Orange's privateers. 149 00:14:13.600 --> 00:14:18.320 The sea Beggers, as they were known, successfully rove the English Channel, 150 00:14:18.440 --> 00:14:24.399 capturing or sinking a large number of enemy ships with their cargoes Potato, 151 00:14:24.480 --> 00:14:28.960 taking refuge at Le Rochelle and various English ports. In order for her agreement 152 00:14:28.960 --> 00:14:35.639 with al But to proceed, Elizabeth had already in February fifteen seventy two ordered 153 00:14:35.679 --> 00:14:41.440 all the rebel ships to leave English ports. Their expulsion set off an unforeseen 154 00:14:41.559 --> 00:14:46.480 change of events that would inflame the already aggravated situation in the Low Countries and 155 00:14:46.639 --> 00:14:52.720 encourage French Protestants to believe in the ultimate possibility of a successful invasion to eject 156 00:14:52.720 --> 00:14:56.600 the Spaniards altogether. The Sea Beggers had put out to sea, but were 157 00:14:56.639 --> 00:15:01.840 forced by a storm to drop anchor at Real in the Netherlands. By chance, 158 00:15:03.200 --> 00:15:07.039 the Spanish garrison there had recently departed to put down a rebellion in Utrecht, 159 00:15:07.360 --> 00:15:11.879 and the Sea Beggers, a highly organized military and naval force, captured 160 00:15:11.879 --> 00:15:18.480 the port. It didn't take long before they controlled most of the Zealand peninsula, 161 00:15:18.200 --> 00:15:22.600 large numbers of refugees in England and Law Rochelle now hurried to join them, 162 00:15:24.120 --> 00:15:30.360 boosted by special clandestine forces from England and other sympathetic states. On the 163 00:15:30.399 --> 00:15:33.960 thirtieth of April, the very day after the signing of the Treaty of Blue 164 00:15:33.000 --> 00:15:39.240 Law, the English announced that commercial relations with Flanders would recommence. Elizabeth, 165 00:15:39.440 --> 00:15:46.080 who didn't want triumph for either France or Spain, followed her own strategy of 166 00:15:46.159 --> 00:15:50.799 keeping the Spanish tied up in the Netherlands. The French tempted to intervene, 167 00:15:50.799 --> 00:15:58.879 and Philip unable to concentrate on invading England's quote unquote, heretical shores. Still, 168 00:15:58.200 --> 00:16:04.080 despite all of this, Catherine's primary focus in fifteen seventy two remained arranging 169 00:16:04.120 --> 00:16:08.759 a marital pact between the House of Navarre and the House of Blois. This 170 00:16:08.879 --> 00:16:15.240 meant a marriage between Anrie of Navarre and the Princess Margot. To that end, 171 00:16:15.639 --> 00:16:19.679 on March the second, fifteen seventy two, Queen Jean of Navarre, 172 00:16:19.919 --> 00:16:26.120 a staunch Protestant, finally agreed to visit the royal court at Blois and discuss 173 00:16:26.200 --> 00:16:30.039 the matter in person. Both Henri and Margaret, by the way, were 174 00:16:30.240 --> 00:16:37.080 essentially unwilling participants in this affair, but pawns do not get to dictate their 175 00:16:37.159 --> 00:16:41.879 course, and so onward they march. As was usual during the sixteenth century, 176 00:16:42.080 --> 00:16:48.679 the negotiations focused around religion. Essentially, both sides were waiting for a 177 00:16:48.720 --> 00:16:55.559 papal dispensation that would allow the Protestant Henri to wed the Catholic Margot. Charles 178 00:16:55.679 --> 00:16:59.799 finally got tired of waiting, however, and granted Henri the right to have 179 00:16:59.879 --> 00:17:03.599 a proxy stand in for the Catholic portion of the wedding, though he would 180 00:17:03.640 --> 00:17:08.839 at least have to be in Paris for the ceremony. On April eleventh, 181 00:17:08.920 --> 00:17:15.720 fifteen seventy two, the two sides formally signed the marriage contract, but then 182 00:17:15.759 --> 00:17:21.519 disaster struck. Jean of Navarre fell ill and on the June ninth, at 183 00:17:21.559 --> 00:17:26.079 the age of only forty four, she died. Her death was a huge 184 00:17:26.119 --> 00:17:30.559 blow to the Huguenots, though later rumors that Catherine had been behind her death 185 00:17:30.599 --> 00:17:34.200 make no sense at all, after all. On May thirteenth, a new 186 00:17:34.200 --> 00:17:38.880 pope, Gregory the thirteenth, was elected, and he was much more amenable 187 00:17:38.920 --> 00:17:42.680 to a union between Navarre and France, which supports what Catherine wanted. In 188 00:17:42.720 --> 00:17:51.160 the first place, but then events intervened that once more turned up the international 189 00:17:51.200 --> 00:18:00.160 temperature between France and Spain. On July seventeenth, fifteen seventy two, a 190 00:18:00.319 --> 00:18:06.519 Huguenot military expedition of five thousand troops across the border from France into the Spanish 191 00:18:06.559 --> 00:18:11.599 Netherlands, where they were then ambushed near Mons by Spanish troops who had been 192 00:18:11.640 --> 00:18:17.559 alerted about the attack well in advance. The Protestant captains were on a mission 193 00:18:17.599 --> 00:18:21.559 to save Louis of Nassau, who had, with the support of money and 194 00:18:21.640 --> 00:18:27.599 men from Charles, attacked Mons and Vallisiennes. Initial success had quickly turned to 195 00:18:27.680 --> 00:18:33.640 failure, and the Spanish now had Nassau and his men besieged in the fortress 196 00:18:33.720 --> 00:18:38.079 of Mons. At the same time, Prince William of Orange, Nassau's brother, 197 00:18:38.519 --> 00:18:44.200 plan an invasion from Germany. For weeks, rumors had been circulating at 198 00:18:44.240 --> 00:18:49.279 the French court about the rescue plan. Parisian armorers were reportedly working throughout the 199 00:18:49.400 --> 00:18:52.920 night, and every day since mid June, large numbers of armed men had 200 00:18:52.920 --> 00:19:00.799 been seen leaving Paris heading north. Some alleged that the king personally received some 201 00:19:00.880 --> 00:19:06.359 of the Huguenot captains in Paris honor about the twenty third of June. Charles, 202 00:19:06.359 --> 00:19:10.079 for his part, however, claimed total ignorance of the attack, though 203 00:19:10.400 --> 00:19:12.880 it's hard to credit that since the Spanish were well informed enough to prevent its 204 00:19:12.880 --> 00:19:21.000 success. It's most likely that the Huguenots had the clandestine help of Colony and 205 00:19:21.400 --> 00:19:27.160 at least the tacit support of the king. Regardless, the Huguenot force was 206 00:19:27.279 --> 00:19:33.440 decimated. Only a few hundred men escaped. One of the survivors was one 207 00:19:33.519 --> 00:19:41.200 of the Huguenot captains, Jenless. He unfortunately carried a highly compromising letter written 208 00:19:41.240 --> 00:19:45.759 by Charles in which he encouraged the French Huguenots in their rebellious activities in the 209 00:19:45.759 --> 00:19:53.200 Netherlands. The incursion of an armed force into Spanish territory could easily constitute an 210 00:19:53.200 --> 00:20:00.000 act of war by the French, and Charles hastily distanced himself by congratulating Philip 211 00:20:00.279 --> 00:20:06.240 on his success in defeating the expedition so roundly. Catherine, furious that her 212 00:20:06.240 --> 00:20:11.039 son had covertly supported so foolish a mission, demanded he make a public declaration 213 00:20:11.640 --> 00:20:15.960 denouncing the expedition, stating that his aim was to live in harmony with his 214 00:20:17.000 --> 00:20:22.440 neighbors. Believing that the immediate crisis now had been averted, Catherine left the 215 00:20:22.480 --> 00:20:26.759 capital to tend to her daughter Claude Day, where she had been taken ill 216 00:20:26.880 --> 00:20:32.759 on the way to Paris. She was coming for the wedding. Catherine, 217 00:20:32.799 --> 00:20:37.039 though, had failed to grasp that as far as Colony was concerned, this 218 00:20:37.160 --> 00:20:41.680 expedition, the failed one represented little more than an advanced party for what would 219 00:20:41.759 --> 00:20:47.640 later be a far greater French force than he planned to lead, and no 220 00:20:47.759 --> 00:20:52.400 sooner had Catherine turned her back on the Capitol than he had the King's ear 221 00:20:52.039 --> 00:20:57.279 trying to convince him of the wisdom of this plan. Catherine got wind of 222 00:20:57.319 --> 00:21:02.039 this and rushed back to Paris to employ or her son to avoid war with 223 00:21:02.079 --> 00:21:06.200 Spain. She insisted that such a course would undo everything she had worked so 224 00:21:06.319 --> 00:21:11.960 hard for and turn the country over the Protestants. COLONYI argued that the advance 225 00:21:11.000 --> 00:21:15.839 should go forward, and the king found himself torn between his mother and his 226 00:21:15.920 --> 00:21:22.519 mentor. At the emergency Council meeting on the ninth and tenth of August, 227 00:21:22.079 --> 00:21:27.000 all those present, which included Anjou, the Dukes of n Veres and Montspierre, 228 00:21:27.519 --> 00:21:33.319 the Marshals Cosset and Tabase all voted for peace. The only dissenting voice 229 00:21:33.599 --> 00:21:37.359 Colony. At the outcome of the vote, Colonie is said to have given 230 00:21:37.400 --> 00:21:41.759 a rather sinister warning to the victorious Catherine. Quote, Madame, if the 231 00:21:41.839 --> 00:21:45.839 King decides against a war, may God spare him another from which he will 232 00:21:45.839 --> 00:21:49.720 not be able to extricate himself. I am not able to oppose that which 233 00:21:49.720 --> 00:21:53.680 your Majesty has done, but I am assured that she will have occasion to 234 00:21:53.720 --> 00:22:00.119 regret it. End quote. This was clearly intended as a warning, but 235 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:07.279 by making this barely veiled pret Colognie had just unwittingly signed his own death warrant. 236 00:22:21.960 --> 00:22:26.000 Catherine now prepared to take drastic measures to protect both her son's throne and 237 00:22:26.039 --> 00:22:32.319 the peace of the kingdom. The ensuing tumultuous events of August of fifteen seventy 238 00:22:32.319 --> 00:22:37.000 two are the ones that have stained her name for oh about four hundred and 239 00:22:37.079 --> 00:22:41.880 forty years now, creating this sort of legend of the Black Queen. Unfortunately, 240 00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:48.920 she's not remembered for her enlightened and often frequent attempts at conciliation between Protestants 241 00:22:48.960 --> 00:22:52.759 and Catholics, but only for the chaotic bloodbath as we'll see today, becomes 242 00:22:52.799 --> 00:23:00.920 known as the Saint Bartholomew's Day massacre. After the council meeting on August tenth, 243 00:23:00.400 --> 00:23:06.440 fifteen seventy two, Catherine prepared to visit her daughter Claudet, who was 244 00:23:06.480 --> 00:23:11.200 recovering from an illness. According to memoirs written twenty years later, the king 245 00:23:11.319 --> 00:23:17.079 absolutely begged her not to go. He was, according to one source, 246 00:23:17.119 --> 00:23:22.440 petrified at the idea his mother would quote unquote abandon him as the Huguenots rallied 247 00:23:22.480 --> 00:23:26.920 for a final attack. This memoir, of course, as the value of 248 00:23:26.960 --> 00:23:34.160 hindsight. Charles actually physically pursued his mother as she ready to depart, begging 249 00:23:34.200 --> 00:23:40.759 her to reconsider. Our sources report that this is when she made her move. 250 00:23:41.920 --> 00:23:47.039 Sensing that Charles would agree to anything to keep her support, she played 251 00:23:47.119 --> 00:23:55.559 horror trump card for the good of the nation, colony must die. There 252 00:23:55.640 --> 00:24:00.240 was no desire for personal vengeance in this decision. This decision, from her 253 00:24:00.279 --> 00:24:07.599 perspective, was to restore France to some semblance of normality. Now, at 254 00:24:07.599 --> 00:24:11.359 the same time that this is going on, Colon Yie was dismissing all the 255 00:24:11.359 --> 00:24:17.319 advice he was getting not to go. To Paris for Henri of Navarre's wedding. 256 00:24:18.160 --> 00:24:21.440 Colin Ye wouldn't listen to any of it, even if he died, 257 00:24:21.519 --> 00:24:26.880 He declared he had lived long enough. At this point, the admiral had 258 00:24:26.920 --> 00:24:33.680 clearly become the very caricature of a biblical martyr. On July the first, 259 00:24:33.880 --> 00:24:37.480 Henri of Navarre attended his mother's funeral. He made it to Paris on the 260 00:24:37.519 --> 00:24:44.279 eighth. There was no question of postponing this wedding. The marriage of the 261 00:24:44.279 --> 00:24:51.920 Protestant prince to the Catholic princess simply had to go forward. Physically, Henri 262 00:24:52.240 --> 00:24:57.720 was certainly no tall blonde compared with the young Duke of Geese, whom Margot 263 00:24:57.759 --> 00:25:03.359 had previously had an effe, but he was still considered very attractive in the 264 00:25:03.440 --> 00:25:08.359 age. He was about five feet eight inches tall. He had a high 265 00:25:08.440 --> 00:25:14.599 forehead, thick dark hair, clear skin, and a prominent nose that was 266 00:25:14.640 --> 00:25:18.759 a feature of the Bourbons. He used to spend much of his time on 267 00:25:18.799 --> 00:25:22.119 horseback. He was quite muscular, and was, in terms of his nature, 268 00:25:22.359 --> 00:25:27.720 cheerful, outgoing and generous. He had grown frankly into a very open 269 00:25:27.839 --> 00:25:33.319 and straightforward man. He had a particular charm as a result of that. 270 00:25:33.440 --> 00:25:38.319 Really, from his frankness, his masculinity, and oftentimes his magnanimity as well, 271 00:25:38.519 --> 00:25:42.440 his physical attributes were matched by his intellect. He was not, as 272 00:25:42.839 --> 00:25:48.960 so many courtiers liked to claim, an inarticulate, foolish peasant from the Pyrenees. 273 00:25:49.119 --> 00:25:53.680 Notwithstanding a love of garlic and a distaste for bathing, He could joke 274 00:25:53.759 --> 00:25:59.200 and talk with those surrounding him without losing the composure required of a prince of 275 00:25:59.200 --> 00:26:03.000 the blood. He combined being a man and a king with surprising social finesse. 276 00:26:04.200 --> 00:26:08.839 Despite himself, Charles had always liked Navarre. He could not help but 277 00:26:10.000 --> 00:26:15.519 be attracted to him. Henri had seen real military action, and that made 278 00:26:15.519 --> 00:26:18.960 a robust and good companion for the King. Frankly, the king found him 279 00:26:19.039 --> 00:26:25.960 refreshing after the ludicrous affectations of his own brother Anjou. Now, in the 280 00:26:26.039 --> 00:26:30.000 days leading up to the wedding in Paris, the streets were oppressively hot and 281 00:26:30.319 --> 00:26:36.640 quite frankly choked with people. It had been a very poor harvest that year, 282 00:26:37.279 --> 00:26:41.039 so peasants had flooded to the city, hoping to take advantage of the 283 00:26:41.079 --> 00:26:47.359 planned wedding feasts. As the first Protestants arrived, they found the city unexpectedly 284 00:26:47.759 --> 00:26:53.599 welcoming. Yet around the middle of July the mood decisively changed. Then the 285 00:26:53.640 --> 00:27:02.680 Catholic pulpits came alive with sermons lambasting this proposed ye union is diabolical. Suddenly, 286 00:27:02.920 --> 00:27:06.440 the very city seemed to grow hot, both due to the unusual heat 287 00:27:06.480 --> 00:27:11.119 wave and also the seething anger of its populace. It had become, in 288 00:27:11.200 --> 00:27:18.119 other words, a powder keg. Catherine returned to this hot, ill tempered 289 00:27:18.160 --> 00:27:22.519 city on the fifteenth of August. Almost as soon as she arrived, she 290 00:27:22.559 --> 00:27:27.559 found herself confronted with a furious demand from the Spanish ambassador, requiring an urgent 291 00:27:27.640 --> 00:27:33.680 explanation as to why no fewer than three thousand Huguenot troops were stationed close to 292 00:27:33.720 --> 00:27:38.039 the border near mons By, the Netherlands. Once again she had been fooled, 293 00:27:38.759 --> 00:27:44.920 as Catherine quickly discovered, the Admiral had continued levying troops despite the decision 294 00:27:44.960 --> 00:27:48.759 of the council, and at that very moment he was raising a force of 295 00:27:48.799 --> 00:27:53.519 twelve thousand infantry and two thousand cavalry, intending to use it in the Netherlands. 296 00:27:55.599 --> 00:27:59.359 Nor was it a secret that the large number of Huguenot gentlemen in Paris 297 00:27:59.359 --> 00:28:03.920 for the wedding intended to set out for the Netherlands as soon as the celebrations 298 00:28:03.039 --> 00:28:07.839 ended. The Admiral's ultimate intention was to lead a mixed force of Catholics and 299 00:28:07.880 --> 00:28:14.039 Protestants to fight in the Netherlands against Spain, and he believed that would remove 300 00:28:14.079 --> 00:28:18.480 the risk of civil war in Spain. The King was now too weak to 301 00:28:18.599 --> 00:28:22.799 rest control of all this back from Colonnie, and frankly, it's hard to 302 00:28:22.839 --> 00:28:29.880 even determine what the King wanted. He might not even have known. It's 303 00:28:29.920 --> 00:28:36.440 almost impossible to determine just when and how the plan to murder Colonnie came into 304 00:28:36.440 --> 00:28:41.480 being. Certainly, the arrival of the Geese family into Paris provided Catherine with 305 00:28:41.519 --> 00:28:48.119 an enormous amount of accomplices, or I guess at least potential accomplices. It 306 00:28:48.160 --> 00:28:55.400 appears at some point the lynchpin was the Duchess of Nemours and DSD. She 307 00:28:55.559 --> 00:29:02.960 agreed to participate in the Admiral's death, and her involvement seems to have spurred 308 00:29:03.000 --> 00:29:08.640 the involvement of multiple other individuals. One thing is absolutely clear from the record. 309 00:29:10.519 --> 00:29:15.079 In early August, the Queen revoked the royal ban, preventing the Geeses 310 00:29:15.559 --> 00:29:22.480 from seeking their vengeance. Now, secrecy was still paramount. In the end, 311 00:29:23.079 --> 00:29:27.960 only four members of the entire Geese family were in on the plot. 312 00:29:30.279 --> 00:29:34.680 I have to point out what a risky plan this was. There were thousands 313 00:29:36.039 --> 00:29:41.079 of arm Huguenots in the city. If the plan failed and Colin Yee survived, 314 00:29:41.640 --> 00:29:45.839 there might have been a massacre, but it would have gone in the 315 00:29:45.880 --> 00:29:51.599 other direction. Once all the accomplices were had, and I'm not going to 316 00:29:51.640 --> 00:29:55.319 go through all of them because it's a lot of names, the only matter 317 00:29:55.480 --> 00:30:00.839 was in finding the actual assassin. Ultimately, the plotters picked a man by 318 00:30:00.839 --> 00:30:07.839 the name of Charles de Louverre. Incidentally, de Louverra de Marvarette had shot 319 00:30:07.880 --> 00:30:15.480 and killed one of Colon Yie's close friends during the recent Third Religious War. 320 00:30:15.920 --> 00:30:22.079 Everyone knew that he hated Colonie, and everyone knew he could keep his composure, 321 00:30:22.400 --> 00:30:29.359 so Catherine felt secure in this decision. She and King Charles would have 322 00:30:29.440 --> 00:30:36.240 clear alibis. Moureuvert would shoot Colonie from the window of a residency owned by 323 00:30:36.279 --> 00:30:40.559 the Geese family, who then would clearly be blamed for the whole affair, 324 00:30:41.319 --> 00:30:45.960 or at least such was the plan. Frankly, there's a scenario here where 325 00:30:47.039 --> 00:30:52.839 Colonie is murdered and then the Protestant crowns turn on and kill the entire Geese 326 00:30:52.839 --> 00:30:56.119 family that's present, which would have been nothing less than ideal for Catherine. 327 00:30:57.400 --> 00:31:02.720 In one fell swoop, she would have eliminated both of her rivals for power. 328 00:31:03.680 --> 00:31:08.440 One thing that was critical, however, was that the wedding had to 329 00:31:08.480 --> 00:31:17.000 take place before the murder. This wedding was to symbolize religious unity that would 330 00:31:17.000 --> 00:31:23.200 not be possible after Colonie was dead. On August the sixteenth, the Cardinal 331 00:31:23.319 --> 00:31:30.839 des Barbont officiated the betrothal ceremony. The wedding was to take place two days 332 00:31:30.920 --> 00:31:37.720 later on August the eighteenth, fifteen seventy two. The nineteen year old bride 333 00:31:37.160 --> 00:31:42.440 readied herself for a ceremony. She was not looking forward to. The Princess 334 00:31:42.480 --> 00:31:48.160 Margaret had been given no say this marriage and would maintain that truth until the 335 00:31:48.279 --> 00:31:55.160 end of her life. It was a rather bizarre ceremony. Colonie and the 336 00:31:55.200 --> 00:32:00.599 groom, Henri, watched from a distance as a proxy made the marriage promises 337 00:32:00.799 --> 00:32:07.759 for him. The moment the ceremony was over, on Ri collected his new 338 00:32:07.759 --> 00:32:13.359 wife and set out for the palace for a feast. Despite all the tensions 339 00:32:13.799 --> 00:32:19.119 leading up to the wedding, the celebrations afterwards were, according to everyone, 340 00:32:19.920 --> 00:32:25.319 surprisingly good natured for the most part. The Admiral de Colonni was lodge at 341 00:32:25.359 --> 00:32:31.319 the Hotel de Pitize. He kept his appearances and wedding entertainments to a minimum, 342 00:32:31.799 --> 00:32:36.519 and wrote to his wife on the evening of August the eighteenth as follows, 343 00:32:37.119 --> 00:32:40.359 quote Madame, today, the marriage of Madame the sister of the King 344 00:32:40.599 --> 00:32:45.640 and the King of Navarre was celebrated. There will follow three or four days 345 00:32:45.640 --> 00:32:51.240 of celebrations, masks and combats. After these, the King had assured and 346 00:32:51.279 --> 00:32:54.680 promised me that he will give me some time to deal with several complaints about 347 00:32:54.680 --> 00:32:59.680 breaches in the edict. The Edict of ambois from all around the kingdom. 348 00:33:00.519 --> 00:33:02.960 If I thought of nothing but my own happiness, I would rather come to 349 00:33:02.960 --> 00:33:07.920 see you than be at this court for many reasons, which I will tell 350 00:33:07.920 --> 00:33:13.359 you. But one must look after the people before one looks after oneself. 351 00:33:14.359 --> 00:33:17.279 There's actually a little PostScript at the bottom of the letter that reads follows, 352 00:33:17.720 --> 00:33:22.400 let me know how the little man or little girl is doing. Three days 353 00:33:22.440 --> 00:33:25.880 ago I had an attack of colic, partly wind, partly gravel. But 354 00:33:27.039 --> 00:33:30.119 thank God, it lasted only eight or ten hours, and today I feel 355 00:33:30.279 --> 00:33:32.880 no effect of it. Thanks be to God, and I promise you that 356 00:33:32.960 --> 00:33:37.680 I shall not be much in evidence during all these feasts and combats during the 357 00:33:37.720 --> 00:33:40.759 next few days end quote. You see, Coliny's wife was due to give 358 00:33:40.799 --> 00:33:47.559 birth any day now. Now, most high ranking Protestants left the city almost 359 00:33:47.559 --> 00:33:57.519 immediately after the wedding. Colinian did not. On August tenth, Charles had 360 00:33:57.559 --> 00:34:00.079 told him that he had quote no confidence end quot in the Geese faction, 361 00:34:00.440 --> 00:34:05.160 and so he had ordered an additional twelve hundred royal troops into the city. 362 00:34:06.440 --> 00:34:09.679 Now, the reason that Colin Yie was remaining in Paris was that he still 363 00:34:10.119 --> 00:34:16.239 wanted Charles to agree to an invasion of the Netherlands. But now Charles, 364 00:34:16.280 --> 00:34:22.440 stuck between the admiral and his mother, apparently couldn't make up his mind. 365 00:34:22.559 --> 00:34:28.599 What now follows has been the subject of speculation for about four hundred years. 366 00:34:29.280 --> 00:34:32.400 One thing is certain. Catherine de Medici played a leading role in setting of 367 00:34:32.440 --> 00:34:36.880 the chain of events in motion. That's going to culminate in the bloodiest massacre 368 00:34:36.920 --> 00:34:42.119 in French history all the way up to the French Revolution. Late that night, 369 00:34:42.679 --> 00:34:45.719 as the last of the marriage revelries took place, it is believed that 370 00:34:45.760 --> 00:34:50.320 the Queen Mother held a meeting that included the following, the Duke of anjou 371 00:34:50.800 --> 00:34:54.480 Geese, his uncle Dumay, the Duke of Neyedmours, the Marshall Tubaness, 372 00:34:54.840 --> 00:35:00.159 and they all examined the plan for tomorrow in great detail. While the conspirators 373 00:35:00.199 --> 00:35:07.119 were talking, the assassin Malvert was let into the house that was designed for 374 00:35:07.199 --> 00:35:12.079 the actual event to take place. The house was located critically on the exact 375 00:35:12.320 --> 00:35:15.519 route that the admiral would be taking in the morning to and from the council 376 00:35:15.599 --> 00:35:21.920 meetings at the Louver Palace. On the morning of Friday, the twenty second 377 00:35:21.960 --> 00:35:27.079 of August, the government recess for the marriage celebrations being now over, the 378 00:35:27.119 --> 00:35:31.360 Admiral des Coloni left his lodgings on the Rue de Bethisi for a council meeting 379 00:35:31.360 --> 00:35:36.679 that was to start at nine o'clock. He had wished to press for French 380 00:35:36.719 --> 00:35:42.119 military intervention in Flanders, but to his frustration, he found anjou presiding over 381 00:35:42.159 --> 00:35:46.079 the meeting. As the King had gotten up rather late. On Jou left 382 00:35:46.079 --> 00:35:51.159 the meeting early, and when matters had been concluded, the Admiral happened to 383 00:35:51.199 --> 00:35:54.800 come across the King on his way with a gentleman by the name of Telignie, 384 00:35:54.960 --> 00:36:00.000 the Duke of Geese, to play a game of tennis. Charles actually 385 00:36:00.400 --> 00:36:04.920 begged Colony to join him for a game, but the Admiral refused. They 386 00:36:04.920 --> 00:36:08.840 parted each other at around eleven o'clock in the morning. From there, Colin 387 00:36:08.920 --> 00:36:15.000 Lee left the louver for his short walk home, reading a document while he 388 00:36:15.079 --> 00:36:21.079 was walking. As he approached the window at which Malver was hiding behind a 389 00:36:21.119 --> 00:36:24.760 binding, one of his shoes happened to come loose. As he bent down 390 00:36:24.800 --> 00:36:30.920 to fix it, a shot rang out. The bullet broke his left arm 391 00:36:31.239 --> 00:36:37.639 and almost tore the index finger off his right hand. Had he not bent 392 00:36:37.760 --> 00:36:45.280 over at the critical moment, Colony would have been killed almost instantly. Now 393 00:36:45.480 --> 00:36:52.400 huge commotion ensued. Having first ensured that the Admiral had not been dangerously hurt, 394 00:36:52.880 --> 00:36:55.039 a number of his gentlemen ran into the building from which they had heard 395 00:36:55.079 --> 00:37:00.519 the shot. They found a smoking arquebus behind the latticed window, but the 396 00:37:00.559 --> 00:37:06.199 would be killer had already made his escape through a back door where he had 397 00:37:06.199 --> 00:37:13.159 a horse waiting. Two Huguenot officers tore off after him. Colony, who 398 00:37:13.159 --> 00:37:16.599 had fainted now due to the pain, was carried back to his lodgings. 399 00:37:17.400 --> 00:37:23.440 Meanwhile, word of the failed assassination attempt to reach Catherine just as she sat 400 00:37:23.480 --> 00:37:30.800 down to meet with the Spanish ambassador. Her face remained impassive as a messenger 401 00:37:30.239 --> 00:37:37.760 whispered the words in her ear betraying nothing. Catherine and the Duke of Anjou, 402 00:37:37.880 --> 00:37:43.000 who was also present, quietly got up and walked to her private apartments. 403 00:37:44.079 --> 00:37:47.199 King Charles, for his part, stood arguing on the tennis court over 404 00:37:47.239 --> 00:37:52.559 a point, when suddenly he heard what had happened from two Huguenot captains, 405 00:37:52.639 --> 00:37:58.159 throwing down his racket in a rage, he said to have exclaimed, am 406 00:37:58.199 --> 00:38:02.280 I never to be left in peace? More trouble, more trouble, and 407 00:38:02.360 --> 00:38:07.079 then stormed off to his room. Here, his brother in law, Navarre, 408 00:38:07.639 --> 00:38:13.280 as well as Conde and other senior Huguenots, soon appeared and confronted him, 409 00:38:13.880 --> 00:38:20.360 demanding justice. Now sending Ambrose Paret, the famous surgeon who had tried 410 00:38:20.360 --> 00:38:23.239 to save his father. Actually back in fifteen fifty nine to Colonnie, the 411 00:38:23.360 --> 00:38:29.960 King made three important declarations to show his good faith. He promised a full 412 00:38:30.000 --> 00:38:32.840 investigation into the crime, saying that the guilty parties, whoever they were, 413 00:38:32.960 --> 00:38:37.559 would be brought to justice. He forbade the citizens of Paris to take up 414 00:38:37.719 --> 00:38:43.320 arms, and he ordered that the area around the admiral be cleared of Catholics, 415 00:38:43.519 --> 00:38:46.480 so that he would be surrounded only by his own men. The Duke 416 00:38:46.519 --> 00:38:52.599 of Geese wisely decided to leave the louver and go to his family while the 417 00:38:52.679 --> 00:38:59.920 king busily issued orders. Meanwhile, the scene in Colonnier's room was chaotic. 418 00:39:00.960 --> 00:39:06.119 According to a reliable witness, the doctor Barre arrived quickly and set to work 419 00:39:06.119 --> 00:39:10.440 on the admiral's wound. Operating first on the dangling finger. It took three 420 00:39:12.239 --> 00:39:16.800 gruesome attempts before he managed to cut the finger off, quote as his scissors 421 00:39:17.000 --> 00:39:23.519 were not well sharpened. Then he moved on to attend to the injured arm. 422 00:39:23.960 --> 00:39:29.400 Two deep incisions were made, and the bullet was mercifully extracted without endless 423 00:39:29.400 --> 00:39:35.920 probing. Crowding around his bed, Colonies's men gasped and wept. Their leader, 424 00:39:36.320 --> 00:39:40.559 maintaining his characteristic heroic composure, managed not only to keep from uttering the 425 00:39:40.599 --> 00:39:46.119 slightest gown, but even could find words of comfort for his dismayed men. 426 00:39:46.960 --> 00:39:52.119 As the words spread across the city of this attempted murder, a number of 427 00:39:52.199 --> 00:40:00.239 worried and angry Huguenots began to congregate outside Coloniese's home, and they grew so 428 00:40:00.440 --> 00:40:05.280 rapidly that soon it was impossible to get in or out of the house. 429 00:40:06.639 --> 00:40:12.039 Now that afternoon, the King himself paid a visit to Colonni and stood by 430 00:40:12.079 --> 00:40:17.679 his sick bed, swearing outrage and vengeance on all involved, showing no sign 431 00:40:19.079 --> 00:40:23.239 of the immense hypocrisy the situation actually called for. The Queen Mother and a 432 00:40:23.519 --> 00:40:29.440 Ju, who had both accompanied the king, swore the same, striving to 433 00:40:29.519 --> 00:40:37.800 outdo Charles in their levels of patently false indignation. The two were slightly less 434 00:40:37.800 --> 00:40:43.360 pleased in appearance when the King ordered again a full and immediate inquest into the 435 00:40:43.400 --> 00:40:50.760 attempted assassination. On Jou later recalled as follows, We Catherine and an on 436 00:40:50.880 --> 00:40:54.239 Jou quietly quitted the bed and stood in the middle of the chamber, where 437 00:40:54.239 --> 00:40:59.920 we remained during this private colloquy, which gave us great suspicion and unease. 438 00:41:00.920 --> 00:41:05.679 Moreover, we saw ourselves surrounded by more than two hundred partisans of the Admiral. 439 00:41:06.400 --> 00:41:10.320 These all had melancholy countenances, and showed by their gestures and signs how 440 00:41:10.360 --> 00:41:15.920 disaffected they were. Some whispered, others did nothing but passed behind us, 441 00:41:15.920 --> 00:41:20.360 in before us, and omitted to pay us the honor and reverence who are 442 00:41:20.400 --> 00:41:23.920 our due, as if they suspected us of causing the wound of the Admiral, 443 00:41:24.079 --> 00:41:30.199 which of course they had. The Queen my mother has since acknowledged that 444 00:41:30.280 --> 00:41:37.199 she never found herself in a more critical position end quote. Catherine quickly intervened 445 00:41:37.559 --> 00:41:40.880 in the King's conversation with Colonnie, desperate that Charles not put two and two 446 00:41:40.960 --> 00:41:45.079 together, and realized that those standing beside the sick bed were the same two 447 00:41:45.079 --> 00:41:50.679 who had put Coloonni in it. As soon as the trio left, the 448 00:41:50.760 --> 00:41:54.559 Huguenots started to argue about the best course of their action. Some wanted to 449 00:41:54.599 --> 00:42:00.000 leave the city immediately, others felt that that would insult Charles, who had 450 00:42:00.639 --> 00:42:07.119 just sworn that Colonie was now under royal protection. The surgeon shut everybody down 451 00:42:07.159 --> 00:42:10.239 when he declared that the king was not fit to be moved anywhere regardless. 452 00:42:10.679 --> 00:42:15.599 But even if Colonie was not going to leave Paris, many other leading Huguenots 453 00:42:15.599 --> 00:42:22.039 cautiously relocated their own lodgings to the outskirts of the city should a quick exit 454 00:42:22.119 --> 00:42:29.519 become necessary. Unbeknownst to everyone, Catherine had a spy, Antoine de Bocheneis 455 00:42:29.880 --> 00:42:35.280 in their midst would soon report all this back to his master. That evening, 456 00:42:35.599 --> 00:42:38.559 Charles, still fuming, shouted at his mother and brother that Colony had 457 00:42:38.559 --> 00:42:43.360 pointedly warned him that the two of them were trying to usurp his kingdom. 458 00:42:44.159 --> 00:42:47.159 Catherine was at the point of panic. She knew that at some point the 459 00:42:47.199 --> 00:42:52.000 evidence would lead to the Geese family and they would spill the beans on her. 460 00:42:52.599 --> 00:42:55.639 She had to get to them first, and she wasn't wrong about the 461 00:42:55.639 --> 00:43:00.239 evidence either, by the way. Before long, the man who had let 462 00:43:00.280 --> 00:43:04.480 the would be assassined into the Geese house had been questioned, and he led 463 00:43:04.679 --> 00:43:09.119 the investigators straight to ma Vert. The assassin himself, given that he had 464 00:43:09.159 --> 00:43:15.599 already killed one of Colony's closest friends and was a known client of the Geese 465 00:43:15.639 --> 00:43:21.320 family. It wasn't long before everyone was convinced that Malvert was the man who 466 00:43:21.400 --> 00:43:27.920 had fired the faithful shot. The mood in Paris was now increasingly hostile. 467 00:43:29.119 --> 00:43:36.480 The Parisians hated the black clad Protestants now seemingly infesting the capital. They began 468 00:43:36.880 --> 00:43:42.000 arming themselves. Everyone knew that the Huguenots planned to join up and march into 469 00:43:42.000 --> 00:43:45.760 the Netherlands, so they were already armed. It was, from the Catholic 470 00:43:45.880 --> 00:43:53.480 perspective, merely self defense. At this point, the mood within the Louver 471 00:43:53.599 --> 00:44:01.000 Palace wasn't any better. The leading Huguenot nobles were especially uneasy as the authorities 472 00:44:01.000 --> 00:44:07.880 started making the rounds to various places of lodging and compiling the lists of any 473 00:44:07.920 --> 00:44:15.320 Protestants within. On the afternoon of August twenty third, Catherine called together her 474 00:44:15.360 --> 00:44:21.639 inner circle gentlemen by the name of Retz Tavanness, of course Neveres, and 475 00:44:21.719 --> 00:44:25.320 her chancellor, for a desperate war council on how to proceed now that the 476 00:44:25.360 --> 00:44:31.440 assassination attempt had failed. According to the memoirs of the martial de Tavanness, 477 00:44:31.960 --> 00:44:36.800 she decided that the meeting would take place in the Tullery gardens, where they 478 00:44:36.800 --> 00:44:40.639 could discuss their pressing problems while they walked and decide whether or not to launch 479 00:44:40.639 --> 00:44:46.840 a preemptive strike on the Huguenots. Lake would not be overheard, as Tavanness 480 00:44:46.920 --> 00:44:51.199 recalled, quote, because the attempt on the admiral would cause a war. 481 00:44:51.679 --> 00:44:54.079 She and the rest of us agreed that it would be advisable to bring battle 482 00:44:54.400 --> 00:45:00.639 in Paris end quote. They would finish the work badly be gun by mal 483 00:45:00.719 --> 00:45:05.039 Verit, although it really wasn't his fault because colony bent down at the inopportune 484 00:45:05.039 --> 00:45:10.480 moment. But this time the list of victims would be massively expanded. It 485 00:45:10.519 --> 00:45:16.079 would include not only the Admiral, but also his most senior Huguenot nobles and 486 00:45:16.199 --> 00:45:21.840 captains so conveniently either lodged with the Admiral or around him in the city. 487 00:45:22.440 --> 00:45:28.639 This would effectively decapitate the rebel movement, and they hoped prevent a fourth full 488 00:45:28.679 --> 00:45:35.440 scale civil war. All agreed that such an opportunity would never present itself again. 489 00:45:36.800 --> 00:45:40.920 There were also worrying signs that if they didn't act soon, the Huguenots 490 00:45:42.199 --> 00:45:46.960 might strike first. Even as they had been walking behind the walls of the 491 00:45:47.039 --> 00:45:52.639 Queen Mother's garden so I'm walking with her, reported hearing violent abusive language coming 492 00:45:52.639 --> 00:45:57.719 from the Protestants on the other side, who were shouting quote, we are 493 00:45:57.760 --> 00:46:02.199 striking back and will kill and quote. In order to act with full legal 494 00:46:02.239 --> 00:46:07.559 authority and to gain the King's support, Catherine now faced the unpleasant task of 495 00:46:07.599 --> 00:46:14.280 informing him that she had been deceiving the king all along. She had to 496 00:46:14.320 --> 00:46:17.119 tell her son that it was not only the Geeses who had planned the killing 497 00:46:17.119 --> 00:46:22.760 of Colony, but that she and the Duke of Anjou had also been involved. 498 00:46:22.760 --> 00:46:27.519 From the word got at around nine o'clock in the evening of the twenty 499 00:46:27.559 --> 00:46:30.239 third of August, several men went to the King in his study, where 500 00:46:30.280 --> 00:46:36.000 they disclosed that his mother and brother had been accomplices in the attack on Colonni. 501 00:46:37.039 --> 00:46:39.760 Furthermore, they warned the King that he and the royal family now were 502 00:46:39.760 --> 00:46:45.800 in the gravest of perils. They explained that the Huguenots planned quote not only 503 00:46:45.840 --> 00:46:47.079 to take the Duke of Geese, but the Queen, his mother, and 504 00:46:47.119 --> 00:46:52.280 his brother. They also believed that the King himself had consented to the attack 505 00:46:52.320 --> 00:46:55.719 on the admiral, and therefore decided to rise up that very night against him 506 00:46:55.840 --> 00:47:01.320 and others throughout his kingdom end quote. Able to believe what he was hearing, 507 00:47:01.920 --> 00:47:07.039 Charles struggled to absorb what had been done were still he now found himself 508 00:47:07.320 --> 00:47:13.000 in the most precarious of positions, with no idea how to defend himself and 509 00:47:13.039 --> 00:47:17.639 the realm. Then the Queen Mother and Anjou, amongst others, visited the 510 00:47:17.719 --> 00:47:24.079 king. They laid all sorts of allegations at Colonie's feet and detailed the reasons 511 00:47:24.239 --> 00:47:30.280 that the admiral simply had to die there were no other options. At first, 512 00:47:30.360 --> 00:47:34.599 the king cried that these were lies, declaring, quote, the Admiral 513 00:47:34.639 --> 00:47:37.760 loves me as though I were his own son. He would do anything to 514 00:47:37.800 --> 00:47:44.159 harm me and quote. Eventually, however, the arguments of his mother broke 515 00:47:44.239 --> 00:47:47.559 down his spirit. Feeling he had been betrayed by his trusted friend, he 516 00:47:47.599 --> 00:47:52.119 began to listen to Catherine, and she outlined their plan to kill all the 517 00:47:52.159 --> 00:47:59.320 senior Huguenots in Paris, starting with the Admiral de Coloni. The Bourbon princes 518 00:47:59.320 --> 00:48:01.920 of the Blood were to be kept alive and forced to give up the Protestant 519 00:48:01.920 --> 00:48:07.880 faith, and their pain of death finally convinced the young and we have to 520 00:48:07.960 --> 00:48:14.039 remember, desperately ill and relatively unstable king is said to have uttered the immortal 521 00:48:14.079 --> 00:48:17.920 cry for which he is remembered throughout all of history quote and kill them all, 522 00:48:20.119 --> 00:48:27.000 kill them all end quote. It is almost certain that by this he 523 00:48:27.119 --> 00:48:30.360 meant all those on a list that have been drawn up by Catherine, and 524 00:48:30.440 --> 00:48:35.440 not, as has often been claimed, all the Huguenots in France. A 525 00:48:35.559 --> 00:48:39.480 terrible massacre wouldn't resolve anything, but the killing of a select few might eliminate 526 00:48:39.480 --> 00:48:45.519 the Heretic's high command. The king prepared and approved the list of those to 527 00:48:45.519 --> 00:48:50.559 be executed. He desired above all, this should be a legal state undertaking. 528 00:48:51.440 --> 00:48:54.679 Although no such list has ever been found, it's hardly surprised in giving 529 00:48:54.679 --> 00:49:00.559 its sensitivity. Now, with Charles's approval, the plan had to be put 530 00:49:00.559 --> 00:49:07.639 into action at once. Urgent dispatches were written and sent out. The Duke 531 00:49:07.719 --> 00:49:10.440 of Geese was given the task of taking his men to the Hotel de Bessini, 532 00:49:10.800 --> 00:49:16.400 and there killed the admiral. The captain of the city guard was told 533 00:49:16.559 --> 00:49:22.320 to muster his militiamen and guard all other possible exits from the city, closing 534 00:49:22.320 --> 00:49:27.800 the city gates. Chained barges were linked up across the Seine to prevent escape 535 00:49:27.800 --> 00:49:30.960 down river. To protect the houses of the militiamen, each one had an 536 00:49:31.039 --> 00:49:36.000 armed guard wearing a white sash on his right arm with a flaming torch assigned 537 00:49:36.039 --> 00:49:40.679 to stand in their doorways. The Catholic bourgeoisie were issued weapons for self protection, 538 00:49:42.199 --> 00:49:45.920 and cannons were placed in front of the Hotel de Ville. The king's 539 00:49:45.960 --> 00:49:50.519 own bodyguard and personal troops of the Geeses were to undertake the actual killing, 540 00:49:50.920 --> 00:49:55.440 led by Geese and several other men, including Tavanness. The signal for the 541 00:49:55.440 --> 00:50:00.119 start of the attack the murder of Colonni was to be the Belle of the 542 00:50:00.119 --> 00:50:04.840 Palais de Justice, which would toll at three o'clock in the morning. In 543 00:50:04.920 --> 00:50:09.239 fact, the actual bell rang out about a minute earlier, and so the 544 00:50:09.320 --> 00:50:15.079 killings commenced. Colonies's residence was only a few minutes walk from the Palace de 545 00:50:15.159 --> 00:50:21.320 Louver. There the Geese men pounded on the door, which was duly opened 546 00:50:21.480 --> 00:50:24.880 by the servants station there. He was immediately stabbed to death for his trouble. 547 00:50:27.119 --> 00:50:30.440 One of the Admiral's Swiss guards realized what was happening and bolted upstairs, 548 00:50:30.599 --> 00:50:37.519 securing the door to Colony's room with a large chest. The Colony immediately realized 549 00:50:37.599 --> 00:50:42.320 that this was the end. He calmly asked for his robes and requested that 550 00:50:42.400 --> 00:50:46.960 his minister pray for him. He made no effort whatsoever to escape. One 551 00:50:47.000 --> 00:50:52.280 of the men who eventually broke down the door asked Coloni if he was the 552 00:50:52.280 --> 00:50:58.719 admiral. He responded that he was. The man then unceremoniously stabbed Colony through 553 00:50:58.760 --> 00:51:02.519 the chest and shoved him out the window. His body hit the ground, 554 00:51:02.800 --> 00:51:07.719 and he landed only a few feet from the Duke of Geese, who gave 555 00:51:07.000 --> 00:51:14.280 the dead body a satisfying kick for good measure before riding off at the Louver. 556 00:51:14.639 --> 00:51:20.280 The killings began around the same time. Henri of Navarre had been in 557 00:51:20.360 --> 00:51:23.719 his apartments at the palace, holding an urgent meeting with his suite of nobles 558 00:51:23.719 --> 00:51:28.920 about the worrying signs that an attack of some sort was intimate. He was 559 00:51:29.000 --> 00:51:31.519 restless and decided that he would speak with the king early the next morning, 560 00:51:32.400 --> 00:51:37.400 when Margot arrived. Quote the King, my husband, who was in his 561 00:51:37.480 --> 00:51:39.400 bed, said word to me that I should retire, which I did. 562 00:51:40.079 --> 00:51:45.280 I found his bed, surrounded by some thirty or forty Huguenots who were strangers 563 00:51:45.320 --> 00:51:47.800 to me as I had yet been married only a few days. All night 564 00:51:47.840 --> 00:51:52.079 long, they talked at the accident to the admiral, deciding to go to 565 00:51:52.119 --> 00:51:57.400 the king as soon as it were day and demand justice and quote. But 566 00:51:57.519 --> 00:52:00.960 the Queen Margot was to get very little rest that night, for her husband 567 00:52:01.159 --> 00:52:05.199 rose at the first light of dawn. Having been unable to sleep, He 568 00:52:05.280 --> 00:52:07.639 decided to play tennis while waiting for the king to rise. But he had 569 00:52:07.679 --> 00:52:12.599 not walked more than a few feet from his apartment when he heard he and 570 00:52:12.639 --> 00:52:17.320 his companions being stopped by guards on the king's orders. Separated from his men, 571 00:52:17.559 --> 00:52:21.440 the elite of the Protestant party, most of whom he would never see 572 00:52:21.480 --> 00:52:24.280 again. Henri was then taken with his cousin, the Prince de Conde, 573 00:52:24.320 --> 00:52:29.079 to a chamber in order to remain there by the king for his own safety. 574 00:52:30.159 --> 00:52:32.480 As he was locked in with his cousin, his comrades were being slaughtered 575 00:52:32.960 --> 00:52:37.920 easy victims trapped in the heart of their enemy's castle. The captain of the 576 00:52:38.000 --> 00:52:42.880 Royal Guard led his men as they began the gruesome work. Most of the 577 00:52:42.960 --> 00:52:47.360 Huguenots were asleep when the killings started. Dragged from their beds, their throats 578 00:52:47.360 --> 00:52:51.800 were cut before they had a chance to fight back. As the noise of 579 00:52:51.840 --> 00:52:57.599 the screams and the terror resounded throughout the passages, staircases, and confusing corridors 580 00:52:57.760 --> 00:53:01.280 that made up much of the altered palace, the survivors ran desperately, attempting 581 00:53:01.440 --> 00:53:07.239 to hide from the teams of killers. Finding nowhere to conceal themselves, many 582 00:53:07.559 --> 00:53:13.960 of these poor victims ran into the courtyard of the louver. There awaiting them 583 00:53:14.079 --> 00:53:17.800 were the king's archers, who pushed the terrified men and women onto the hallvards 584 00:53:19.000 --> 00:53:24.199 of the Swiss guards, who impaled their unarmed quarry with grim efficiency. Margot 585 00:53:24.239 --> 00:53:29.599 had just fallen asleep in her husband's bed when someone was heard desperately banging and 586 00:53:29.719 --> 00:53:35.599 kicking against the door, crying out Navarre Navarre, Margaret's old nurse. Thinking 587 00:53:35.639 --> 00:53:38.159 it was Navarre himself, hurriedly unlocked the door, only to find that it 588 00:53:38.280 --> 00:53:43.960 was Monseigneur de la Ran, one of his gentlemen. Our Gost was aghast 589 00:53:44.159 --> 00:53:49.320 when she saw him, later writing quote wounded in the elbow by his sword 590 00:53:49.599 --> 00:53:52.519 and by a halbard on the arm, and he was pursued by four archers, 591 00:53:52.559 --> 00:53:57.400 who followed him into the room. To save himself, he flung himself 592 00:53:57.440 --> 00:54:00.079 on my bed, and I, with that man holding me, rolled him 593 00:54:00.079 --> 00:54:04.320 into the passage, and he after me, still hugging my body. I 594 00:54:04.400 --> 00:54:07.360 did not know who he was, or whether he meant to outrage me, 595 00:54:07.920 --> 00:54:13.960 nor whether it was him or myself whom the archers were pursuing. We both 596 00:54:13.960 --> 00:54:17.000 screamed and were equally terrified. But at last, as God would have it, 597 00:54:17.639 --> 00:54:22.840 Monseigneur de Nancie, the captain of the guards, came in seeing me 598 00:54:22.920 --> 00:54:27.519 in that position. Though he pitied me, he could not help laughing and 599 00:54:27.599 --> 00:54:30.559 gave me the life of that poor man who was clinging to me. I 600 00:54:30.599 --> 00:54:35.360 had him laid in my closet and his wounds tended, and kept there until 601 00:54:35.400 --> 00:54:39.480 he recovered. While I was changing my shift, which was bloody, Monseigneur 602 00:54:39.559 --> 00:54:44.800 de Nanci told me what was happening and assured me that the King, my 603 00:54:44.920 --> 00:54:47.480 husband, was in the King's room and that no harm would come to him. 604 00:54:49.719 --> 00:54:52.039 Wrapping me in my bedrobe, he led me to the apartment of my 605 00:54:52.119 --> 00:54:58.760 sister, Madame de Lauran, where I arrived more dead than alive. As 606 00:54:58.800 --> 00:55:01.159 I entered the anti chain, the door of which was standing wide open, 607 00:55:01.719 --> 00:55:06.840 a gentleman named Rossi, running from the archers who were at his heels, 608 00:55:07.400 --> 00:55:10.599 was struck by a halberd not three feet away from me. I fell, 609 00:55:10.639 --> 00:55:15.400 almost fainting, into the arms of Monsignor den On Si, and as soon 610 00:55:15.400 --> 00:55:19.280 as I could recover, I ran into the little room where my sister slept. 611 00:55:19.920 --> 00:55:23.599 End Quote as the feast day of Saint Bartholomew dawned, all but a 612 00:55:23.639 --> 00:55:30.000 few of the most senior Huguenot leaders lay dead or dying. Nor was the 613 00:55:30.039 --> 00:55:35.480 slaughter confined to the leadership easily identifiable by their simple black and white robes. 614 00:55:36.039 --> 00:55:38.760 Huguenots who came to the city to enjoy the thrill of a royal wedding were 615 00:55:38.800 --> 00:55:46.360 now indiscriminately killed, men, women and children, stripped naked of their valuables 616 00:55:46.360 --> 00:55:51.800 before their bodies were cast into the Seine. And here I want to quote 617 00:55:52.039 --> 00:55:55.159 directly because I think it's a great section of the book from historian Leonin and 618 00:55:55.320 --> 00:56:00.920 Frieda in her work Catherine de Medici in the Renaissance Queen of France, quote 619 00:56:01.079 --> 00:56:07.519 most of the diplomatic reports written at the time convey conflicting reports and often completely 620 00:56:07.559 --> 00:56:12.360 false information, reflecting the confusion and chaos of the situation for those in the 621 00:56:12.400 --> 00:56:19.119 midst As the frenzied slaughter broadened in scope, old scores could be conveniently settled 622 00:56:19.480 --> 00:56:23.000 cloaked by the bloody, dusty chaos. It was later noted that a number 623 00:56:23.000 --> 00:56:30.599 of bourgeoisie Catholic Parisians had suffered the same fate as Protestants. Many financial debts 624 00:56:30.639 --> 00:56:35.079 were wiped clean with the death of creditors and money lenders that night. Here 625 00:56:35.159 --> 00:56:39.480 was the opportunity to rob nighbor, kill a personal enemy, or perhaps even 626 00:56:39.559 --> 00:56:45.400 rid oneself of a nagging wife without risk of discovery. Amidst the insane, 627 00:56:45.480 --> 00:56:52.119 seemingly unstoppable carnage, libraries were set ablaze, and all the time priests and 628 00:56:52.199 --> 00:56:59.599 preachers encouraged the bloodshed. There were a number that the Almighty himself had sent 629 00:56:59.840 --> 00:57:05.320 the Parisians a special sign of his approval by the miraculous flowering of a dried 630 00:57:05.360 --> 00:57:09.760 out hawthorne bush beside a statue of the Holy Virgin in the simitee te de 631 00:57:09.920 --> 00:57:16.280 Anis sounds. Most of the important Huguenots were dead by five am on Sunday, 632 00:57:16.320 --> 00:57:21.800 August the twenty fourth. Their bodies were just piled up in the courtyards 633 00:57:21.800 --> 00:57:28.039 of the Louver Palace, but the violence continued for another three days, despite 634 00:57:28.119 --> 00:57:35.360 Charles's ineffectual orders for them to stop. The violence soon spread to the provinces, 635 00:57:35.400 --> 00:57:39.119 as I suppose we should have expected, despite dispatch from the King on 636 00:57:39.159 --> 00:57:43.480 the twenty fourth announcing that there had been a bloody clash between the houses of 637 00:57:43.559 --> 00:57:47.519 Geese and Chepton, and that local authorities must keep control over the localities. 638 00:57:47.840 --> 00:57:52.039 But again, no one listens to the king at this point. By the 639 00:57:52.039 --> 00:57:57.000 twenty fifth of August, these dispatches were no longer even credible, and the 640 00:57:57.039 --> 00:58:01.119 King issued a fresh declaration stating that the Huguenot had premeditated an attack against the 641 00:58:01.199 --> 00:58:07.039 King, which had been thwarted by his original orders. The strictest control must 642 00:58:07.079 --> 00:58:09.840 be kept to prevent the violence from spreading. But the commands that followed the 643 00:58:09.920 --> 00:58:14.639 King or his council were by no means consistent or in any way shape or 644 00:58:14.679 --> 00:58:21.920 form enforcable misunderstanding piled on top of confusion in many regions. It was too 645 00:58:22.000 --> 00:58:25.599 late anyway. The flames of hatred fanned out all over the country, and 646 00:58:25.679 --> 00:58:31.079 many provincial cities followed the capital with orgies of killing. In October fifteen seventy 647 00:58:31.079 --> 00:58:36.480 two, the tumult finally reached southern France, where the last of the cruelty 648 00:58:36.760 --> 00:58:45.239 unleashed on Saint Bartholomew's Day was finally spent. Yet not every single Huguenot died. 649 00:58:45.320 --> 00:58:49.719 Those who had taken the precaution of moving to the outskirts of Paris by 650 00:58:49.880 --> 00:58:53.880 large were able to make their escape, and each man, woman and child 651 00:58:53.880 --> 00:59:00.920 who got away carried with them the seeds of more civil war, more unrest, 652 00:59:00.960 --> 00:59:06.159 and conflict. Sadly, as we're going to see, Saint Bartholomew's Day 653 00:59:06.320 --> 00:59:13.639 was only the beginning. But as I promised previously, next week we're going 654 00:59:13.679 --> 00:59:17.320 to turn east and we're going to go back to the Ottoman Empire, because 655 00:59:17.360 --> 00:59:22.280 we have quite a lot of catching up to do after the death of soule 656 00:59:22.400 --> 00:59:30.480 Mon the Magnificent, to keep our narrative somewhat coherent in the meantime, If 657 00:59:30.519 --> 00:59:34.239 you're eager for more content, check out the links in the show notes that 658 00:59:34.320 --> 00:59:38.039 can take you to the website. Can also take you to our Patreon page, 659 00:59:38.800 --> 00:59:44.679 at which time you can get access to Western CIV two point zero. 660 00:59:45.079 --> 00:59:50.639 We're now deeply into the Punic Wars and beyond in our favorite ancient Roman period. 661 00:59:50.920 --> 00:59:52.119 So if you'd like to check that out and get a free trial, 662 00:59:52.840 --> 00:59:57.440 or if you would just like to support the show for one dollar a month, 663 00:59:57.480 --> 01:00:00.239 you can get ad free versions of the show that come out one week 664 01:00:00.320 --> 01:00:05.440 early, and I appreciate it every penny.