In Our Time: History

St Bartholomew's Day Massacre


Listen Later

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the infamous St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre. In Paris, in the high summer of 1572, a very unusual wedding was happening in the cathedral of Notre Dame. Henri, the young Huguenot King of Navarre, was marrying the King of France’s beloved sister, Margot, a Catholic. Theirs was a union designed to bring together the rival factions of France and finally end the French Wars of Religion. Paris was bustling with Huguenots and Catholics and, though the atmosphere was tense, the wedding went off without a hitch. And as they danced together at the Louvre, it seemed that the flower of French nobility had finally come together to bury its differences.That wasn’t to be: on St Bartholomew’s Day, four days after the ill-starred nuptials, so many Protestants were killed in the streets of Paris that the River Seine ran red with their blood. Was the wedding a trap? Who was to blame for the carnage and what impact did it have on the Reformation in Europe?With Diarmaid MacCulloch, Professor of the History of the Church at Oxford University and author of a new book: Reformation: Europe’s House Divided 1490-1700; Mark Greengrass, Professor of History at the University of Sheffield; Penny Roberts, Lecturer in History at the University of Warwick.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

In Our Time: HistoryBy BBC Radio 4

  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5

4.5

1,796 ratings


More shows like In Our Time: History

View all
In Our Time by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time

5,424 Listeners

The Documentary Podcast by BBC World Service

The Documentary Podcast

1,827 Listeners

Global News Podcast by BBC World Service

Global News Podcast

7,755 Listeners

History Extra podcast by Immediate Media

History Extra podcast

3,183 Listeners

Great Lives by BBC Radio 4

Great Lives

501 Listeners

6 Minute English by BBC Radio

6 Minute English

1,749 Listeners

Learning English Conversations by BBC Radio

Learning English Conversations

1,070 Listeners

The Infinite Monkey Cage by BBC Radio 4

The Infinite Monkey Cage

1,950 Listeners

Newshour by BBC World Service

Newshour

1,050 Listeners

In Our Time: Culture by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: Culture

593 Listeners

In Our Time: Science by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: Science

706 Listeners

In Our Time: Religion by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: Religion

277 Listeners

In Our Time: Philosophy by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: Philosophy

862 Listeners

The History Hour by BBC World Service

The History Hour

591 Listeners

Dan Snow's History Hit by History Hit

Dan Snow's History Hit

4,627 Listeners

Curious Cases by BBC Radio 4

Curious Cases

810 Listeners

Americast by BBC News

Americast

766 Listeners

You're Dead to Me by BBC Radio 4

You're Dead to Me

3,017 Listeners

The Ancients by History Hit

The Ancients

2,890 Listeners

The Rest Is History by Goalhanger

The Rest Is History

12,437 Listeners

Gone Medieval by History Hit

Gone Medieval

1,704 Listeners

Not Just the Tudors by History Hit

Not Just the Tudors

1,921 Listeners

Empire by Goalhanger

Empire

1,968 Listeners