In Our Time

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 TimeBy BBC Radio 4

  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6

4.6

5,093 ratings


More shows like In Our Time

View all
Global News Podcast by BBC World Service

Global News Podcast

7,727 Listeners

Business Daily by BBC World Service

Business Daily

522 Listeners

More or Less by BBC Radio 4

More or Less

893 Listeners

Newshour by BBC World Service

Newshour

1,068 Listeners

World Business Report by BBC World Service

World Business Report

305 Listeners

History Extra podcast by Immediate Media

History Extra podcast

3,238 Listeners

In Our Time: History by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: History

1,883 Listeners

In Our Time: Philosophy by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: Philosophy

871 Listeners

In Our Time: Culture by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: Culture

608 Listeners

In Our Time: Science by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: Science

739 Listeners

In Our Time: Religion by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: Religion

283 Listeners

Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4 by BBC Radio 4

Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4

2,117 Listeners

Great Lives by BBC Radio 4

Great Lives

476 Listeners

Dan Snow's History Hit by History Hit

Dan Snow's History Hit

4,774 Listeners

The Life Scientific by BBC Radio 4

The Life Scientific

232 Listeners

Evil Genius with Russell Kane by BBC Sounds

Evil Genius with Russell Kane

366 Listeners

Have You Heard George's Podcast? by BBC Sounds

Have You Heard George's Podcast?

234 Listeners

Elis James and John Robins by BBC Radio 5 Live

Elis James and John Robins

332 Listeners

You're Dead to Me by BBC Radio 4

You're Dead to Me

3,226 Listeners

The Ancients by History Hit

The Ancients

3,314 Listeners

The Rest Is History by Goalhanger

The Rest Is History

15,609 Listeners

Gone Medieval by History Hit

Gone Medieval

1,897 Listeners

Not Just the Tudors by History Hit

Not Just the Tudors

2,056 Listeners

Sport's Strangest Crimes by BBC Radio 5 Live

Sport's Strangest Crimes

66 Listeners

Uncanny by BBC Radio 4

Uncanny

840 Listeners

Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley by BBC Radio 4

Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley

539 Listeners

Empire: World History by Goalhanger

Empire: World History

2,460 Listeners

Believe in Magic by BBC Sounds

Believe in Magic

622 Listeners

The Global Story by BBC World Service

The Global Story

353 Listeners

Miss Me? by BBC Sounds

Miss Me?

266 Listeners

The History Podcast by BBC Radio 4

The History Podcast

60 Listeners

Rory Stewart: The Long History of... by BBC Radio 4

Rory Stewart: The Long History of...

76 Listeners

The History Bureau by BBC

The History Bureau

0 Listeners