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French forces to victory, ultimately forcing the English out of France. The victory gave the French kings considerable power, and a centralized absolute monarchy developed. Over the next three centuries, France, having invaded Italy and seeing its cultural riches, experienced the Renaissance. The country blossomed both economically and culturally. Protestantism spread under François I, but conflict between the Hugue- nots (the Protestants) and Catholics, accustomed to dominance in the region, steadily grew under his son Henry II. The French Wars of Religion (1562– 1598) resulted, during which between 2 and 4 million people were killed. After becoming king, Henry IV, a Huguenot, converted to Catholicism to bring peace to the country and issued the Edict of Nantes, which gave certain rights to the Huguenots, thus ending the conflict. ST. BARTHOLOMEW’S DAY MASSACRE During the Wars of Religion, Henry II’s wife, Catherine de Medici, ordered the killing of thousands of Protestants in the St. Bartholomew’s

Day Massacre in 1572.

A painting, Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre , by François Dubois, a Huguenot artist. To the left in the background, Catherine de Medici is shown emerging from the Château du Louvre to inspect a heap of bodies.

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CHAPTER ONE: HISTORY, RELIGION, AND TRADITION