The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1913-11-29
THE TRUTH ABOUT
The HUGUEN0T S
IMPARTIAL HISTORIANS CON-
DENIM THE MASSACRE OF ST.
BARTHOLOMEW DAY, AND
TRACE THE CRIME TO ITS TRUE
CAUSES.

Most of those who accept what may
be called the Huguenot legend, says
a writer in the London Tablet, have
probably heard nothing but the one
sided version Of history which repre-
sents the Huguenots as peaceful citi-
zens, patiently suffering persecution,
death, or Punishment for the sake of
their religion or bringing a blessing
on the nation that gave them shelter
But some, no doubt, have seen another
account but fail to find it convincing
And in some cases this failure may be
due to the fact that the apologist
gives an equally one-sided or "other-
sided" version. Or, in the poets
phrase, one calls the chess-board
black while the other calls it white.
And those who know nothing of HUI
guenot history but the horrors of the
st. Bartholomew and the piety and
peaceful industry of the Protestant
exiles in England can scarcely be ex-
pected to give a patient hearing to
apologists who may seem to palliate,
if not to justify, the cruelty of the
persecution by blackening the char
acters of it's unfortunate victims.
1t is always difficult for combatants
in the heat and dust of strife to form
just estimate of their opponents,
even in cases where the issue is
simpler and more ineligible than
that of the religious struggles of the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
But now, when we are further from
the fray, it ought to be possible to
approach the problem in more calm
and historical spirit, to seek to ascer-
tain the facts and, as far as may be,
understand their significance. The
true historian, whether Catholic or
Protestant, should visit the crimes of
his own co-religionists with just Sc
verify, and frankly admit such facts
as seem to tell in favor of the other
party. He will bear in mind the
injunction, nothing extenuate," but
at the same time he will be careful
of the other half, NOR set down aught
in malice" And happily, our best
modern historians have not failed to
deal faithfully with the crime of the
st. Bartholomew massacre. Thus Dr.
Alzog opens his able article on this
subject in the "Kirchenlexicon'-
have only the French. version at hand
with the significant words: "Bar-
thelemy Ga Saint), "a Aout 1872,
rappelle I'm des fats les plus odioux
don't Phistoire ait jamais fait men
ton" And a more recent writer, Dr.
Funk, says emphatically that it merits
unreserved condemnation Bar
tholomausnacht verdient unbedingte
| Verurteilung"
Not Peaceful Christian Citizens.
Thus Catholic historians, as these
examples may show, do not shrink
from condemning this monstrous mas
sacre with just severity. But the
same fidelity to historic truth which
keeps them from unworthy silence or
from base attempts to condone or pal
late the crime, makes them careful
to trace it to it's true causes and
avoid involving innocent parties in
their condemnation. That condemna-
ton, as Funk justly says, must be I'M
reserved. But it must fall on none but
the real culprits, and even with them
the historian, like the judge in a
criminal court, must base his sentence
on established facts, and pay due at
tention to any evidence that tells in
| favor of the accused. Thus, even
when there is no ground for acquittal
and no hope for pardon, just judge
will make some distinction between
crimes committed under great provo
cation and those that come from cold
blooded policy and wanton cruelty
And in like manner the historian try
ing this great criminal cause must in
vestigate all the circumstances and
take into consideration the character
and position of the party that suffered
as well as that of the party or persons
who committed the crimes.
Certainly, if the Huguenots who suf-
fered on that illomened night were
nothing but peaceable Christian citi-
zens, whose only offense was their
faith, the massacre, in addition to it's
treachery and cruelty, would have the
character of unprovoked aggression
But no serious student of the history
of that PERIOD will venture to say that
this was really the case. For though
in some of it's features it has certain
prominence it was after all but one
in long series of massacres and as
sassinations in which both the con-
tending factions seemed to vie with
each other in rivalry of atrocity
At no time, and in no circumstances,
could such a crime be condoned. But
when the whole dark story of the
French disturbances and civil wars of
the sixteenth century lies before us,
it is at any rate somewhat easier to
understand how these fierce passions
were kindled.
A Poet-Historian's Statement.
On this question Catholic writer,
F, however much he may cultivate a
spirit of historical impartiality, may
still be suspected of some bias against
the Protestants or Hugenots. And if
only for this reason it is fortunate
for us that a powerful picture of the
Huguenot conspiracy and the conse-
quent wars of religion has been
drawn by one who is in nowise open
to this suspicion. We have all heard
much of modern scientific methods of