In return, she came to be blamed for the excessive persecutions carried out under her sons' rule, in particular for the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre of 1572, in which thousands of Huguenots were killed in Paris and throughout France.
Como consecuencia, chegou a ser culpada das excesivas persecucións contra os protestantes que se desenvolveron durante os reinados dos seus fillos, en particular da matanza de San Bertomeu de 1572, en que foron asasinados miles de hugonotes en París e por toda Francia.