#background context

AKA What You Need To Know About The French Wars of Religion:

-If you know anything about 16th century Europe, it’s that the girls (Catholics and Protestants) were FIGHTINGGGG.

-France was no exception.

-Protestantism found its way to France in the 1520s and quickly became popular among nobles, merchants, and ordinary folks alike for various reasons that I will not get into right now because I’m trying to keep this short and also it’s 2 AM when I’m writing this.

-By the time the opera takes place, about 10% of the French population was Protestant, the vast majority of them Calvinists.

-the French Protestants were given the collective nickname Huguenots. Thus the title of the opera.

-anyway-

-Following the sudden death of Henri II de Valois, King of France, in 1559, a series of power struggles began over the royalty and court influence, especially given that increasing numbers of nobles were converting to Protestantism. in 1561, the government passed the Edict of Saint-Germain, which gave Protestants limited freedom of worship in the hopes that there wouldn’t be a civil war.

-but on March 1, 1562, a group of Catholic soldiers murdered about 50 Huguenots attending a church service. this was called the Massacre of Vassy, and oopsie! it started a civil war.

-the first war ended about a year later with the Edict of Amboise. uneasy peace followed.

-in 1567, a bunch of Huguenot nobles decided to overthrow and kidnap King Charles IX in what was called the Surprise of Meaux. however this failed spectacularly and it started a second civil war, which ended the following year with the Edict of Longjumeau (presumably no relation other than place name to Adolphe Adam’s 1836 opera Le postillon de Lonjumeau), which was basically “meh let’s do what the Edict of Amboise did”.

-and then they started a third civil war in 1569 like a bunch of dumbasses

-and then it was ended in 1570 by the Peace of Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

-so for the last two years before the beginning of the opera, there has been yet another more or less uneasy peace.

-here is a map of France at about the time the opera takes place. the province of Touraine (where the first two acts are set) is approximately circled in blue. the little dot with an arrow pointing to it is the approximate location of the Huguenot city of La Rochelle, which is not home to any of the opera’s action but is nevertheless an important city:

-meanwhile, in an effort to reconcile the religious factions, Queen Mother Catherine de Médicis (Caterina de Medici), Henri II de Valois’ widow and King Charles IX’s mother, announced in 1572 that she would be marrying off her 19-year-old daughter Marguérite de Valois to the Huguenot King of Navarre Henri de Bourbon. The wedding was set to be held in Paris on August 18th.

-and btw, if you’re wondering “wait, is Marguérite de Valois related to Élisabeth de Valois? like the one from Don Carlos?” the answer is yes (they were sisters).