The fall of the Roman Empire in 476 after the invasion of barbarian peoples put an end to the Ancient Age and started a new era: the Middle Ages. If before Europe bowed before the power of the Roman emperor, now it would bow to the powerful Catholic Church.
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When the barbarian peoples invaded, the population fled towards the fields, this ruralization fragmented not only European society but also power. The authority of the nobles was restricted to feuds (the right that someone acquires over a good, usually land), the land became the center of all social and economic relations.
As Europe no longer has an individual with centralized power in his hands, the Church gains a prominent role in this role. The other institutions are weakened or simply disappear with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and in that In this context, the clergy came to dominate, as the only institution that remained organized was the Catholic Apostolic Church. Roman.
The Pope, in turn, accumulates economic and religious powers, the society indoctrinated by Catholics incorporates their customs the concern for salvation, the new faithful strictly obey the laws imposed by the clerics. This submission to the clerics increasingly expands their power and possessions, if land was the greatest wealth of that period, it was with it that Christians bought forgiveness and salvation, in this way the Church became the institution that most held land in the Age Average.
The clergy monopolizes religion, politics, culture and learning, as it was the only social group that had sufficient knowledge and permission to decipher the sacred scriptures, other Catholics became ideological hostages, not always what was preached in sermons by the Pope and priests was actually written in the Bible, the Church used the pages of the holy book to manipulate society and spared no effort to achieve its goals. goals.
Those who went against this indoctrination were considered heretics and suffered the most terrible punishments through the Court of the Holy Office the crimes of heresy were judged. Punishments, torture, imprisonment and even murder were part of the penalties applied to those who disagreed with the Church.
From the 16th century, abuses committed by the clergy began to be condemned by some groups belonging to the Church. O fuse for this discontent was the increase in the sale of indulgences.
Papal power began to be contested, this was the beginning of the episode known as Protestant Reformation, Christian reformers led mainly by Martin Luther seek to denounce the wrong practices committed by the Church and popularize biblical knowledge.
Reformation leaders preach that salvation is obtained only from faith, unlike what was preached from above clergy, they said that salvation was guaranteed through good works and mainly through donations made to Church.
Many Christians disillusioned with the crimes committed by the Pope began to migrate to the new churches created by Protestants, such as the Lutheran Church, the Anglican Church and the Calvinist Church. The reformers would also count on the support of the bourgeoisie and the nobility, the social groups most dissatisfied with the power of the clergy.
The Protestant Reformation was responsible for the diminishing power of the Pope and the Church, as the number of Catholics decreased and Protestants increased. These new Christians were seen as a threat to the monarchy of the European kingdoms, the vast majority of the kings of Europe were Catholics, their power was legitimized and supported by the clergy and the increasing political influence of Protestants worried the nobility.
A true dispute was established in society between Catholics and Protestants, who were also known as Huguenots. The height of this dispute occurred in France in 1562, it all started with a marriage arranged by Queen Catherine de Medici. At that time, marriages represented more a political and economic alliance than a marriage bond, when a couple came together it represented the union of power between two families.
Who ruled France in that period was King Charles IX, but as he was a weak-handed person who really wielded power was his mother Catherine de Medici. The queen saw with concern the growth of the number of Huguenots in France and to neutralize the political influence of this group she devised a plan that consisted of the marriage of his daughter Marguerite Valois, princess of France, and Henry, king of Navarre and head of the dynasty of Huguenots.
Thousands of Protestants were invited to the wedding that would take place on the banks of the Seine, this invitation was nothing more than an attempt to show the society the queen's false desire to pacify relations between Huguenots and Catholics by allowing her Catholic daughter to marry a Protestant.
The wedding between Margarida Valois and Henrique de Navarra could not be celebrated inside Notre Dame Cathedral, since the groom was not Catholic. So an altar was built over the Seine where the wedding took place.
King Charles IX had as one of his advisors the leader of the Huguenots, Admiral Coligny, this proximity raised concern in Catherine de Medici, she feared that the head of French Protestants would influence her son. From there the queen begins to put into practice her plan to eliminate the Huguenots, Coligny suffers an attack planned by Catherine, however she tells the king that the incident was led by Catholics and that the victim, despite having suffered only minor injuries, would be waiting for the right moment to take revenge on the population catholic.
Carlos IX, manipulated by his mother, authorized on August 24, 1562 the persecution and death of all Huguenots from French territory, even ordered the death of Coligny who was tortured and killed with refinement of cruelty.
The episode of persecution and death of the Huguenots would last for several months, the slaughter would be known in history as The Massacre of Saint Bartholomew or The Night of Saint Bartholomew.
Historians cannot agree on the true death toll. The count varies between two thousand murdered Huguenots and seventy thousand, the throwing of bodies in the Seine river would make it difficult to arrive at a more accurate result.
King Henry of Navarre managed to survive the massacre, as he agreed to abandon Protestant principles and adhere to Catholicism. When he came to power in France, he signed a document that granted Huguenots the same political rights and freedom of worship, the Edict of Tolerance of Nantes. With this attitude the king prevented France from being divided into two kingdoms, one controlled by Protestants and the other by Catholics.
Lorena Castro Alves
Graduated in History and Pedagogy
