on the pen. Their
stronghold was no longer in the north but was now in the south and
west. The reason for this may be partly found in the preparation of
the soil for their seed by the medieval heresies, but still more in the
strong particularistic spirit of that region. The ancient provinces of
Poitou and Guienne, Gascony and Languedoc, were almost as conscious of
their southern and Provencal culture as they were of their French
citizenship. The strength of the centralizing tendencies lay north of
the Loire; in the south local privileges were more esteemed and more
insisted upon. While Protestantism was persecuted by the government at
Paris it was often protected by cities of the south. [Sidenote: La
Rochelle] The most noteworthy of these was La Rochelle on the Atlantic
coast near Bordeaux. Though coming late to the support of the
Reformation, its conversion was thorough and lasting. To protect the
new religion it successfully asserted its municipal freedom almost to
the point of independence. Like the Dutch Beggars of the Sea its armed
privateers preyed upon the commerce of Catholic powers, a mode of
warfare from which the city derived immense booty.

The Huguenots tried but failed to get foreign allies. Neither England
nor Germany sent them any help. [Sidenote: Battle of Mons, July 17,
1572] Their policy of supporting the revolt of the Low Countries
against Spain turned out disastrously for themselves when the French
under Coligny were defeated at Mons by the troops of Philip.

The Catholics now believed the time ripe for a decisive blow. Under
the stimulus of the Jesuits they {217} had for a short time been
conducting an offensive and effective propaganda. Leagues were formed
to combat the organizations of the Huguenots, armed "Brotherhoods of
the Holy Spirit" as they were called. The chief obstacle in their path
seemed to be a small group of powerful nobles headed by Coligny.
Catharine and the Guises resolved to cut away this obstacle with the
assassin's knife. Charles, who was personally on good terms with
Coligny, hesitated, but he was too weak a youth to hold out long.
There seems to be good reason to believe that all the queen dowager and
her advisers contemplated was the murder of a few leaders and that they
did not foresee one of the most extensive massacres in history.

Her first attempt to have Coligny assassinated [Sidenote: August 22,
1572] aroused the anger of the Huguenot leaders and