Hi. I am having some trouble with some questions pertaining the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre: Why did the Catherine de Medici allow the massacre to take place? Why was it so important to kill Coligny? How might the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre change the wars of religion? Do you find any parallels between the religious wars of the 16th century and the religious violence today?

Question

From what I understand, Catherince Medici allowed the massacre because the intial attempt to kill Coligny failed. I can't seem to understand why she wanted his killed in the first place. Was it because Coligny had more influence over Charles than she did? Was it because she didn't want another religious war to happen?

Any help will be GREATLY appreciated!!

Coligny was a Huguenot and wanted the Protestants to be in power. Obviously, Catherine, as a Catholic, was directly opposed to that. She felt that Coligny was manipulating Charles and would try to take over the court. That gave her reason to want Coligny and the rest of the Huguenot leaders killed.

Check these sites for more details.

http://www.answers.com/topic/catherine-de-medici

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Bartholomew's_Day_massacre