08/24/2026
The St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre — and its impact on Scotland
On the 24th August 1572, one of the darkest episodes of the Reformation era began in Paris.
What became known as the St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre saw thousands of French Protestants, known as Huguenots, murdered in Paris and across France. Among the first to die was the prominent Protestant leader Admiral Gaspard de Coligny, but the violence soon spread far beyond the capital.
The news of the massacre sent shockwaves throughout Protestant Europe — and Scotland was no exception.
By 1572 Scotland had officially embraced the Reformation, but the country still remained politically and religiously divided. Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned in England, while the young James VI reigned under Protestant regents. The slaughter of fellow Reformed Christians in France therefore caused both horror and alarm.
One of the strongest Scottish reactions came from John Knox.
Knox was now an old and increasingly frail man and would die only three months later. Yet when news of the massacre reached Edinburgh, his voice had lost none of its fire.
With the French ambassador reportedly present, Knox publicly denounced King Charles IX of France for his part in the bloodshed, describing him as a “cruel murderer and false traitor.”
Knox even demanded that his words be carried back to the French court.
The massacre also had political consequences in Scotland.
In October 1572, Scottish Protestants met in Edinburgh and discussed the possibility of forming a defensive alliance with England and other Reformed nations. The events in France had demonstrated just how vulnerable Protestant churches could be when powerful rulers turned against them.
There was also an important connection with Andrew Melville, who would become one of the leading figures of the Scottish Reformed Church after Knox.
Melville was living in Geneva at the time of the massacre. In the aftermath, the city became a refuge for French Protestants fleeing persecution.
He encountered many of these refugees personally and was deeply affected by what had happened.
Melville later wrote Latin poetry commemorating those who had been killed, referring to them as the “newest French martyrs.”
The massacre also damaged the cause of Mary Queen of Scots.
Mary herself had no involvement in the massacre, but her close connections with Catholic France were impossible for Scottish Protestants to ignore. She had once been Queen of France, Catherine de Medici had been her mother-in-law, and the powerful Guise family were her relatives.
For many Protestants, the events of August 1572 provided a terrifying example of what could happen if Catholic power was restored.
The St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre therefore became more than simply a French tragedy.
For Scottish Protestants it was a warning.
It reminded them that the Reformation could not be taken for granted and that the freedom to preach the Gospel and worship according to Scripture could very quickly be lost.
