ABSTRACT
This chapter shows how the interplay between vengeance and conspiracy shaped political events and created a dynamic paradigm which engendered political instability in the years leading up to the Massacre of Saint Bartholomew, and was a primary cause of the Massacre itself. The traditional historiography of French Calvinism, which stressed its moderation, is being replaced by a new scholarship which underlines the movement's militancy. Calvin stressed the need to obey the duly constituted authorities. Fearing the outbreak of civil war in the capital Catherine summoned the parties to the Louvre to try and broker a peace settlement, but as so often during the Wars of Religion events on the streets ran out of the control of policy makers. Protestant conspiracy was integral to the outbreak of the Wars of Religion, and as late as March 1565 a Protestant was executed for plotting to overthrow the Valois and replace them with the Bourbon.
