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CHAPTER XIII: France
At this time Elizabeth filled the throne of England, and Protestantism had there not merely gained the ascendancy, but it was established as the religion of the state. In France also the reformed religion was making considerable progress; but its members, who in that country were called Huguenots, met with the fiercest opposition, from the courts of France and Spain, who joined in a "holy league,” and a rancorous civil war raged for several years in many of the French provinces. The duke of Anjou commanded the catholics; the protestants were led by Coligni and the prince of Condé. At length a hollow truce was made the prelude to one of the most atrocious acts that stain the page of history-the savage and indiscriminate massacre of the Huguenots throughout France, on the eve of St. Bartholomew (Aug. 24, 1572). The account of this diabolical deed by which 60,000 persons met with a treacherous death, was received in Rome and Spain with ecstacy; and public thanksgivings were offered up in their churches for an event which, it was erroneously supposed, would go far towards the extirpation of a most extensive and formidable heresy.
About this period a serious insurrection of the Moors in Spain broke out, and a most sanguinary war ensued, which raged with great violence in the southern provinces; but the insurgents were at length quelled, and public tranquility restored. It was not long, however, before the revolt of the Dutch took place, which ended in their final emancipation from the Spanish yoke, in 1572.
But of all the preparations that were made for war and conquest, none equalled that of Philip's "invincible armada," which he fondly hoped would conquer England, and thus destroy the great stay of protestantism. But this immense armament, consisting of one hundred and thirty ships, and nearly 30,000 men, after being partly dispersed, and losing several vessels during a violent storm, was most signally defeated by the English; and Philip had the mortification to hear that his naval force was nearly annihilated. The particulars of this event, so disastrous to Spain, will be found in Froude, the historian's new and exhaustive work; and we shall here merely observe, that it greatly tended to advance the protestant cause throughout Europe, and effectually destroyed the decisive influence that Spain had acquired over her neighbors; indeed, from the fatal day which saw the proud armada shipwrecked (1588), the energy of that once powerful country gradually declined and its inhabitants sank into a state of lethargic indolence.
It is worthy of remark that, in all the states of Europe, towards the latter end of this century, a decided tendency towards the concentration of power in the hands of few individuals was fully perceptible. The republics became more aristocratical, the monarchies were unlimited, and the despotic governments less cautious. The system pursued by the domineering court of Philip served more or less as an example to his contemporary sovereigns; while the recent and rapid increase in the quantity of the precious metals, and the progress of the industrial arts, by producing a multitude of new desires, rendered the court more avaricious and the nobles more dependent.