Protestantism in France From Death of Francis I to Edict of Nantes - James Aitken Wylie

on. When it was over, the bride and her party
entered Notre Dame, and heard mass; meanwhile
the bridegroom with Coligny and other friends
amused themselves by strolling through the aisles
of the cathedral. Gazing up at the flags suspended
from the roof, the admiral remarked that one day
soon these would be replaced by others more
appropriate; he referred, of course, to the Spanish
standards to be taken, as he hoped, in the
approaching war. The four following days all Paris
was occupied with fetes, ballets, and other public
rejoicings. It was during these festivities that the
final arrangements were made for striking the great
meditated blow.
Before this, however, one of the chief actors
passed away, and saw not the work completed
which he had so largely helped to bring to pass. On
the 5th of May, 1572, Pope Pius V died. There was
scarcely a stormier Pontificate in the history of the
Popes than that of the man who descended into the
tomb at the very moment when he most wished to
live. From the day he ascended the Papal throne till
he breathed his last, neither Asia nor Europe had
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