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

It is true we find no St. Bartholomew in this reign,
but that was because the first had made a second
impossible. That the will was not wanting is
attested by the edict with which Henry opened his
reign, and which commanded all his subjects to
conform to the religion of Rome or quit the
kingdom. His mother, Catherine de Medici, still
held the regency; and we trace her hand in this
tyrannous decree, which happily the government
had not the power to enforce. Its impolicy was
great, and it instantly recoiled upon the king, for it
advertised the Huguenots that the dagger of the St.
Bartholomew was still suspended above their
heads, and that they should commit a great mistake
if they did not take effectual measures against a
second surprise. Accordingly, they were careful not
to let the hour of weakness to the court pass
without strengthening their own position.
Coligny had fallen, but Henry of Navarre now
came to the front. He lacked the ripened wisdom,
the steady persistency, and deep religious
convictions of the great admiral; but he was young,
chivalrous, heartily with the Protestants, and full of
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