This week in Christian history: Edmond Browning born, battle of Jarnac, St. Matilda dies

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, March 10, 2024

The Battle of Jarnac – March 13, 1569

The 1569 battle of Jarnac which was a Catholic victory over Protestant forces in the French Wars of Religion. | Public Domain

This week marks the anniversary of a major battle in the French Wars of Religion, in which the Protestants, known as Huguenots, were defeated by a Catholic army.

The conflict was part of a series of wars that stemmed from the ongoing political debate on the extent to which Catholic-majority France would tolerate its Huguenot minority.

Catholic forces under Marshal Gaspard de Saulx successfully launched a series of surprise attacks, which resulted in the Huguenots being defeated and their army’s leadership being captured and killed.

According to historian Arthur Whiston Whitehead, the French Catholic monarchy and established Church were “enthusiastic” about the victory, with one cardinal offering to send captured prisoners to Rome “to have them hung in St. Peter’s as a perpetual memorial.”

“The joy of the Catholics, however, was somewhat premature,” wrote Whitehead. “The Protestant losses were inconsiderable, perhaps four hundred in all.”