The second half of the 16th century was the "dark side" of the Renaissance, marked in France by religious quarrels, civil unrest and a profound questioning of royal power: an age of disorder and folly, which, in forty years and eight Wars of Religion, set the kingdom ablaze in a succession of confrontations, repressions, scandals and massacres, upsetting the balance of the country in an unprecedented way. It was also a key moment in national history, perhaps the most serious crisis undergone by the Ancien Régime: it left an indelible mark on our memory and on our collective imagination, notably through a frenzy of violence, which culminated in the bloody episode of Saint Bartholomew's Day.
