was not a provision of Amboise.) With all these attacks they were finally dismissed from their offices. Vassy and civil war Having been called back to Paris by Navarre, Francis, Duke of Guise stopped en route on March 1 at the town of Vassy, which had become a Protestant stronghold in the largely Catholic countryside of Champagne. Enraged by the sound of Protestant bell ringing in the town, he and his company of gentlemen decided to enter, on the pretext of hearing mass. In the town he was further incensed to find that the Protestants were meeting in the castle district, which was on his property. Controversy arose later over the legality of the service Guise had encountered. While this meeting took place after the issuance of the Edict of Saint-Germain, it took place before the Parlement of Paris had been forced to register it. Guise sent out a gentleman ahead of him, who got into an altercation at the door to the barn where the Protestants were worshipping. Violence ensued and, as Guise's company rushed forward, a massacre began, with 50 parishioners killed. Continuing onto Paris despite Catherine's orders for him to come to her and explain himself, he entered the city to a hero's welcome. In the city Condé and his men were present, and thus a potential powder keg if he and Guise crossed paths. Recognising this, Catherine ordered both to vacate the city, but only Condé complied, heading to Orléans where he raised the standard of rebellion on April 2 beginning the first French War of Religion. See also Edict of Fontainebleau, 1685 revocation of the Edict of Nantes by Louis XIV Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, 1789 civil rights document of the French Revolution Notes References Butler, A.J. The Wars of Religion in France: Chapter 1 1562 in law Saint-Germain Religion in the Ancien Régime French Wars of Religion History of Catholicism in France 1562 in France Christianity and law in the 16th century Saint-Germain Catherine de' Medici 1562 in Christianity 1562 treaties Edicts of toleration