On this day 463 years ago, on March 1, 1562 (January 26, 1562 in the lunar calendar), the massacre of Vassy: more than 1,200 Protestants (Huguenots) were killed, kicking off the French Wars of Religion.. On March 1, 1562, there was a massacre of Protestants by Catholics in the town of Vassy, France. It was the fuse of the famous first religious war in French history. In France in the 1660s, the autocratic monarchy was facing a serious crisis, and various domestic contradictions were acute. Various groups of feudal aristocrats and kings were competing for power and profit with each other. This kind of contradiction is concentrated in the fierce struggle between the two religious groups. One group is called the "Huguenots". It was a religious reform whose founder was Calvin. This famous religious reformer, for advocating the new religious reform, was constantly persecuted by the king and the Catholic Church in France at that time, so he was forced to flee to Switzerland. Soon, he founded a new religious sect, namely Calvinism, centered on Geneva, and its influence grew day by day. Later, even the French bourgeoisie, craftsmen and southern aristocrats dissatisfied with the church and the king joined Calvinism. They called themselves "Huguenots", meaning "champions of the Geneva Reformation". The leaders of the "Huguenots" were Antienne of Bourbon and the Prince of Condi. The other faction, called "Catholic League", is a feudal aristocratic group, mainly composed of aristocrats from the northeastern and central provinces of France. They were the pillars and assistants of the king, controlling many important positions in the government and the church, and wielding unlimited power. Their heads were mainly Duke Francois Gese, the commander-in-chief of the army, and Charles Gese of Lorraine, the cardinal who held the power of internal affairs. There is a profound conflict of interests between the two religious factions. Each of them is tit-for-tat under the banner of safeguarding its religious canons and teachings, and the contradictions are becoming more and more sharp. On March 1, 1562, François Geiss was passing through the town of Vassy with his soldiers, when he heard Huguenots praying and singing hymns from a large barn. Geston began to kill and ordered his troops to attack the unarmed Huguenots. In the light of swords and swords, 23 people were immediately killed and more than 10,000 people were injured. Waxi Town was in a pool of blood for a while, and the sound of sorrow shook the world. Then, government troops held up butcher knives in other cities, and bloody incidents to suppress Protestants occurred one after another, and the situation in the whole country suddenly became tense. For self-defense and resistance, the Huguenots also armed against armed repression. In this way, the first religious war in French history, which lasted for more than 30 years, finally broke out. It was not until King Henry IV issued an "Amnesty Order": recognizing Catholicism as the state religion, allowing Huguenots to have freedom of belief and worship, and enjoy equal rights in holding public office, that this protracted religious war subsided.