Ce charmant mariage qu'on admire à Gaillon. The

castle of Gaillon was erected in 1500 and destroyed in the Revolution; the façade is now in the École des Beaux- Arts at Paris and shows the mixture of Gothic and Renaissance architecture. Of these styles Gothic is characterized by pointed arches and flying buttresses; it flourished from the twelfth to the sixteenth centuries. The term Gothic is a misnomer used by Raphael; it is quite probable that, as the French claim, this architecture originated in the Ile-de-France. The Renaissance architecture followed the Gothic and marks a return to the influence of the ancients; it was at its height in the sixteenth century.

178. — 14. la profonde peinture de Vinci. This picture was formerly in the Royal Collection at the Hague; the collection has been sold and scattered.

180. — Subtitle. La Saint-Barthelemy. The two great religious reformers of the sixteenth century were Luther and Calvin; naturally the Frenchman was more influential in France, where his Protestant followers were known as Huguenots. The Protestants became strong in France under François I^^ and Henri II; when the latter died he was succeeded by his three weak sons, François II, Charles IX and Henri III, who were controlled by their Italian mother, Catherine de Médicis, and by the Guise family. The great nobles of France, particularly the Bourbons and the Montmorencys (Coligny is included among the latter), were opposed to the Guises, whom they considered upstarts, and favored Protestantism. Friction between the Catholic court and the Protestant nobles increased. The resulting civil war began with the massacre by the Guises of a number of Protestants who were worshiping near the village of Vassy (1562). From this time until the accession of Henri IV (1589) France was torn by religious wars. La Rochelle was the chief Protestant stronghold, while Paris was the center of Catholicism. In 1570 the peace of Saint-Germain was made between the two parties. To further the union betv^^een Protestants and Catholics, the marriage of Marguerite, daughter of Catherine de Médicis, with Henri de Navarre (afterwards Henri IV) was proposed. Catherine de Médicis intended to use the Protestants in the war against Spain and the Protestant leaders were invited to Paris to attend the marriage. Charles IX admired Coligny and became influenced by the Protestants. His mother feared that he might slip from her influence and the Guises saw that the Protestants were becoming strong at court; added to this is the fact that the feeling against the Protestants was intense in Paris. It is at this point that the selection begins.

3. L'édit de pacification. The peace of Saint- Germain (see introductory note to p. 180).

8. s'il eût bougé, il perdait tout. For the mixture of the two moods see note to p. no, 1. 10; the imperfect tense, in-

stead of the pluperfect, in the second clause gives greater vividness.

II. prince d'Orange. The chief opponent of the Spanish in the Low Countries. Coligny proposed to aid him against the Spanish oppressors.