Note 279 — Chapter V · FROM THE ACCESSION OF CHARLES IX. TO THE MASSACRE AT VASSY. [1560–1562.]
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The duke afterward attempted to justify himself on the ground that the Protestants had begun the attack; but it is not probable that a body of unarmed persons, including many women and children, would have provoked an armed body of men commanded by one of the first soldiers in France. If what Davila says is true, the duke did not regret this opportunity of showing how much he detested the January edict (liv. iii.).