<P> "The Protestants were engaged in prayer outside the walls, in conformity with the king's edict, when the Duke of Guise approached . Some of his suite insulted the worshippers, and from insults they proceeded to blows, and the Duke himself was accidentally wounded in the cheek . The sight of his blood enraged his followers, and a general massacre of the inhabitants of Vassy ensued ." </P> <P> The Massacre of Vassy, on March 1, 1562, provoked open hostilities between the factions supporting the two religions . A group of Protestant nobles, led by the prince of Condé and proclaiming that they were liberating the king and regent from "evil" councillors, organised a kind of protectorate over the Protestant churches . On April 2, 1562, Condé and his Protestant followers seized the city of Orléans . Their example was soon followed by Protestant groups around France . Protestants seized and garrisoned the strategic towns of Angers, Blois and Tours along the Loire River . In the Rhône River valley, Protestants under the François de Beaumont, baron des Adrets attacked Valence; in this attack Guise's lieutenant was killed . Later, the Protestants captured Lyon . </P> <P> Although the Huguenots had begun to mobilise for war before Vassy, Condé used the massacre of Vassy as evidence that the July Edict of 1561 had been broken, lending further weight to his campaign . Hoping to turn over the city to Condé, the Huguenots of Toulouse seized the Hôtel de ville but were countered by angry Catholic mobs resulting in street battles and the killing of around 3,000 (mostly Huguenots) during the 1562 Riots of Toulouse . Additionally, on 12 April 1562 and later in July, there were massacres of Huguenots at Sens and at Tours, respectively . As conflicts continued and open hostilities broke out, the Crown revoked the Edict under pressure from the Guise faction . </P> <P> The major engagements of the war occurred at Rouen, Dreux and Orléans . At the Siege of Rouen (May--October 1562), the crown regained the city, but Antoine de Navarre died of his wounds . In the Battle of Dreux (December 1562), Condé was captured by the Guises, and Montmorency, the governor general, was captured by the Bourbons . In February 1563, at the Siege of Orléans, Francis, Duke of Guise was shot and killed by the Huguenot Jean de Poltrot de Méré . As he was killed outside of direct combat, the Guise considered this an assassination on the orders of the duke's enemy, Admiral Coligny . The popular unrest caused by the assassination, coupled with the resistance by the city of Orléans to the siege, led Catherine de Medici to mediate a truce, resulting in the Edict of Amboise on March 19, 1563 . </P>

Why is the french wars of religion important