This wicked king died May 30, 1574. His character was a compound of passion, acuteness, heartlessness and massacre of St. Bartholomew, August 24, 1572, was the culmination of a series of treacheries towards the Huguenots, which greatly disgraced his reign. He died a young man. During his last hours he said, “Oh, my nurse, my nurse! What blood, what murders, what evil counsels have I followed! Oh, my God, pardon me and have mercy on me if Thou canst. I know not what I am! What shall I do? I am lost; I see it well.