Admiral Gaspard deColigny

Gaspard was born in France in 1519.
His family line had long served the French royalty and he early made friends in the French Court

In 1543 Gaspard distinguished himself in battle and the next year he was knighted.

It is said he displayed great courage, resolution and strength of character.

He was taken prisoner in 1557, and was released two years later. During this time he avidly read the works of John Calvin and by his release in 1559 he had become a fervent Huguenot.

Coligny was leading patron for the failed French colony of Fort Caroline (1562-1566) in what is now Jacksonville, Florida. Fort Caroline was intended as a refuge for Huguenots, but due to hostilities with the local Spanish settlements combined with complication from the French wars, it did not succeed.
Gaspard placed himself with Louis, Prince of Condé, at the forefront of the Huguenot party, fighting for liberty to worship God aright, and to break away from Catholic tyranny. When, in 1569 the Prince of Condé died in battle, Gaspard suddenly became the sole leader of the now despairing Protestant armies. He then called on Jeanne d’Albret to support this cause and help rally the troops.
On 15 October 1547 Gaspard married Charlotte de Laval, they had three children including Louise de Coligny who would later marry William I of Orange.
His wife Charlotte died in 1568.
Gaspard married for a second time to Jacqueline de Montbel, but he was assassinated before their daughter was born.

On 22 August 1572 Gaspard was shot in the street by a man called Maurevert, the bullets however, only tore a finger from his right hand and shattered his left elbow. The would-be assassin escaped. The King sent his own physician to treat Gaspard and even visited him.
There were many Hugenots in the city for the wedding of the Protestant Henry, King of Navarre, and Marguerite de Valois, the French King's sister, and the Catholics feared retaliation for the attempt on Coligny's life. Thus, two nights later (on the 24th of August) Gaspard was attacked in his house, plunged through with a sword, thrown out of a window and there in the street had his head cut off by the enemies of Protestantism.
With Coligny dead, the Catholics then proceeded to carry out the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in which thousands of Protestant Hugenots were slaughtered.