At this point, the inhabitants [of Toulouse] entered into a complete defiance of one another. They set about arming themselves on all sides as far as their means permitted them in order to defend their families, assailing one another and guarding their houses. To the [protestant] infernal harpies and vultures, there was nothing more pitiful than to see the Churches filled with garrisoned troops by orders of the court, albeit rather late in the day. They muttered and whispered that their prey had been carried off before their eyes.
The Capitouls whined and pleaded ceaselessly for the removal of these [garrisons]. They said that it would give a pretext to the ordinary people to take up arms and massacre those of the new religion [the protestants]. The reply to them was that, in accordance with the reiterated decisions of the Court [of Parlement] for the expulsion of foreigners [from the city] all the vagabonds and people without good reason to be there should leave the city and those of the new religion should lay down their arms. They would then come to no harm from these garrisons [stationed in the Churches].
It was all, however, to no avail. All the human prudence in the world could not withstand those intent on trouble, including those individuals who made free with their wealth and put their lives at risk on behalf of their idol, the heresiarch Théodore de Bèze. The latter had written to the [protestant] Churches of Toulouse, Albi, Montauban, Castres and elsewhere around Toulouse on the 7th April. He called on them to make a swift levy of soldiers and money and there by to demonstrate the faith and zeal which they had for the Gospel of Christ.
Having declared a general imposition of 200,000 écus, the protestants at Toulouse collected 4,000 écus, 1,500 of which was accounted for at Moinier's house where Barelles was staying. The rest was sent on by means of bills of exchange through Fabry Cazeneuve, a Toulousan [banker] and Séraphin Dupuy, a Parisian who received it grudgingly, saying that this contribution was not in keeping with the grandeur and dignity of the city, . . . other smaller places having given far more . . .
Assézat and Mandinelli [Capitouls] had an audience with the Court in the gilded chamber on the afternoon of the 9th May. They declared that they could no longer obey the Court unless the [catholic] garrisons were removed from the Churches, since they had sworn with their lives to see that the city was disarmed and strangers removed from it. At this, the Court marvelled at their audacity, seeing that they challenged the might of the law and had formed a bad opinion of it. The Court commanded them to assemble the city once more and require those of the new opinion [the protestants] to remain under its authority, promising them that it would be as mindful of their wellbeing as of that of the catholics, in accordance with the edict [of January 1562].
Then, on one side [the catholic], the bourgeois began to rally their forces on a house-to-house basis. The clerics, and particularly those from the cathedral chapter of St Etienne and the churches of St Sernin and St Jean filled their churches, steeples and cloisters with men at arms from money collected in the form of a tax. Many of the presdents and councillors (and notably the attorneys for civil and criminal matters) became involved in these collections to the point where one of the Capitouls found hiself assaulted at the gateway to the house of the civil attorney when the door was shut in his face by one named Serradet, who was in charge of garrison the this house and who had already been suspected of false coining and murder. Gunpowder and military supplies were also brought into the city since the gates were in the control of those from the Roman church. And although the Capitouls made a surprise seizure of this gunpowder and a goodly stock of armament as well, the Court [of Parlement] handed it over to Delpuech, Madron and other [catholic] faction leaders ['monopoleurs' - the reference was also intended to refer to their mercantile background].
Those of the religion [protestants] on the other hand, seeing what preparations were being made, also began to defend themselves with men and arms. It was all done, however, without any aggression towards anyone, and they acted entirely under the guardianship and protection of the Capitouls who were generally present at the protestant services. Seeing this, the enemy launched a complaint, initially before the Parlement. This court was divided into three different tendencies ('humeurs'). For there were some who favoured the seditious activities [of the catholics], others who favoured the religion [the protestants] and a third group who were neutral in matters of religion and only sought peace. The first group, however, were bolder and more numerous than the second and they won through because of the connivance of the neutral group. So it happened that, when the complaint was lodged before the whole court concerning the current circumstances, the judges sought to ensure that the superiority of the Court of Parlement, made up of men of knowledge and experience, should prevail over the Capitouls. The latter, gentlemen or merchants, had not previously held offices in government and other such matters, and they should not be left to handle things on their own. This was the view which was endorsed by everyone. The Capitouls came over to this view as well, some through fear, others by persuading themselves that it would all work out, and the rest through wanting not to have such an onerous responsibility. The result was that the protestants were left without support, council or advice than from amongst themselves. Despite this fact, they undertook no aggressive act and merely carried weapons for their self-defence . . .
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