Gaspard de Coligny vs Homma Masaharu

Gaspard de Coligny commanded Huguenot forces at the Battle of Saint-Denis against the royal army. The battle was indecisive, but the Huguenots failed to capture Paris. Coligny's leadership solidified his position as a key Huguenot military commander.

Coligny negotiated the Peace of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, which granted Huguenots limited religious freedom and control of several fortified towns. The peace allowed Coligny to return to court and gain influence over King Charles IX.

An assassination attempt was made on Gaspard de Coligny in Paris, allegedly ordered by Catherine de Medici and the Guise family. He was shot but survived. This attack set the stage for the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre two days later.

Gaspard de Coligny was killed during the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, when Catholic mobs murdered Huguenots in Paris. His body was mutilated and thrown from a window. His death marked a turning point in the Wars of Religion.

Homma Masaharu commanded the Japanese 14th Army in the invasion of the Philippines, defeating American and Filipino forces. He captured Manila in January 1942 and forced the surrender of Allied troops on Bataan in April 1942, leading to the Bataan Death March.

After the surrender of Bataan, Homma's forces forced approximately 75,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war to march 65 miles to prison camps. The march resulted in thousands of deaths due to brutality, starvation, and disease, becoming a major war crime.

Homma Masaharu was tried by a U.S. military commission in Manila and found guilty of war crimes for the Bataan Death March. He was sentenced to death and executed by firing squad on April 3, 1946, despite arguments that he lacked control over his troops.