The Massacre is a historical event.
The use of macecre "butchery" of the mass killing of people dates to the 12th century, implying people being "slaughtered like animals"
 Fnelon in Dialogue des Morts (1712) uses l'horride massacre de Blois ("the horrid massacre at [the chateau of] Blois") of the assassination of Henry I, Duke of Guise (1588), while Boileau, Satires XI (1698) has L'Europe fut un champ de massacre et d'horreur "Europe was a field of massacre and horror" of the European wars of religion

