==Events and trends== Transition from the Muromachi to the Azuchi-Momoyama period in Japan. The fourth to seventh French Wars of Religion occurred. August 24, 1572: Roman Catholics committed the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre of French Protestants in Paris. Spanish silver from the New World began to flood the Chinese market after the Spanish established a trading base at Manila; silver had already become the common medium of exchange under the Ming Dynasty, and now it was firmly cemented int… (More on 1570s)