Siege of Montpellier

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Siege of Montpellier
Part of: Huguenot War
Siege of Montpellier 1622
Siege of Montpellier 1622
date October 1622
place Montpellier
output Victory of the besiegers
Parties to the conflict

Royal Pavilion de la France.svg Catholics

Croix huguenote.png Huguenots

Commander

King Louis XIII

Étienne d'Americ
Baron de Calonges


Sieges of Huguenot cities in the 16th and 17th centuries

The siege of Montpellier was part of the campaign carried out by Louis XIII to overthrow the Huguenot rebellion.

background

Louis XIII. took over the rule of his kingdom in 1617 after the reign of his mother Maria de 'Medici . During this time, several Protestant regions in France, led by Henri II. De Rohan , had rejected the king's claim to power, so that from 1619 he was forced to enforce himself with military force.

After the unsuccessful siege of Montauban in the previous year, Louis XIII. his tactics and began to attack and overthrow the less fortified Huguenot towns. After the pacification of the Poitou and the Saintonge he left the siege of La Rochelle to his cousin Louis de Bourbon-Soissons and marched with his troops towards the Languedoc . After the Nègrepelisse massacre , in which Ludwig had all male residents executed, and the siege of Saint-Antonin , he marched on Montpellier . The city was one of the centers of the Huguenot rebellion in the 17th century.

Henri II de Bourbon, prince de Condé

prehistory

In February 1622, Henri II. De Rohan responded to the threat posed by the royal forces and began to destroy possible strategic bases in the north of Montpellier. He besieged the Château de Montlaur and blew it up after taking it. The same thing happened to the castles in Beaulieu (Hérault) , Castries and, on March 29, the Château de Sommières. At the same time, Henry de Montmorency , Lunas , and Fort de Graissessac took on the other front and appeared on February 11 before Bédarieux .

After various skirmishes , Montmorency left his camp and moved in front of Frontignan and Villeneuve-lès-Maguelone . After the two places were captured , the Protestant villages of Soumartre et de Faugères were conquered , as it were in a march past . He then united his corps with that of Gaspard III. de Coligny duc de Châtillon, who had also recently arrived. This army took Cournonsec on April 7th and marched on Lavérune on the Mosson , in the direction of which the army of Rohan was also moving. However, there was no fighting, as the two armies were on different routes. Rohan then took Saint-Georges-d'Orques because the Catholic garrison there was extremely annoying to Montpellier and the city had been constantly troubled by pinpricks such as the capture of travelers or farmers. Montmorency then went to Villeneuve-lès-Maguelone and the Duke of Châtillon to Aigues-Mortes . On the way Châtillon destroyed the collegiate church Notre-Dame de Grâce in Gignac and turned against the mountain fortress "Château de Montferrand" in Saint-Mathieu-de-Tréviers . After failing to take the castle, he first retired to the heights of Uzès and then turned to Aigues-Mortes.

When Rohan found out about the siege of Saint-Antonin , he left Millau and marched on Castres , having found out that Louis XIII. wanted to unite with Montmorency to attack Montpellier. He set out with a troop to reinforce the occupation of Montpellier.

Although Henri IV had given Montpellier to the Protestants as a safe place, little had been done about the fortifications. By 1620 only two new bastions had been built. However, the Protestant engineer Pierre de Conty d'Argencour began intensive fortification work in 1621 . He had the suburbs demolished and reinforced the city walls so that the besiegers faced a fortified city with 16 bastions, connected by curtains , crescents and ditches in front of them . Rohan left some nobles of his retinue in the city, including his personal lieutenant (at that time a lieutenant was not only a rank but also a position. The military ranks were nowhere near as clearly defined as they are today) Depuy (Lieutenant particulier) ), who had already been present at the siege of Montauban. In the city he set up the defense force from a total of four regiments and eight to ten independent companies ( sans mestre de camp - i.e. commanded by an officer of the middle or lower rank) of regular troops, as well as three militia regiments from the citizens of the city.

The royal army moved relentlessly, taking several smaller towns along the way. The Maréchal de Praslin took and destroyed Bédarieux , Mauguio , and Sommières . Montmorency captured Marsillargues on August 3rd with three regiments of infantry, (reinforced by the Regiment de Normandie) six guns and a field snake .

The siege of Lunel began on August 2nd and although the garrison had been reinforced by 830 men from the Cévenol, the city surrendered on August 7th before 3,000 infantrymen, 300 horsemen and two field snakes of the Prince de Condé. After leaving behind six companies in Lunel under the command of Colonel de légion Jean de La Croix, baron de Castries, the royal troops united on August 12 before Sommières, which was attacked on August 17, at the head of the Régiment de Picardy with its Mestre de camp Roger du Plessis-Liancourt .

On August 22nd, Gaspard III handed over . de Coligny , duc de Châtillon, the fortified Aigues-Mortes Louis XIII without a fight, which earned him a reward of 5,000 livres and the marshal's baton

Prepare for the siege

The first troops under the command of Henri II. De Montmorency, Governor of Languedoc, appeared in front of the city in July 1622 in the hope of being able to take it without a fight. In Lavérune surrender negotiations were to be held, but the Prince de Condé and Bassompierre were against it and advised a siege. In the meantime Rohan had sent for reinforcements through the Montagnards , and troops in the Cevennes were still being drawn up to help them before the king's main army was united with that of Montmorency.

Through the mediation of the Maréchal Lesdiguières (he had converted to Catholicism, had subjugated the Dauphiné and received the Ordre du Saint-Esprit and the sword of a Connétable ) on August 22, between the Huguenot leader, Henri de Rohan, and Louis XIII. signed a handover contract. However, the following day the residents refused to open the gates to the royal troops, fearing repression and worse from the men of Prince Henri de Condé. They imposed humiliating and therefore unacceptable conditions for the king under which he was allowed to move into the city.

Thus, only Montpellier remained in the region as a base for the Huguenots, which was besieged by a 10,000-strong royal army from August 31st.

"... overtired and exhausted from numerous marches, fights and fortification work"

whose command Condé took over, since Louis XIII. who was offended by the conditions of the citizens of Montpellier, who blamed Lesdiguières and therefore removed him from his offices.

Order of battle

The Maréchal Lesdiguières negotiated the peace between the king and Montpellier.

When Montpellier was completely enclosed on August 31, the king from Béziers took his headquarters in a farmhouse near Castelnau-de-Montmiral in the north of Montpellier, which belonged to Étienne Aimeric, the commandant of Montpellier. From here he could follow the siege.

The siege work was supervised by the Italian engineer Joseph Gamorini, who quickly had an approach trench built at the left column against the supposedly weakest point of the fortification; the Blancarie, between the Tour des Carmes (Carmelite) and the Tour de Saint-Gély.

The attack took place in two columns:

  • Left column: near the King's headquarters, commanded by the Maréchal de Praslin in the capacity of Lieutenant General . François de Bassompierre and Jacques d'Estampes de Valençay were the maréchaux de camp to which the regiments Gardes françaises, Gardes suisses, de Navarre, de Piémont, de Normandie, d'Estissac and de Saint-Chamont were subordinate.
  • The right column was commanded by the Prince de Condé as Lieutenant General, he was supported by the Maréchal de camp Jean Zamet (was wounded by a cannonball on September 5 and died from it on September 8) and Louis de Marillac , with the regiments " de Normandie "," de Nérestang ", four regiments from the Languedoc by Henri de Montmorency:" de Vendôme "," de Fabrègues "," de La Roquette "and" de Saint-Brez ", as well as another, which Condé originally in Berry had left behind.

The siege army consisted of the following regiments - the list may not be complete

The defenders under the commandant Étienne d'Americ and the governor Baron de Calonges had at their disposal:

  • 1 regiment of 4 companies
  • 3 regiments of 5 companies each
  • 8 to 10 companies excluding mestre de camp
  • 3 regiments formed from the city's residents.

The siege

The siege operations were set up at the points where the defenses were still unfinished and so represented the weakest points. Even so, the matter posed great difficulties for the royal troops. Montpellier had had the opportunity over a long period of time to find out about the intentions of Louis XIII. to become clear and was therefore well prepared. The medieval city ​​wall could not withstand the modern artillery, so the suburbs were closed and a strong fortification ring built. When the siege army arrived, the work was largely complete.

On September 1, the redoubts in the east on the banks of the Lez by the regiments “de Normandie”, “de Navarre”, “de Piémont”, “d'Estissac”, “de La Roquette”, “de Fabrègues” and “de Saint-Brez ”attacked and captured. The conquered works remained occupied by the latter two regiments under the command of Jacques d'Estampes de Valençay.

This extremely important strategic position posed a threat to the city, so on September 3rd, 400 infantry under the command of Pierre de Conty d'Argencour and cavalry under Baron de Calonges made a sortie to regain the redoubts. The regiments “de Saint-Brez” and “de Fabrègues” located there consisted at that time of only 500 exhausted men who were not or could not be supported by Montmorency.

Montmorency, wounded by a pike and a halberd , withdrew, on the advice of Pierre de Conty d'Argencourt, to:

"... not to lose the life of such a great and noble gentleman"

The Catholic party suffered heavy losses, 200 dead, including:

Léonor d' Orléans-Longueville , duc de Fronsac
Charles d'Houdetot (Lieutenant of the Chevaulegers des prince de Condé)
Jacques II d'Harcourt, marquis de Beuvron
Gilbert de Beaufort-Montboissier vicomte de la Motte-Canillac
Jean-Paul de Lussan (Captain of the Gardes Ecossaises )
Antoine de Grimoard, seigneur de Combalet. Nephew of Charles d'Albert, duc de Luynes , married to a niece of Cardinal Richelieu

At the same time there was a sortie in the west against the trenches of the “de Picardie” regiment. The Marechal de camp Jean Zamet was wounded so badly by a bullet from a field snake that he died a few days later. The fortress engineer Joseph Gamorini was hit in the head by a musket ball and killed - he was replaced by engineer Morrières. The besieged were very successful and immediately erected a large outbuilding on the hill of Saint-Denis , which they held until the end of the siege without being attacked.

The situation began to worsen for the besiegers, especially as the king feared the arrival of a relief army under Rohan. He had the way to Anduze monitored by Catholic farmers, with the request that if the Huguenot army appeared on the heights, they would light large fires and warn him. As a defensive force, Louis XIII collected. in Montferrier 1,500 battle-tested soldiers from the “Gardes françaises” regiment and from the regiments of the “Old Corps”, thus putting together five battalions . On the way to Vaucières, the Maréchal de Saint-Géran joined the Gendarmerie de France , five companies of Chevaulegers, the Regiment "de Normandie" and three regiments from Languedoc. The "de Saint-Chamond" regiment guarded Pont-Juvénal (today a district of Montpellier) and the "Gardes suisses" guarded the bridge at Castelnau. Brigades were also formed to patrol the area and around the camp day and night. These brigades were under the command of Montmorency, Claude de Lorraine , Elbeuf, Bassompierre, François V. de La Rochefoucauld , d'Oraison and Guillaume Pot de Rhodes .

On September 15, a battery of 12 guns opened fire on the Ravelin d'Argencourt, which was well protected, had a countermine system, palisades , barred shelters and loopholes . On October 2, the regiments "de Navarre" and "d'Estissac" attacked with about 5,000 men without success and lost a large number of officers and a total of 300 to 400 dead

“There were so many injured soldiers that the field hospitals were almost insufficient. That day was just as unfortunate as the day on which the enemy retook the heights of Saint-Denis. A large number of our gabions were burned and much of our trenches were leveled. "

The engineer Morrières repaired the damage and Henri de Schomberg , Grand maître de l'artillerie de France , placed another 36 cannons around the city:

".... to shoot in ruins"

Nevertheless, this siege, the Louis XIII. wanted to quit quickly, had been here for seven weeks, and there was no sign of success for him. Diseases broke out in the camp and food became scarce. In addition, there were the no longer justifiable personnel losses (the “de Berry” regiment had shrunk from 1,500 to 600 men.)

The Connétable de Lesdiguières appeared on October 17 with a reinforcement of six regiments "de Tournon", "de Sault", "de Trémond", "de Calard", "de Labaume" and "de Montchamp" in the camp in front of Montpellier.

The king found himself again at the head of an army of 20,000 men with whom he might have dared to attack the city again, despite the arrival of Rohan's 4,000-man relief army, expected on October 8th. In the meantime, however, he realized that the siege could not continue for long for reasons of supplying the troops and was therefore ready to negotiate.

End of the siege and impact

Both Louis XIII. and Rohan had by now decided that enough French blood had been shed. Lesdiguières sought a truce between the king and Rohan, which had appeared on October 10th. Montpellier would be pardoned if the citizens (symbolically represented by the negotiators) kneel down and beg the king's forgiveness for raising arms against him, and they also had to pay a fine. This was accepted by Montpellier, whereupon the king granted pardon, which led to the signature of the Edict of Montpellier. However, the Huguenots had to accept the razing of the fortifications of Montpellier, Nîmes and the Uzès.

Finally, Louis XIII. entered the city bareheaded and without weapons. The royal troops invaded and occupied the city, despite the king's promise. Soon afterwards, work began to soften it. To control the city, construction of the citadel of Montpellier began two years later .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Chronologie du siège de Montpellier de 1622 en 10 dates
  2. ^ Jack Alden Clarke, Google Livres Huguenot Warrior: The life and times of Henri de Rohan, 1579–1638, Springer, July 31, 1967 ISBN 978-90-247-0193-3 , p. 126
  3. ↑ Histoire de Montpellier. Troisième partie pages 46 et suivantes
  4. ↑ Siége de Montpellier: estampe
  5. ↑ La Vraye du representation of victory, plan, assiette et fortifications, tant que vieilles nouvelles de la ville de Montpellier. Assiégée par le tres-chrestien Louys XIII Roy de France et de Navarre
  6. ↑ Gérard Cholvy (dir.), Histoire de Montpellier, private, rééd. 2001, p. 120 ff.
  7. ↑ Jack Alden Clarke “The life and times of Henri de Rohan, 1579–1638”, Springer, 1967 ISBN 978-90-247-0193-3 , pp. 103 ff
  8. ↑ Histoire universelle: 1620–1622 Par Agrippa d 'Aubigné page 251
  9. ^ Jacques II d'Harcourt, marquis de Beuvron sur geneanet.org
  10. ↑ La famille d'Harcourt page 14
  11. ↑ Morrières or morières
  12. ↑ Batailles françaises par le colonel Édouard Hardy de Périni volume 3 (1621–1643)
  13. ^ Mack P. Holt Google Livres The French Wars of Religion, 1562–1629, Cambridge University Press, November 7, 2005 ISBN 978-0-521-83872-6 , p. 187
  14. ^ Jack Alden Clarke, Google Livres Huguenot Warrior: The life and times of Henri de Rohan, 1579–1638, Springer 1967 ISBN 978-90-247-0193-3 , p. 107
  15. ↑ Alastair Armstrong, Google Livres France 1500-1715 Heinemann Educational Publishers, December 2, 2003, ISBN 978-0-435-32751-4 , p. 112