Battle of Saint-Denis (1567)
The Battle of Saint-Denis on November 10, 1567 was a conflict at the beginning of the Second Huguenot War .
prehistory
The Second Huguenot War was triggered because the Queen Mother Caterina de 'Medici did not simply want to give the Huguenots the power that had slipped from the Guises . In 1564, for example, implementing provisions for the Edict of Amboise were issued, which largely diluted its meaning. Protestants in France also feared violent measures such as those initiated by Duke Alba in Flanders ; The Huguenot leaders Condé and Coligny therefore decided to bring the young King Charles under their control (Surprise de Meaux, September 28, 1567). The plan was betrayed and the project failed. Condé then set up camp in Saint-Denis and besieged the royal court in Paris for six weeks.
procedure
Supplies quickly ran out in Paris. Anne de Montmorency therefore went on the attack and dared a sortie on the road to Saint-Denis on November 10th. 16,000 soldiers were under his command. On the Protestant side, arquebusiers had dug trenches from which they could unexpectedly stop the Paris militia for a few hours before they were ultimately pushed back. However, when Montmorency was seriously injured by a shot in the back during the clash of the cavalry, the attacking momentum of the Catholic troops waned, so that the battle was without a winner.
The Protestants withdrew to the east. Montmorency died of the gunshot wound two days later, on November 12th.
consequences
Both sides subsequently increased their strengths.
- The Protestants received support from Elector Friedrich von der Pfalz , who sent 9,500 mercenaries. 4,000 soldiers came from southern France under the leadership of the Duke of Uzès , so that the Protestant army now had around 30,000 men.
- The Catholics received support from Italy and Switzerland under the leadership of the Duke of Nevers .
The cost of the two armies and the resulting lack of finance eventually led to the Peace of Longjumeau (March 23, 1568).
literature
- Pierre Miquel : Les Guerres de religion . Fayard, Paris 1980, ISBN 2-213-00868-X , pp. 262-263.
- James B. Wood: The King's Army. Warfare, Soldiers and Society During the Wars of Religion in France, 1562-76 (Cambridge Studies in early modern history). CUP, Cambridge 2002, ISBN 0-521-52513-6 .