Franco-Spanish War (1653)
Encyclopedia
The Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659) was a military conflict that was the result of French
involvement in the Thirty Years' War
. After Swedish allies were forced to seek terms with the Holy Roman Empire
, First Minister, Cardinal Richelieu declared war on Spain
because French territory was now surrounded by the Habsburg empire. The conflict was a continuation of the aims of the War of the Mantuan Succession
(1628–31) in which France invaded northern Italy to take possession of territory claimed by the Spanish Habsburgs. The Franco-Spanish War ended in 1659 with the Treaty of the Pyrenees
.
, respectively. For much of the 16th and 17th centuries, France faced Habsburg territory on three sides - the Spanish Netherlands to the north, the Franche-Comté
on its eastern border, and Spain to the south. The Habsburgs thus stood in the way of French territorial expansion, and during a time of conflict, faced the possibility of invasion from multiple backs France thus sought to weaken the Habsburg control over these border possessions.
During the Thirty Years' War, in which various Protestant forces battled Imperial armies, France provided subsidies to the enemies of the empire. France generously supported a Swedish
invasion of the Empire after 1630. After a period of extraordinary success, the Swedish led forces were decisively defeated in 1634 by a combined Spanish-Imperial army in the Battle of Nördlingen
, leading to a peace treaty favorable to the Emperor. Unhappy with this outcome, France's First Minister, Cardinal Richelieu, decided in 1635 to actively involve his kingdom in the fighting and declared war on Spain.
The open war with Spain started with a promising victory for the French at Les Avins
in 1635. The following year Spanish forces based in the Southern Netherlands
hit back with devastating lightning campaigns in northern France that left French forces reeling and the economy of the region in tatters. The Spanish looked set to invade Paris just as their vast continent wide fiscal commitments forced them to suspend their aggressions. The lull in the Spanish attacks gave the French a chance to regroup and force Spanish forces back towards the northern border. They also sent forces through Lorraine
into the Alsace
to cut the Spanish Road
, the vital supply line connecting the Spanish Netherlands to Spain through the Mediterranean port of Genoa
. In 1640 internal political tensions caused by the burden of the Thirty Years War led to the simultaneous revolts of Catalonia
and Portugal
against the Spanish Habsburgs. Spain was now fighting two major wars of secession in addition to a great international conflict; the total collapse of the Spanish Empire
appeared imminent. The French invaded Catalonia, ostensibly to help the rebels. In 1643, the French defeated one of Spain's best armies at Rocroi
, northern France; the myth of Spanish invincibility was at an end.
During the last decade of the Thirty Years' War, the Spanish forces in the Spanish Netherlands were sandwiched between French and Dutch forces and the French won a major victory at Lens
but Franco-Dutch forces could not decisively crush the embattled Army of Flanders
. When the peace treaty was negotiated, France insisted upon Spain being excluded, but the demand was rejected by other parties to the talks. In the Peace of Westphalia
, France gained territory in the Alsace, thus interrupting the Spanish Road; at the signing of the treaty, Spain recognized the independence of the Dutch republic
but gave up little else; indeed the Spanish had to be paid to leave positions they had seized on the Rhine.
In Italy, France fought with the more or less reluctant support of its client state Piedmont
against the Spanish in the Duchy of Milan
. Confusion was added from 1639–1642 by the Piedmontese Civil War
. The siege of Turin in 1640 was a famous event in both this war and the Franco-Spanish conflict. In 1646 a French fleet was defeated and the army it was sent to support was repulsed by Spain's Tuscan
presidio
s; Milan
remained firmly under Spanish dominance.
. Civil war in France continued until 1653, when royal forces prevailed. At the Fronde's conclusion, the whole country, wearied of anarchy and disgusted with the princes, came to look to the king's party as the party of order and settled government, and thus the Fronde prepared the way for the absolutism of Louis XIV. The general war that had been initiated by the French nobles continued in Flanders, Catalonia
and Italy
, wherever a Spanish and a French garrison were face to face, and Condé, with the wreck of his army, openly and definitely entered the service of the king of Spain. This "Spanish Fronde" was almost purely a military affair and, except for a few outstanding incidents, dull to boot. Spain's condition was itself no better than France's as in addition to her own "fronde" and fighting in Italy she was still battling the revolt in Portugal
and the French-backed Catalan Revolt
. The Spanish focused their main efforts on recovering Catalonia and various Italian territories for strategic reasons; this helped the Portuguese to consolidate their rebellion.
In Italy, the war along the border between Piedmont
and the Spanish-held Duchy of Milan
continued. Twice, in 1647–1649 and 1655–1659, France managed to open a second front against Milan by gaining the alliance of Francesco I d'Este
, Duke of Modena, but this never achieved the desired result of breaking the Spanish defence. In the south, the Neapolitan revolt
collapsed and the French forces backing it were driven out by the Spanish forces in 1648.
In Spain, the French, weakened by the Fronde, were unable to hold Catalonia against reconquest by the Spanish forces; the French cause was undermined when the Catalans discovered that the French were even more overbearing than their former Spanish Habsburg masters and many switched their loyalty back to the chastened regime in Madrid. Taking advantage of French divisions, Spanish forces, under Archduke Leopold Wilhelm, sallied forth from the Netherlands on two occasions: the first met a spirited defence assisted by local peasantry; the second successfully seized several northern French forts in February-March of 1652. Having lost support from the Catalans, weakened by internal squabbles and threatened by the Spanish from the north once again, the French were obliged to withdraw most of their forces from south of the Pyrenees. The remnants of Catalan resistance and the depleted French forces in Barcelona surrendered to Spanish Habsburg forces in October 1652. The Spanish remained distracted by the Portuguese Restoration War
, and although desultory fighting continued in the northern Catalan county of Roussillon
, the front stabilised, with the Pyrenees as the effective border.
By 1653 general exhaustion had reached the point that "neither invaders nor defenders were able to gather supplies to enable them to take the field until July. At one moment, near Péronne, Condé had Turenne at a serious disadvantage, but he could not galvanize the Spanish general, Count Fuensaldaña, who was more solicitous to preserve his master's soldiers than to establish Condé as mayor of the palace to the King of France, and the armies drew apart again without fighting. In 1654 the principal incident was the Siege and Relief of Arras
. On the night of the August 24–August 25 the lines of circumvallation drawn round that place by the prince were brilliantly stormed by Turenne's army, and Condé won equal credit for his safe withdrawal of the besieging corps under cover of a series of bold cavalry charges led by himself, as usual, sword in hand.
In 1655 Turenne captured the fortresses of Landrecies
, Condé and St Ghislain. In 1656 the prince of Condé revenged himself for the defeat of Arras by storming Turenne's circumvallation around Valenciennes
(July 16), but Turenne drew off his forces in good order. The campaign of 1657 was uneventful, and is only to be remembered because a body of 3,000 civil war hardened English
infantry, sent by Cromwell
in pursuance of his treaty of alliance with Mazarin, took part in it. The presence of the English contingent and its very definite purpose of making Dunkirk a new Calais
, to be held perpetually by England, gave the next campaign a character of certainty and decision which had been entirely wanting in the latter stages of the war."
Dunkirk was besieged promptly and in great force, and when Don Juan of Austria
and Condé appeared with the relieving army from Veurne
, Turenne advanced boldly to meet them. The Battle of the Dunes
, fought on June 14, 1658, was the first real trial of strength since the battle of the Faubourg St Antoine. The battle resulted in an Anglo-French triumph over the forces of Spain and Condé. Dunkirk fell and was handed over to England, as had been promised by the French. It would remain under English rule until 1662 and its sale by Charles II
to Louis XIV.
A last desultory campaign followed in 1659, which ended when the Spanish repelled French advances in Italy.
was signed on November 5, 1659. France gained the territory of Roussillon
and territories along its border with the Spanish Netherlands
. In return, France agreed to end its support for the breakaway kingdom of Portugal in the Portuguese Restoration War
. On January 27, 1660 the Prince de Condé
asked and obtained at Aix-en-Provence
the forgiveness of Louis XIV. The later careers of Turenne and Condé as great generals were as obedient subjects of their sovereign.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
involvement in the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
. After Swedish allies were forced to seek terms with the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
, First Minister, Cardinal Richelieu declared war on Spain
Habsburg Spain
Habsburg Spain refers to the history of Spain over the 16th and 17th centuries , when Spain was ruled by the major branch of the Habsburg dynasty...
because French territory was now surrounded by the Habsburg empire. The conflict was a continuation of the aims of the War of the Mantuan Succession
War of the Mantuan Succession
The War of the Mantuan Succession was a peripheral part of the Thirty Years' War. Its casus belli was the extinction of the direct male line of the House of Gonzaga in December 1627. Brothers Francesco IV , Ferdinando and Vincenzo II , the last three dukes of Gonzaga, had all died leaving no...
(1628–31) in which France invaded northern Italy to take possession of territory claimed by the Spanish Habsburgs. The Franco-Spanish War ended in 1659 with the Treaty of the Pyrenees
Treaty of the Pyrenees
The Treaty of the Pyrenees was signed to end the 1635 to 1659 war between France and Spain, a war that was initially a part of the wider Thirty Years' War. It was signed on Pheasant Island, a river island on the border between the two countries...
.
Background
For years, the Kingdom of France had been a minor rival of the House of Habsburg, whose two branches ruled Spain and the Holy Roman EmpireHoly Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
, respectively. For much of the 16th and 17th centuries, France faced Habsburg territory on three sides - the Spanish Netherlands to the north, the Franche-Comté
Franche-Comté
Franche-Comté the former "Free County" of Burgundy, as distinct from the neighbouring Duchy, is an administrative region and a traditional province of eastern France...
on its eastern border, and Spain to the south. The Habsburgs thus stood in the way of French territorial expansion, and during a time of conflict, faced the possibility of invasion from multiple backs France thus sought to weaken the Habsburg control over these border possessions.
During the Thirty Years' War, in which various Protestant forces battled Imperial armies, France provided subsidies to the enemies of the empire. France generously supported a Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
invasion of the Empire after 1630. After a period of extraordinary success, the Swedish led forces were decisively defeated in 1634 by a combined Spanish-Imperial army in the Battle of Nördlingen
Battle of Nördlingen (1634)
The Battle of Nördlingen was fought on 27 August or 6 September , 1634 during the Thirty Years' War. The Roman Catholic Imperial army, bolstered by 18,000 Spanish and Italian soldiers, won a crushing victory over the combined Protestant armies of Sweden and their German-Protestant allies .After...
, leading to a peace treaty favorable to the Emperor. Unhappy with this outcome, France's First Minister, Cardinal Richelieu, decided in 1635 to actively involve his kingdom in the fighting and declared war on Spain.
During the Thirty Years' War (1635–1648)
Battle of Les Avins
The Battle of Les Avins or Battle of Avein was fought on May 20, 1635 during the Thirty Years' War between a French and a Spanish army.The battle was fought in the Belgian village of Les Avins, south of Huy, in what was then the bishopric of Liège...
in 1635. The following year Spanish forces based in the Southern Netherlands
Southern Netherlands
Southern Netherlands were a part of the Low Countries controlled by Spain , Austria and annexed by France...
hit back with devastating lightning campaigns in northern France that left French forces reeling and the economy of the region in tatters. The Spanish looked set to invade Paris just as their vast continent wide fiscal commitments forced them to suspend their aggressions. The lull in the Spanish attacks gave the French a chance to regroup and force Spanish forces back towards the northern border. They also sent forces through Lorraine
Lorraine (province)
The Duchy of Upper Lorraine was an historical duchy roughly corresponding with the present-day northeastern Lorraine region of France, including parts of modern Luxembourg and Germany. The main cities were Metz, Verdun, and the historic capital Nancy....
into the Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
to cut the Spanish Road
Spanish Road
The "Spanish Road" was a military supply/trade route used from 1567–1620, which stretched from Northern Italy to the Low Countries. It crossed through relatively neutral territory, and was therefore Europe's most preferred military route...
, the vital supply line connecting the Spanish Netherlands to Spain through the Mediterranean port of Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
. In 1640 internal political tensions caused by the burden of the Thirty Years War led to the simultaneous revolts of Catalonia
Catalan Revolt
The Catalan Revolt affected a large part of the Catalan Principality of Catalonia between the years of 1640 and 1659. It had an enduring effect in the Treaty of the Pyrenees , which ceded the county of Roussillon and the northern half of the county of Cerdanya to France , thereby splitting the...
and Portugal
Portuguese Restoration War
Portuguese Restoration War was the name given by nineteenth-century 'romantic' historians to the war between Portugal and Spain that began with the Portuguese revolution of 1640 and ended with the Treaty of Lisbon . The revolution of 1640 ended the sixty-year period of dual monarchy in Portugal...
against the Spanish Habsburgs. Spain was now fighting two major wars of secession in addition to a great international conflict; the total collapse of the Spanish Empire
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....
appeared imminent. The French invaded Catalonia, ostensibly to help the rebels. In 1643, the French defeated one of Spain's best armies at Rocroi
Battle of Rocroi
The Battle of Rocroi was fought on 19 May 1643, late in the Thirty Years' War. It resulted in a victory of the French army under the Duc d'Enghien, against the Spanish army under General Francisco de Melo.-Prelude:...
, northern France; the myth of Spanish invincibility was at an end.
During the last decade of the Thirty Years' War, the Spanish forces in the Spanish Netherlands were sandwiched between French and Dutch forces and the French won a major victory at Lens
Battle of Lens
The Battle of Lens was a French victory under Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé against the Spanish army under Archduke Leopold in the Thirty Years' War . It was the last major battle of the war....
but Franco-Dutch forces could not decisively crush the embattled Army of Flanders
Army of Flanders
The Army of Flanders was a Spanish Habsburg army based in the Netherlands during the 16th to 18th centuries. It was notable for being the longest standing army of the period, being in continuous service from 1567 until its disestablishment in 1706...
. When the peace treaty was negotiated, France insisted upon Spain being excluded, but the demand was rejected by other parties to the talks. In the Peace of Westphalia
Peace of Westphalia
The Peace of Westphalia was a series of peace treaties signed between May and October of 1648 in Osnabrück and Münster. These treaties ended the Thirty Years' War in the Holy Roman Empire, and the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch Republic, with Spain formally recognizing the...
, France gained territory in the Alsace, thus interrupting the Spanish Road; at the signing of the treaty, Spain recognized the independence of the Dutch republic
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
but gave up little else; indeed the Spanish had to be paid to leave positions they had seized on the Rhine.
In Italy, France fought with the more or less reluctant support of its client state Piedmont
Piedmont
Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of...
against the Spanish in the Duchy of Milan
Duchy of Milan
The Duchy of Milan , was created on the 1st of may 1395, when Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Lord of Milan, purchased a diploma for 100,000 Florins from King Wenceslaus. It was this diploma that installed, Gian Galeazzo as Duke of Milan and Count of Pavia...
. Confusion was added from 1639–1642 by the Piedmontese Civil War
Piedmontese Civil War
The Piedmontese Civil War was a conflict in northern Italy, connected with the Franco-Spanish War of 1635-59.-Background:From 1635, Piedmont had been forced to join France in its war against Spain, fighting principally against Spanish-controlled former Duchy of Milan, though its ruler, Victor...
. The siege of Turin in 1640 was a famous event in both this war and the Franco-Spanish conflict. In 1646 a French fleet was defeated and the army it was sent to support was repulsed by Spain's Tuscan
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
presidio
Presidio
A presidio is a fortified base established by the Spanish in North America between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries. The fortresses were built to protect against pirates, hostile native Americans and enemy colonists. Other presidios were held by Spain in the sixteenth and seventeenth...
s; Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
remained firmly under Spanish dominance.
Later War (1648–1659)
The year 1648 witnessed the eruption of a major revolt against royal authority in France, known as the FrondeFronde
The Fronde was a civil war in France, occurring in the midst of the Franco-Spanish War, which had begun in 1635. The word fronde means sling, which Parisian mobs used to smash the windows of supporters of Cardinal Mazarin....
. Civil war in France continued until 1653, when royal forces prevailed. At the Fronde's conclusion, the whole country, wearied of anarchy and disgusted with the princes, came to look to the king's party as the party of order and settled government, and thus the Fronde prepared the way for the absolutism of Louis XIV. The general war that had been initiated by the French nobles continued in Flanders, Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, wherever a Spanish and a French garrison were face to face, and Condé, with the wreck of his army, openly and definitely entered the service of the king of Spain. This "Spanish Fronde" was almost purely a military affair and, except for a few outstanding incidents, dull to boot. Spain's condition was itself no better than France's as in addition to her own "fronde" and fighting in Italy she was still battling the revolt in Portugal
Portuguese Restoration War
Portuguese Restoration War was the name given by nineteenth-century 'romantic' historians to the war between Portugal and Spain that began with the Portuguese revolution of 1640 and ended with the Treaty of Lisbon . The revolution of 1640 ended the sixty-year period of dual monarchy in Portugal...
and the French-backed Catalan Revolt
Catalan Revolt
The Catalan Revolt affected a large part of the Catalan Principality of Catalonia between the years of 1640 and 1659. It had an enduring effect in the Treaty of the Pyrenees , which ceded the county of Roussillon and the northern half of the county of Cerdanya to France , thereby splitting the...
. The Spanish focused their main efforts on recovering Catalonia and various Italian territories for strategic reasons; this helped the Portuguese to consolidate their rebellion.
In Italy, the war along the border between Piedmont
Piedmont
Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of...
and the Spanish-held Duchy of Milan
Duchy of Milan
The Duchy of Milan , was created on the 1st of may 1395, when Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Lord of Milan, purchased a diploma for 100,000 Florins from King Wenceslaus. It was this diploma that installed, Gian Galeazzo as Duke of Milan and Count of Pavia...
continued. Twice, in 1647–1649 and 1655–1659, France managed to open a second front against Milan by gaining the alliance of Francesco I d'Este
Francesco I d'Este
Francesco I d'Este was Duke of Modena and Reggio from 1629 until his death. The eldest son of Alfonso III d'Este, he became reigning duke after his father's abdication.-Biography:...
, Duke of Modena, but this never achieved the desired result of breaking the Spanish defence. In the south, the Neapolitan revolt
Neapolitan Republic (1647)
The Neapolitan Republic was a Republic created in Naples, which lasted from 22 October 1647 to 5 April 1648. It began after the revolt led by Masaniello and Giulio Genoino against the Spanish viceroys....
collapsed and the French forces backing it were driven out by the Spanish forces in 1648.
In Spain, the French, weakened by the Fronde, were unable to hold Catalonia against reconquest by the Spanish forces; the French cause was undermined when the Catalans discovered that the French were even more overbearing than their former Spanish Habsburg masters and many switched their loyalty back to the chastened regime in Madrid. Taking advantage of French divisions, Spanish forces, under Archduke Leopold Wilhelm, sallied forth from the Netherlands on two occasions: the first met a spirited defence assisted by local peasantry; the second successfully seized several northern French forts in February-March of 1652. Having lost support from the Catalans, weakened by internal squabbles and threatened by the Spanish from the north once again, the French were obliged to withdraw most of their forces from south of the Pyrenees. The remnants of Catalan resistance and the depleted French forces in Barcelona surrendered to Spanish Habsburg forces in October 1652. The Spanish remained distracted by the Portuguese Restoration War
Portuguese Restoration War
Portuguese Restoration War was the name given by nineteenth-century 'romantic' historians to the war between Portugal and Spain that began with the Portuguese revolution of 1640 and ended with the Treaty of Lisbon . The revolution of 1640 ended the sixty-year period of dual monarchy in Portugal...
, and although desultory fighting continued in the northern Catalan county of Roussillon
Roussillon
Roussillon is one of the historical counties of the former Principality of Catalonia, corresponding roughly to the present-day southern French département of Pyrénées-Orientales...
, the front stabilised, with the Pyrenees as the effective border.
By 1653 general exhaustion had reached the point that "neither invaders nor defenders were able to gather supplies to enable them to take the field until July. At one moment, near Péronne, Condé had Turenne at a serious disadvantage, but he could not galvanize the Spanish general, Count Fuensaldaña, who was more solicitous to preserve his master's soldiers than to establish Condé as mayor of the palace to the King of France, and the armies drew apart again without fighting. In 1654 the principal incident was the Siege and Relief of Arras
Battle of Arras (1654)
The Battle of Arras, fought on August 25, 1654, was a victory of a French army under Turenne against a Spanish army commanded by Don Fernidand de Salis and Condé....
. On the night of the August 24–August 25 the lines of circumvallation drawn round that place by the prince were brilliantly stormed by Turenne's army, and Condé won equal credit for his safe withdrawal of the besieging corps under cover of a series of bold cavalry charges led by himself, as usual, sword in hand.
Landrecies
Landrecies is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.It is the site of a skirmish between the British I Corps under Douglas Haig and the German Fifth Army on 25 August 1914.-Heraldry:-People:...
, Condé and St Ghislain. In 1656 the prince of Condé revenged himself for the defeat of Arras by storming Turenne's circumvallation around Valenciennes
Valenciennes
Valenciennes is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.It lies on the Scheldt river. Although the city and region had seen a steady decline between 1975 and 1990, it has since rebounded...
(July 16), but Turenne drew off his forces in good order. The campaign of 1657 was uneventful, and is only to be remembered because a body of 3,000 civil war hardened English
The Protectorate
In British history, the Protectorate was the period 1653–1659 during which the Commonwealth of England was governed by a Lord Protector.-Background:...
infantry, sent by Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
in pursuance of his treaty of alliance with Mazarin, took part in it. The presence of the English contingent and its very definite purpose of making Dunkirk a new Calais
Calais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....
, to be held perpetually by England, gave the next campaign a character of certainty and decision which had been entirely wanting in the latter stages of the war."
Dunkirk was besieged promptly and in great force, and when Don Juan of Austria
John of Austria the Younger
John of Austria was a Spanish general and political figure. He was the only natural son of Philip IV of Spain to be acknowledged by the King and trained for military command and political administration...
and Condé appeared with the relieving army from Veurne
Veurne
Veurne is a city and municipality in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the town of Veurne proper and the settlements of Avekapelle, Booitshoeke, Bulskamp, De Moeren, Eggewaartskapelle, Houtem, Steenkerke, Vinkem, Wulveringem, and Zoutenaaie.-Origins in the 15th...
, Turenne advanced boldly to meet them. The Battle of the Dunes
Battle of the Dunes (1658)
The Battle of the Dunes, fought on 14 June , 1658, is also known as the Battle of Dunkirk. It was a victory of the French army, under Turenne, against the Spanish army, led by John of Austria the Younger and Louis II de Condé...
, fought on June 14, 1658, was the first real trial of strength since the battle of the Faubourg St Antoine. The battle resulted in an Anglo-French triumph over the forces of Spain and Condé. Dunkirk fell and was handed over to England, as had been promised by the French. It would remain under English rule until 1662 and its sale by Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
to Louis XIV.
A last desultory campaign followed in 1659, which ended when the Spanish repelled French advances in Italy.
Aftermath
The Peace of the PyreneesTreaty of the Pyrenees
The Treaty of the Pyrenees was signed to end the 1635 to 1659 war between France and Spain, a war that was initially a part of the wider Thirty Years' War. It was signed on Pheasant Island, a river island on the border between the two countries...
was signed on November 5, 1659. France gained the territory of Roussillon
Roussillon
Roussillon is one of the historical counties of the former Principality of Catalonia, corresponding roughly to the present-day southern French département of Pyrénées-Orientales...
and territories along its border with the Spanish Netherlands
Southern Netherlands
Southern Netherlands were a part of the Low Countries controlled by Spain , Austria and annexed by France...
. In return, France agreed to end its support for the breakaway kingdom of Portugal in the Portuguese Restoration War
Portuguese Restoration War
Portuguese Restoration War was the name given by nineteenth-century 'romantic' historians to the war between Portugal and Spain that began with the Portuguese revolution of 1640 and ended with the Treaty of Lisbon . The revolution of 1640 ended the sixty-year period of dual monarchy in Portugal...
. On January 27, 1660 the Prince de Condé
Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé
Louis de Bourbon, Prince of Condé was a French general and the most famous representative of the Condé branch of the House of Bourbon. Prior to his father's death in 1646, he was styled the Duc d'Enghien...
asked and obtained at Aix-en-Provence
Aix-en-Provence
Aix , or Aix-en-Provence to distinguish it from other cities built over hot springs, is a city-commune in southern France, some north of Marseille. It is in the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, in the département of Bouches-du-Rhône, of which it is a subprefecture. The population of Aix is...
the forgiveness of Louis XIV. The later careers of Turenne and Condé as great generals were as obedient subjects of their sovereign.
Publications
- BaranteAmable Guillaume Prosper Brugière, baron de BaranteAmable Guillaume Prosper Brugière, baron de Barante was a French statesman and historian.Barante was born at Riom, Puy-de-Dôme, the son of an advocate. At the age of sixteen he entered the École Polytechnique at Paris, and at twenty obtained his first appointment in the civil service...
, Le Parlement de Paris et vie de M. MoléMathieu MoléMathieu Molé was a French statesman.The son of Edouard Molé , who was for a time procureur-general, he was educated at the University of Orléans...
(Paris, 1859) - PardoeJulia PardoeJulia Pardoe , was an English poet, novelist, historian and traveller.She was born at Beverley, Yorkshire, and showed an early interest in literature. She became a prolific and versatile writer, producing in addition to her lively andwell-written novels many books on travel, and others dealing...
, Louis XIV and the Court of France (1847; London, 1888) - Memoirs of Cardinal de RetzJean François Paul de Gondi, cardinal de RetzJean François Paul de Gondi, cardinal de Retz was a French churchman, writer of memoirs, and agitator in the Fronde....
- GordonRalph ConnorRev. Dr. Charles William Gordon, or Ralph Connor, was a Canadian novelist, using the Connor pen name while maintaining his status as a Church leader, first in the Presbyterian and later the United churches in Canada. Gordon was also at one time a master at Upper Canada College...
, The Fronde, (Oxford, 1905) - Lettres du Cardinal Mazarin (Paris, 1878–1906)