Battle of St. Quentin
Part of theItalian War of 1551–1559
French surrender to the Duke of SavoyEmanuele Filiberto
Date 10 August 1557 Location Saint-Quentin,France Result Spanish victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of France	Spanish Empire Seventeen Provinces Duchy of Savoy[1] Kingdom of England
Commanders and leaders
Louis de Gonzague Anne de Montmorency  (POW)	Duke Emmanuel Philibert Ferrante I Gonzaga Count of Egmont Julián Romero
Strength
26,000[2]	50,000[3]–80,000[4]
Casualties and losses
10,000 casualties (3,000 killed and 7,000 captured)[4] or 14,000[2]	1,000

TheBattle of Saint-Quentin of 1557 was a decisive engagement of theItalian War of 1551–1559 between theKingdom of France and theSpanish Empire, at Saint-Quentin inPicardy. AHabsburg Spanish force under DukeEmmanuel Philibert of Savoy defeated a French army under the command ofLouis de Gonzague, andAnne de Montmorency, Duke of Montmorency.

Thebattle took place on the Feast Day ofSt. Lawrence 10 August.^[5] Philibert, with his 7,000 English allies,^[a][b] had placed St. Quentin under siege. Montmorency with a force of around 26,000 men marched to St. Quentin to relieve the city.^[5] Facing a force twice their size, Montmorency attempted to gain access to St. Quentin through a marsh, but a delayed French withdrawal allowed the Spanish to defeat the French and capture Montmorency.^[5]

During the battle theSaint-Quentin collegiate church was badly damaged by fire.^[10]

After the victory over the French at St. Quentin, "the sight of the battlefield gavePhilip a permanent distaste for war"; he declined to pursue his advantage, withdrawing to the Spanish Netherlands to the north,^[5] where he had been the Governor since 1555. In 1558, the Habsburgs won again at theBattle of Gravelines. TheTreaty of Cateau-Cambrésis ended the war in 1559.^[11]

Being extremely pious, Philip II was aware that 10 August is theFeast of Saint Lawrence, a Roman deacon who was roasted on agridiron for his Christian beliefs. Hence, in commemoration of the great victory on St Lawrence's Day, Philip sent orders to Spain that a great palace in the shape of a gridiron should be built in theGuadarrama Mountains northwest ofMadrid. Known asEl Escorial, it was finally completed in 1584.^[12]

The FrenchmanMartin Guerre, who was later famously impersonated in his home village, fought for the Spanish and lost his leg at St. Quentin.^[13]

Se armó la de San Quintín ("It became the one of St. Quentin") is a Spanish proverbial phrase to describe a big dispute.^[14]

• Bonner, E.A. (1992). "Continuing the 'Auld Alliance' in the Sixteenth Century". In Simpson, Grant G. (ed.).The Scottish Soldier Abroad, 1247–1967. Rowman & Littlefield.
• Kamen, Henry (1997).Philip of Spain. Yale University Press.ISBN 9780300070811.
• Klaiber, Susan (1993).Guarino Guarini's Theatine Architecture (Thesis). Vol. 1. Columbia University Press.
• Leathes, Stanley (1907). "Habsburg and Valois". In Ward, Adolphus William (ed.).The Cambridge Modern History. Vol. 10. Cambridge University Press.
• Nolan, Cathal J. (2006).The Age of Wars of Religion, 1000–1650: An Encyclopedia of Global Warfare and Civilization. Vol. 2. Greenwood Publishing Group.
• Parker, Geoffrey (1989).España y la rebelión de Flandes. Nerea.
• Parker, Geoffrey (2014).Imprudent King: A new life of Philip II. Yale University Press. p. 53.
• Tucker, Spencer C., ed. (2010). "August 10, 1557".A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East. Vol. II. ABC-CLIO.
• Wilson, Peter H. (2016).Heart of Europe: A History of the Holy Roman Empire. Harvard University Press.^{[ISBN missing]}
• Oman, Charles (1937).A History of the Art of War in the Sixteenth Century. E.P. Dutton. p. 598.

49°50′55″N3°17′11″E / 49.8486°N 3.2864°E /49.8486; 3.2864

• 1557 in France
• Italian War of 1551–1559
• Battles of the Italian Wars
• Battles of the Anglo-French wars
• Battles involving Spain
• Conflicts in 1557
• Military history of Aisne
• Attacks on churches in France
• Church arson in Europe
• Building and structure arson attacks in France
• Battles involving the Kingdom of France (987–1792)

• CS1 Spanish-language sources (es)
• Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from April 2017
• Articles containing Spanish-language text
• Pages with missing ISBNs
• Coordinates on Wikidata