| Siege of Rouen | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theFrench War of Religion (1587–1594) and theAnglo–Spanish War | |||||||
_Serie_4_Franse%2c_Duitse_en_Engelse_Gebeurtenissen%2c_1576-1610_(serietitel)%2c_RP-P-OB-78.785-258.jpg) Beginning of the siege of Rouen on 8 October 1591 | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Henry of Navarre Kingdom of England United Provinces | Catholic League Army of Flanders | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Henry of Navarre Baron de Biron Robert Devereux | André de Brancas | ||||||
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Thesiege of Rouen was an unsuccessful attempt byHenry IV of France to captureRouen, the historical capital city ofNormandy. The battle took place as part of theFrench Wars of Religion, theEighty Years' War, and theAnglo–Spanish War (1585–1604).[1][2] Although he had claimed the throne in 1589, Henry, aHuguenot, was not recognized by many of his Catholic subjects. He was forced to fight against aCatholic League determined to resist his rule, and which was aided by Spain.
The siege began on 11 November 1591 withRobert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex confronting the town's governor,André de Brancas, Seigneur de Villars, "with the sort of chivalric gesture which still was made on Europe's battlefields" and "challenged Villars to meet him in individual combat."[4]
At Rouen the combined French, English, and Dutch forces of Henry IV battled the troops of the Catholic League, commanded by Villars, and the Spanish forces led by DonAlexander Farnese, Duke of Parma. The city resisted until the arrival of the Spanish troops, which defeated and forced the Protestant forces to lift the siege. As historianJohn Lothrop Motley described the abandonment, "Henry did not wait for the attack. He had changed his plan, and, for once in his life, substituted extreme caution for his constitutional temerity. Neither awaiting the assault upon his entrenchments nor seeking his enemy in the open field, he ordered the whole camp to be broken up, and on the 20th of April, raised the siege."[5]
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