Siege of Privas (1629) | |||||||
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Part of the Huguenot rebellions | |||||||
Siege of the city of Privas in 1629, by Abraham Bosse (1604–76) | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Kingdom of France | French Huguenot forces | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Louis XIII Henri de Schomberg | Henri, Duke of Rohan | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
20,000 | 3,000 | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Unknown | 200 executed or enslaved |
The siege of Privas was undertaken by Louis XIII of France from 14 May 1629, and the city of Privas was captured on 28 May 1629. It was one of the last events of the Huguenot rebellions (1621-1629).
The siege of Privas followed the disastrous capitulation of the main Protestant stronghold of La Rochelle. Louis XIII then moved to eliminate the remaining Huguenot resistance in the south of France. [1] With Alès and Anduze, the city of Privas was at the center of a string of Protestant strongholds in the Languedoc, stretching from Nîmes and Uzès in the east, to Castres and Montauban in the west. [2] Privas was selected by Antoine Hercule de Budos, Marquis des Portes (1589-1629), as a strategic target; capturing it would break a line of Huguenot defences and disconnect their main centers of Nîmes and Montauban. [2] The city was defended by Alexandre du Puy-Montbrun, a leading Protestant from Montbrun-les-Bains in the Dauphiné, already active in Montauban (1621).
Privas was captured on 28 May 1629 after a siege of 15 days, at which Louis XIII was present. [3] 500 to 600 Huguenot men who had barricaded themselves in a fort surrendered, but some attempted to blow themselves up with Royal troops, leading to a massacre. [3] The city was destroyed by looting and burning. [3] [4]
In a letter to the Queen, Richelieu reported the destruction in wording that minimized active responsibility on the part of royal Catholic forces:
There was no intention of giving up the place to pillage, but in the night it was abandoned, and the gates thrown open for the soldiers to enter in crowds to plunder. Everything possible was done to prevent it being burned, but not a house had escaped the flames. Orders were given to prevent those in the fort from being molested by the troops, but they violently exposed themselves to destruction, leaping down from their fortifications, and incensing the soldiers against them, by their desperate attempts to destroy themselves with the King's followers.
— Letter from Richelieu to the Queen, Privas, 30 May 1629. [3]
One girl who escaped the massacre was adopted by Richelieu, and was nicknamed "La Fortunée de Privas". [5] The Marquis des Portes was killed in the siege. [1]
After Privas, Alès soon fell in the Siege of Alès in June 1629. The remaining Huguenot cities rapidly fell too, and finally Montauban surrendered after a short siege led by Bassompierre. [2] [3]
These last sieges of the Huguenot rebellion were followed by the Peace of Alès (27 September 1629), which settled the revolt by guaranteeing the practice of the Huguenot religion and judicial protection, but requiring Huguenot strongholds as well as political assemblies to be dismantled. [6] [7]
In 1640, Richelieu commissioned painter Nicolas Prévost to paint the siege, based on the engraving by Abraham Bosse. The painting is now located at the Château de Richelieu.
Montauban is a commune in the southern French department of Tarn-et-Garonne. It is the capital of the department and lies 50 kilometres (31 mi) north of Toulouse. Montauban is the most populated town in Tarn-et-Garonne, and the sixth most populated of Occitanie behind Toulouse, Montpellier, Nîmes, Perpignan and Béziers. In 2019, there were 61,372 inhabitants, called Montalbanais. The town has been classified Ville d’art et d’histoire since 2015.
Louis XIII was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown.
The Siege of La Rochelle was a result of a war between the French royal forces of Louis XIII of France and the Huguenots of La Rochelle in 1627–1628. The siege marked the height of the struggle between the Catholics and the Protestants in France, and ended with a complete victory for King Louis XIII and the Catholics.
Chomérac is a commune in the Ardèche department in southern France.
Privas is a city located in France, in the department of Ardèche.
The Anglo-French War was a military conflict fought between the Kingdom of France and the Kingdom of England between 1627 and 1629. It mainly involved actions at sea. The centrepiece of the conflict was the siege of La Rochelle (1627–28), in which the English Crown supported the French Huguenots in their fight against the French royal forces of Louis XIII of France. La Rochelle had become the stronghold of the French Huguenots, under its own governance. It was the centre of Huguenot seapower and the strongest centre of resistance against the central government. The English also launched a campaign against France's new colony in North America which led to the capture of Quebec.
The Huguenot rebellions, sometimes called the Rohan Wars after the Huguenot leader Henri de Rohan, were a series of rebellions of the 1620s in which French Calvinist Protestants (Huguenots), mainly located in southwestern France, revolted against royal authority. The uprising occurred a decade after the death of Henry IV who, himself originally a Huguenot before converting to Catholicism, had protected Protestants through the Edict of Nantes. His successor Louis XIII, under the regency of his Italian Catholic mother Marie de' Medici, became more intolerant of Protestantism. The Huguenots responded by establishing independent political and military structures, establishing diplomatic contacts with foreign powers, and openly revolting against central power. The Huguenot rebellions came after two decades of internal peace under Henry IV, following the intermittent French Wars of Religion of 1562–1598.
The siege of Saint-Jean-d'Angély was a siege, accomplished by the young French king Louis XIII in 1621, against the Protestant stronghold of Saint-Jean-d'Angély led by Rohan's brother Benjamin de Rohan, duc de Soubise. Saint-Jean-d'Angély was a strategic city controlling the approach to the Huguenot stronghold of La Rochelle.
The siege of Montauban was a siege conducted by the young French king Louis XIII from August to November 1621, against the Protestant stronghold of Montauban. This siege followed the siege of Saint-Jean-d'Angély, in which Louis XIII had succeeded against Rohan's brother Benjamin de Rohan, duc de Soubise.
The Blockade of La Rochelle took place in 1621-1622 during the repression of the Huguenot rebellion by the French king Louis XIII.
The Capture of Saumur was the military investment of the Huguenot city of Saumur accomplished by the young French king Louis XIII on 11 May 1621, following the outbreak of the Huguenot rebellions. Although the Huguenot city was faithful to the king, Louis XIII nevertheless wished to affirm control over it. The Governor of the city Duplessy-Mornay was tricked out of his command of Saumur and the city was invested.
The siege of Royan was a siege accomplished by the young French king Louis XIII in 1622, against the Protestant stronghold of Royan. This siege followed the siege of Montauban, in which Louis XIII had failed against the Huguenot city.
The Nègrepelisse massacre was a massacre committed on 10 and 11 June 1622 by the French Royal Army of the King Louis XIII in the Protestant stronghold of Nègrepelisse during the Huguenot rebellions. The taking of the town followed Louis's unsuccessful siege of Montauban.
The Treaty of Compiègne, signed on 10 June 1624, was a mutual defence alliance between the Kingdom of France and the Dutch Republic, for an initial period of three years.
The siege of Alès was undertaken by Louis XIII of France, and the city captured on 17 June 1629.
The siege of Montpellier was a siege of the Huguenot city of Montpellier by the Catholic forces of Louis XIII of France, from August to October 1622. It was part of the Huguenot rebellions.
The Surrender of Montauban occurred on 21 August 1629, when the Huguenot city of Montauban surrendered to the Catholic troops of the French king Louis XIII under the direction of Richelieu.
Events from the year 1629 in France.
Blaise François Pagan (1603–1665) was a French soldier and military engineer who served in the army of Louis XIII. His military career ended in 1642 when he lost his sight and in 1645, he published Les Fortifications; this became the dominant text of its era on military fortifications and significantly influenced Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban.
Events from the year 1621 in France.