Sale of Dunkirk

The Sale of Dunkirk took place in 1662 when Charles II of England sold his sovereign rights to Dunkirk to his cousin Louis XIV of France.

Dunkirk was occupied by English forces of The Protectorate in 1658, when it was captured from Spain by Anglo-French forces following the Battle of the Dunes. The Spanish forces included British Royalist Regiments: The (English) King's Guards(foot) under Wentworth; A Scottish Regiment under Newburgh; The Marquis of Ormond's (Irish) Regiment under Richard Grace; The Duke of York's (Irish) Regiment under Muskerry; The Duke of Gloucester's (Irish) Regiment under Taaffe; and Farrell's (Irish) Regiment under Lisagh Farrell.

The regiments (except, perhaps, Ormond's) were seriously understrength and were all under the overall command of James, Duke of York. There was also a small contingent of James' own Life Guards. The English part of the Anglo-French force included regiments under William Lockhart, Thomas Morgan, Roger Alsop, Samuel Clark, Bryce Cochrane and Roger Lillingston.

France, effectively ruled by Mazarin, had promised, as part of the Treaty of Paris (1657) that Dunkirk and Mardyke, then in the Spanish Netherlands, would be ceded to England. Mazarin honoured that pledge after the victory at The Dunes, and Louis XIV himself delivered Dunkirk over to Lockhart (who was Cromwell's Ambassador to France) on or about 24 June 1658. Cromwell appointed Lockhart Governor of the town.

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