Siege of Calais (1346-47)

Siege of Calais
Part of the Hundred Years' War
Date 4 September 1346 –3 August 1347 Location Calais, France 50°57′29″N 1°51′11″E / 50.9580°N 1.8530°E / 50.9580; 1.8530Coordinates: 50°57′29″N 1°51′11″E / 50.9580°N 1.8530°E / 50.9580; 1.8530 Result English victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of England	Kingdom of France
Commanders and leaders
Edward III	Jean de Vienne
Strength
52,500: 5,300 men-at-arms 6,600 infantry 20,000 longbowmen 5,000 mounted archers 600 hobelars 20 ribaldequin 15,000 sailors 736 ships	7 - 8,000 citizens

52,500:

The Siege of Calais (4 September 1346 – 3 August 1347) occurred when an English army under the command of King Edward III of England successfully besieged the French garrison of Calais. It was an important engagement early in the Edwardian phase of the Hundred Years' War.

During 1346, the English army attempted to take Calais by assaulting it outright. Although the English had surrounded the port, their siege lines were not tight and the French were still able get supplies into Calais, usually by sea. Once it became clear to Edward that an assault was unlikely to be successful, he tightened his investment of the city, including the sea approaches. This tactic ultimately proved successful and due to the lack of provisions the town surrendered on 3 August 1347.

The capture of Calais provided the English with an important strategic lodgement for the remainder of the Hundred Years' War and beyond. The port was not recaptured by the French until the reign of Mary I of England following the 1558 siege of Calais.

Edward III of England had asserted his claim to the throne of France in 1337, triggering war between the two nations. Edward decisively defeated the French fleet at the Battle of Sluys in 1340. His army then undertook several devastating chevauchée raids throughout Normandy, plundering its vast wealth, including the ancestral seat of Caen. This campaign climaxed with the Battle of Crécy in 1346, in which the French army of Philip VI of France was defeated.

By this time, Edward's army required supplies and reinforcements, so they withdrew to the north. Edward needed a defensible port where his army could regroup and be resupplied from the sea. The Channel port of Calais suited this purpose ideally. Calais was highly defensible: it boasted a double moat, substantial city walls, and its citadel in the north-west corner had its own moat and additional fortifications. The port could be resupplied and defended easily by sea and land.

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