Siege of Doullens

Part of the Franco-Spanish War (1595-1598)

View of the citadel of Doullens.

Date	14–31 July 1595
Location	Doullens, Picardy, France
Result	Spanish victory

Belligerents

Kingdom of France

Huguenots

Spain

Commanders and leaders

Duke of Bouillon

François d'Orléans

André de Brancas (POW)

Count of Fuentes

Carlos Coloma

Strength

Unknown

8,000

Casualties and losses

At least 6,000 dead or captured

Unknown

The Siege of Doullens, also known as the Spanish capture of Doullens or the Storming of Doullens, took place between 14 and 31 July 1595, as part of the Franco-Spanish War (1595-1598), in the context of the French Wars of Religion. After of ten days of siege, on 24 July, the combined forces of Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, Duke of Bouillon, André de Brancas, Amiral de Villars, and François d'Orléans-Longueville, tried to relieve the city, but were severely defeated by the Spanish forces led by Don Pedro Henríquez de Acevedo, Count of Fuentes, and Don Carlos Coloma. Villars was taken prisoner and executed, and the Duke of Bouillon fled to Amiens with the rest of the French army. Finally, few days after, on 31 July, the Spanish troops stormed Doullens. The Spaniards killed everybody in the city, military and civilians alike, shouting "Remember Ham" (Spanish: "Recordad Ham"), in retaliation for the massacre against the Spanish garrison of Ham by the French and Protestant soldiers under Bouillon orders.

During the French Wars of Religion the Spanish Monarchy, as defender of Catholicism, had intervened regularly in favour of the Catholic League of France, especially in the Siege of Paris of 1590, when Henry of Navarre, the future Henry IV of France, was decisively defeated by the combined forces of Spain and the Catholic France. This Catholic success led the conversion of Henry to Catholicism declaring that "Paris is well worth a Mass", and finally, with the support of the majority of his Catholic subjects, he was crowned King of France at the Cathedral of Chartres on 27 February 1594. In 1595, Henry IV of France officially declared the war against Spain, who was attempting to reconquer large parts of northern France from the hostile Franco-Spanish Catholic forces.

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Wikipedia