Siege of La Rochelle
| Siege of La Rochelle (1627–1628) (Siège de La Rochelle 1627–1628) |
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| Part of the Huguenot rebellions | |||||||
 Cardinal Richelieu at the Siege of La Rochelle, Henri Motte, 1881. |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Kingdom of France
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 La Rochelle French Huguenot forces England
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Louis XIII Cardinal Richelieu (Siege commander) Toiras (Governor of Île de Ré) Bassompierre
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Jean Guitton (mayor) Soubise (commander) Duke of Buckingham (commander) |
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| Strength | |||||||
| Siege Army: 22,001 Toiras:1,200 |
La Rochelle: 27,000 civilians and soldiers Buckingham:80 ships 7,000 soldiers |
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Siege Army: ? Toiras:500 killed |
La Rochelle:22,000 killed Buckingham: 5,000 killed |
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The Siege of La Rochelle (French: Le Siège de La Rochelle, or sometimes Le Grand Siège de 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 1627–28. The siege marked the apex of the tensions between the Catholics and the Protestants in France, and ended with a complete victory for King Louis XIII and the Catholics.
In the Edict of Nantes, Henry IV of France had given the Huguenots extensive rights. 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.La Rochelle was, at this time, the second or third largest city in France, with over 30,000 inhabitants.
The assassination of Henry IV in 1610, and the advent of Louis XIII under the regency of Marie de' Medici, marked a return to pro-Catholic politics and a weakening of the position of the Protestants. The Duke Henri de Rohan and his brother Soubise started to organize Protestant resistance from that time, ultimately exploding into a Huguenot rebellion. In 1621, Louis XIII besieged and captured Saint-Jean d'Angély, and a Blockade of La Rochelle was attempted in 1621-1622, ending with a stalemate and the Treaty of Montpellier.
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