Sieges of Boulogne (1544–46)

Siege of Boulogne

Date	19 July - 18 September 1544
Location	Boulogne, on the French coast of the English Channel
Result	English victory

Belligerents

England

France

Commanders and leaders

1. Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk
2. King Henry VIII

Jacques de Coucy, Seigneur de Vervins

Strength

40,000 men

Unknown, perhaps 2000

A Siege of Boulogne took place in 1492 when the English Tudor King Henry VII took the lightly defended lower town of Boulogne in the Pas-de-Calais, France. Fifty years later as allies of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, during the war against the French, the English returned led by Henry VII's son and heir, Henry VIII. There were two further sieges during this war. Boulogne was fortified and defended as an English possession on the French mainland between 14 September 1544 and March 1550.

The Siege of Boulogne took place between 19 July and 18 September 1544, during the third invasion of France by King Henry VIII of England. Henry was motivated to take Boulogne by the French giving aid to England's enemies in Scotland. In 1543 he made a new alliance with Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, whose Roman Catholic allegiances were, for a time, overruled by the political advantages of an alliance with England against France.

In early 1544, a large English force departed from the Pale of Calais. Later, this split into two parts, and one of them, under the Duke of Suffolk, marched to the coastal town of Boulogne and laid siege to it on 19 July. A few weeks later, Henry arrived to take command of the siege himself. The lower section of the town, fortified lightly, fell quickly to heavy bombardment, which continued through August. By September, the upper town was breached and taken, but the central castle still held out. The French garrison's firepower prevented any approach on foot, so the English dug tunnels under the castle, and the French surrendered on 13 September.

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