Siege of Calais (1558)

Siege of Calais
Part of the Italian War of 1551–1559, Anglo-French War (1557–1559)

The Siege of Calais by François-Édouard Picot, 1838
Date1–8 January 1558[1]
Location
Calais, France
Result

French victory

Belligerents
Kingdom of France  Kingdom of England
Commanders and leaders
Francis, Duke of Guise Kingdom of England Thomas Wentworth, 2nd Baron Wentworth
Strength
27,000[2] 2,500

The French siege of Calais in early 1558 was part of the Italian War of 1551–1559 between France and England and their respective allies. It resulted in the seizure of the town and its dependencies by France.

The Pale of Calais had been ruled by England since 1347, during the Hundred Years' War. By the 1550s, England was ruled by Mary I of England and her husband Philip II of Spain. When the Kingdom of England supported a Spanish invasion of France, Henry II of France sent Francis, Duke of Guise, against English-held Calais, defended by Thomas Wentworth, 2nd Baron Wentworth. Following an initial failure in mid-1557, a renewed attack captured the outlying forts of Nieullay and Rysbank from the English forces and Calais was besieged.[1]

  1. ^ a b Tony Jaques (2007). Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: A–E. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 184. ISBN 978-0-313-33537-2. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  2. ^ a b Anna Whitelock, "'Woman, Warrior, Queen': Rethinking Mary and Elizabeth", Tudor Queenship: The Reigns of Mary and Elizabeth, ed. Alice Hunt and Anna Whitelock, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010), 179.