Siege of Leith

Siege of Leith
Part of the European wars of religion

Map of the siege of Leith dated 7 May 1560 from Petworth House[1]
Date1560
Location
Leith
55°58′26″N 3°10′19″W / 55.974°N 3.172°W / 55.974; -3.172
Result
  • Catholic/French withstood siege.
  • Mary of Guise died during the peace process.
  • Treaty of Edinburgh signed with withdraw of English and French troops from Scotland.
  • Auld Alliance between Scotland and France was dissolved.
Belligerents
Kingdom of Scotland Catholic Scots
Kingdom of France France		 Kingdom of Scotland Protestant Scots
England England
Commanders and leaders
Queen Mary of Guise
Henri Cleutin
Sébastien de Luxembourg
Jacques de la Brosse		 James Hamilton
William Grey
James Croft
William Winter
Strength
French soldiers in Leith (28 May 1560): 2,300; others 2,000[2]
French evacuated from Scotland in July 1560: 3,613 men, 267 women, 315 children[3]		 English total (25 May 1560): 12,466[4]
Casualties and losses
7 May 1560: 15 7 May 1560:
English: 800
Scottish: 400

The siege of Leith ended a twelve-year encampment of French troops at Leith, the port near Edinburgh, Scotland. French troops arrived in Scotland by invitation in 1548. In 1560 the French soldiers opposed Scottish supporters of religious reformation, and an English army arrived to besiege the French garrison at Leith. The town was not taken by force and the French troops finally left peacefully under the terms of a treaty signed by Scotland, England and France.[5]

  1. ^ Steer, plate
  2. ^ HMC Salisbury Hatfield, vol. 1 (1883), p. 220, 227: Haynes (1740), p. 347 reports by Peter Carew.
  3. ^ Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 1 (1898), p. 455.
  4. ^ HMC Salisbury Hatfield, vol. 1 (1883), p. 227.
  5. ^ Knight, p. 120