Battle of Tarragona (August 1641) 1641
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 20 August 1641 – 25 August 1641 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1641 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Location | Spain | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Reapers' War | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Hispanic Monarchy, Kingdom of France | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 41.1661, 1.2139 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Tarragona of August 1641 was a naval battle that took place between 20 – 25 August 1641, between the Spanish and French fleets during the French stage of the Thirty Years' War. The Spanish fleet, led by the Duke of Fernandina and the Duke of Maqueda broke the French naval blockade of Tarragona and defeated the French fleet under Henri d'Escoubleau de Sourdis, forcing it to retreat. The city was also besieged by land since April by a Franco-Catalan army commanded by Philippe de La Mothe-Houdancourt. The Spanish success in driving Sourdis out of the area, together with the arrival of a relief force sent by land, forced the Franco-Catalan army to leave the siege, and to retreat to Valls, pursued by the Spanish army.
The Spanish victory prevented the fall of Tarragona to the French and Catalan rebel forces, for which Cardinal Richelieu deprived Sourdis of his office and replaced him with the young Jean Armand de Maillé-Brézé, his nephew. In spite of his success, the Duke of Fernandina was also dismissed from duty. The Count-Duke of Olivares was dissatisfied because the Duke of Fernandina failed to destroy the French fleet, and imprisoned him. The case was truly unusual: the two admirals, both the victor and the vanquished, had the same bitter reward.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Tarragona (August 1641) (revision 1370590608), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Naval battle of Tarragona 1641 · 6 km
- Battle of Cissa 218 BC · 6 km
- Siege of Tarragona (1813) 1813 · 6 km
- Siege of Tarragona (1811) 1811 · 6 km
- Battle of Valls 1809 · 13 km
- Battle of Altafulla 1812 · 14 km
Other battles of the Reapers' War
- Battle of Cambrils 1640
- Battle of Montjuïc (1641) 1641
- Siege of Perpignan (1642) 1641
- Battle of Lleida (1642) 1642
- Battle of Montmeló 1642
- Siege of Lleida (1644) 1644
- Siege of Barcelona (1651) 1652
All 8 battles of the Reapers' War →
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