Siege of Rouen (1591–1592) 1591
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Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate. Wikidata lists more than one location for this battle; the first is shown.
Key facts
| Year | 1591 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Location | France | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Anglo-Spanish War, French Wars of Religion | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Catholic League, Dutch Republic, Hispanic Monarchy, Kingdom of England, Kingdom of France | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 49.4428, 1.0886 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The siege of Rouen was an unsuccessful attempt by Henry IV of France to capture Rouen, the historical capital city of Normandy. The battle took place as part of the French Wars of Religion, the Eighty Years' War, and the Anglo–Spanish War (1585–1604). Although he had claimed the throne in 1589, Henry, a Huguenot, was not recognized by many of his Catholic subjects. He was forced to fight against a Catholic League determined to resist his rule, and which was aided by Spain.
The siege began on 11 November 1591 with Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex confronting the town's governor, André de Brancas, Seigneur de Villars, "with the sort of chivalric gesture which still was made on Europe's battlefields" and "challenged Villars to meet him in individual combat."
At Rouen, the combined French, English, and Dutch forces of Henry IV battled the troops of the Catholic League, commanded by Villars, and the Spanish forces led by Don Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma. The city resisted until the arrival of the Spanish troops, which defeated and forced the Protestant forces to lift the siege. As historian John Lothrop Motley described the abandonment, "Henry did not wait for the attack.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Siege of Rouen (1591–1592) (revision 1371377045), 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
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Other battles of the Anglo-Spanish War
- Battle of Cartagena de Indias (1586) 1586
- Battle of Santo Domingo (1586) 1586
- Battle of Bayona Islands (1590) 1590
- Capture of Breda (1590) 1590
- Battle of Flores (1591) 1591
- Battle of Flores (1592) 1592
- Siege of Caudebec 1592
- Battle of Blaye 1593
- Action of Faial 1594
- Action of San Mateo Bay 1594
All 33 battles of the Anglo-Spanish War →
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