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Brittany campaign

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Second; 1567–1568 Saint-Denis ; Chartres

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62-510: Second; 1567–1568 Saint-Denis ; Chartres Third; 1568–1570 Jarnac ; La Roche-l'Abeille ; Poitiers ; Orthez ; Moncontour ; Saint-Jean d'Angély ; Arney-le-Duc Fourth; 1572–1573 Mons ; Sommières ; Sancerre ; La Rochelle Fifth; 1574–1576 Dormans Sixth; 1577 La Charité-sur-Loire ; Issoire ; Brouage Seventh; 1580 La Fère War of the Three Henrys (1585–1589) Coutras ; Vimory ; Auneau ; Day of

124-455: A better platform for fighting. In 2022 two large medieval shipwrecks were discovered beneath Lootsi Street in Tallinn , Estonia. This street was built on land reclaimed from the sea. Initially believed to be cogs , one of the ships has been identified as a hulk due to the presence of a second mast mounting, a flat bottomed hull and plank structures previously believed to have been introduced over

186-533: A century later. It was built in Scandinavia around 1360 and measured 24.5 metres in length, 9 metres in beam and 4 metres in height. This would make the ship a contemporary of the armed Hanseatic League hulk Hanneke Vrome , wrecked in 1368 off the coast of Finland. Artefacts retrieved from the Tallinn ship include shoes, spoons, tools, weapons, a compass, and the remains of two rats . Archaeologists have theorised that

248-520: A chance to bring the Huguenots to battle at Notre-Dame-d'Épine . Condé now completed the final consolidation of his army with the addition of forces of the Viscounts of Quercy and Rouergue who were fresh off relieving the weak royal siege of Orléans. Together the army resolved to siege and sack Chartres . The siege would go poorly for the Huguenots, with the defenders reinforced at the last minute to such

310-447: A degree as making their numbers fairly insufficient, especially when combined with the poor placement of the limited cannons Condé now possessed. The war would however be concluded by a truce and then peace, declared on 13 March. Hulk (medieval ship type) A hulk (or " holk ") was a type of medieval ship used mostly for transports. The hulk appears to have remained a relatively minor type of sailing ship apparently peculiar to

372-430: A flyboat in which Juan de Escalante was travelling, ready to carry out his feat. But... when they were about to enter the channel, on August twenty-seventh, they encountered some English naval ships, which began to follow them so intently that they provoked Escalante to order the crews of his other ships to go over to his flyboat and to scuttle them, which they did, without saving anything else… The sad end of this episode

434-414: A further 250,000 for the defeat of the Huguenots. Conscious of their precarious situation the crown sent out the moderate Chancellor , Marshal Vielleville and Jean de Morvilliers to negotiate, as a method of buying time for the crowns army to assemble. Conde, feeling confident, set out aggressive demands asking for the expulsion of Italian financiers, the repeal of all taxes created since Louis XII ,

496-400: A great commotion by revealing, once again, the enemy's ability to operate on the peninsular coasts and although the action had failed, the reality of a landing of English infantry on Spanish soil and the evidence that several cities had felt seriously threatened during the days of the siege could not be denied. It was therefore necessary to decide what urgent measures to take so as to deal with

558-416: A serious setback for Drake who had to return to England after losing half of his troops, some 10,000 men between dead and wounded, to which the loss of nine ships had to be added, seven of them off Lisbon, all without being able to obtain any immediate benefit. In the end, the expedition was an abject failure with only 102 ships and 3,722 men returning to claim their pay. The English attack on La Coruña caused

620-467: A starboard quarter-rudder, while later depictions had median rudders. The overall design of the hulk appears to borrow or build on earlier shipbuilding traditions. The single mast with a square sail and the use of a quarter rudder appear to be borrowed from Viking vessels while the shape of the keel is similar to that of cogs. The weakest part of an enlarged hulk would be its stem and stern . Since it has no substantial stem or stern posts those parts of

682-560: A towed boat, which would be consistent with the use of the hulk as a river barge. The word hulk also has a medieval meaning of "hollowed-out" or "husk-like" which is also apposite for the shape of the basic hulk. It is not clear when the hulk first appeared in medieval Europe. There is a lack of archaeological evidence because no wreck except possibly one from the 14th century and unconfirmed, has been found. The only evidence of hulks comes from iconography of ships scholars believe to be hulks and medieval documentation of trade and regulations. It

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744-526: A very short space of time. On the other hand, shortly after the return of the Armada, a general mobilization of troops had been ordered in all the coastal provinces with which to face the expected response from the English, although the arrival of winter temporarily distanced the fear of an immediate counterattack thus restoring confidence. The resultant decrease in tension allowed the infantry units that returned with

806-693: Is commonly accepted by scholars that the hulk originated in the European Low Countries as a river vessel. It is worth noting, however, that a conclusive origin point for the hulk is not known. References to hulks in Aethelred II 's legal code from England date from 1000 C.E. Hulks had fewer taxes levied on them than keels and cogs with the tax tied to the amount of goods. By the fourteenth century, English regulations imposed greater taxes on hulks than other vessels meaning that they were carrying more cargo than other vessels. This points to an increase in

868-413: Is known from the numerous claims that the owners of the requisitioned vessels and their relatives filed in court to try to obtain financial compensation for the loss of what constituted their only means of livelihood. The hope of finishing off the enemy Armada through a successful coup de main was also present in the minds of the English. Statements obtained from a prisoner of the enterprise of England,

930-520: Is very illustrative, who, in October 1589, already explained to the King the need that there is in this Navy for some vessels that, being long-range sailboats, are capable of carrying artillery and some men to spot and attack the corsair ships that they find, for having seen some that they have sailed in in recent days, they cannot be persued with the big ships, nor are the pataches suitable, for they are small, thus

992-715: The 1584-1585 siege of Antwerp by Alexander Farnese and on the night of August 7, 1588, when used by the English against the Grand Armada anchored in Dunkirk . The memory of these events and Escalante's prestige provided him with the necessary means to carry out his plan. To this end, "three Benaquero ships" called "Santa María", "San Julián" and "San Pedro" were seized, valued at 500, 450 and 350 ducats and owned by Juan Pérez de Larreta, Sebastián del Aya and Miguel de Cordillos, respectively. The three ships left, in mid-August, accompanied by

1054-507: The Low Countries of Europe where it was probably used primarily as a river or canal boat, with limited potential for coastal cruising. The only evidence of hulks is from legal documents and iconography, though it is possible that a shipwreck found on the coast of Estonia in early 2022 might be the only known surviving example of a hulk. The name hulk may come from the Greek word holkas , meaning

1116-517: The "main business" continued to be the invasion of England, had been adopted with the conviction that they did not have all the necessary elements to issue a well-founded opinion, and they declared as much to the King, indicating that "in order to realize what Your Majesty commands, being a business of such consideration, it was necessary for the Council to be more prudent and informed of the things that are being discussed" A few weeks later, on July 6, 1590,

1178-477: The Armada ships that he assumed were gathered there. The information was false because the Armada stayed in Santander, completely oblivious to what was coming, while in the port of A Coruña only the aforementioned ships were found. Drake soon realized his mistake but, for reasons that have never been sufficiently explained, decided to continue the attack and after overcoming the initial weak resistance, managed to land

1240-436: The Armada to be sent to winter in the interior, thus alleviating Santander of the burden of billeting the large number of attack forces that were concentrated there. During the first months of 1589, all these units were restructured, grouping them into two tercios that remained under the command of Don Agustín de Mexía and Don Francisco de Toledo. They were joined by the tercio of Don Juan del Águila which had not taken part in

1302-480: The Barricades Succession of Henry IV of France (1589–1594) Arques ; Ivry ; Paris ; Château-Laudran ; Rouen ; Caudebec ; Craon ; 1st Luxembourg ; Blaye ; Morlaix ; Fort Crozon Franco-Spanish War (1595–1598) 2nd Luxembourg ; Fontaine-Française ; Ham ; Le Catelet ; Doullens ; Cambrai ; Calais ; La Fère ; Ardres ; Amiens The Brittany campaign , or the campaign of Brittany ,

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1364-1025: The Catholics, whose interests they represented. But at the end of 1588, and protected by the crisis that the failure of the Grand Armada had caused, Henry III of France ordered the assassination of the Duke of Guise and his brother, unleashing a true public uprising known as the Day of the Barricades whose most notable effect, on the part of the League, was to gain control of the city of Paris. Battle of Saint-Denis (1567) Third; 1568–1570 Jarnac ; La Roche-l'Abeille ; Poitiers ; Orthez ; Moncontour ; Saint-Jean d'Angély ; Arney-le-Duc Fourth; 1572–1573 Mons ; Sommières ; Sancerre ; La Rochelle Fifth; 1574–1576 Dormans Sixth; 1577 La Charité-sur-Loire ; Issoire ; Brouage Seventh; 1580 La Fère War of

1426-505: The Huguenots, and that his troops be paid to lay down their arms. The tide however was already beginning to turn against the Huguenots, with the Constable being made Lieutenant-General of the army to consolidate military opposition to him, Brissac raising 20 companies in Paris to form the core of his force. On November 6 Strozzi destroyed one of the boat bridges Condé was utilising to cut off Paris,

1488-835: The Portuguese squadron, the "San Bartolomé" from Don Pedro de Valdés' squadron, together with the galleys "Diana" and "Princesa" and some smaller boats remained in La Coruña. In November, 1588, Philip II ordered the construction of 21 new galleons, all of them large. 12 of them were built in Cantabrian ports and stood out due to their number and the names they received; they were known as "The twelve apostles". In addition, 6 were made in Portugal, 2 in Gibraltar and 1 in Vinaroz ; all of them entered service in

1550-554: The Protestant hope that their religious Swiss brethren could be persuaded to switch side fell flat, as the 6000 Swiss troops remained loyal to the crown. On October 8 the crown offered pardon to the rebels, if they would lay down their arms. Condé was however, only increasing in confidence, with the capture of Soissons and Orléans by La Noue and expanded his demands to include Calais Boulogne and Metz as their surety towns, that one church in every ' bonne ville ' be handed over to

1612-532: The Tercio from embarking was not sent to him until July 10. The French succession issue had become one of the fundamental objectives of Philip II's foreign policy for whom the possibility of a Calvinist accessing the throne of the neighboring country was an impossible risk to assume. Already in 1584 he had signed the Treaty of Joinville with Henry I, Duke of Guise , through which he undertook to lend determined support to

1674-467: The Tercios", it seemed better to him that "an entire infantry tercio from the Armada go and that it be Don Juan del Águila's". This decision had probably already been made some weeks ago, even before Diego Maldonado's letter arrived, because curiously on June 1, the King himself had ordered Don Juan del Águila to go urgently to Ferrol where he arrived on the 4th of that same month, although the order to prevent

1736-459: The Three Henrys (1585–1589) Coutras ; Vimory ; Auneau ; Day of the Barricades Succession of Henry IV of France (1589–1594) Arques ; Ivry ; Paris ; Château-Laudran ; Rouen ; Caudebec ; Craon ; 1st Luxembourg ; Blaye ; Morlaix ; Fort Crozon Franco-Spanish War (1595–1598) 2nd Luxembourg ; Fontaine-Française ; Ham ; Le Catelet ; Doullens ; Cambrai ; Calais ; La Fère ; Ardres ; Amiens The Battle of Saint-Denis

1798-523: The War Council learned of a letter that Diego Maldonado had sent from Nantes in which he relayed an offer from Philippe-Emmanuel de Lorraine, Duke of Mercœur of the "port of Blavet (today called Port-Louis, Morbihan), wherein to assemble his Navy, and everything in Brittany that is in his charge and government", expressing the hope with which he awaited "the help and protection of Your Majesty to free him from

1860-424: The boat would have to be reinforced by the introduction of substantial aprons and breasthooks , perhaps augmented by sacrificial stem and stern posts between which the unsupported hull planking could be sandwiched. Using these techniques, perhaps better understood as a result of technological transfers from architectural woodworking, shipwrights were able to extend the hulk in size until it rivaled and surpassed

1922-659: The border, where they linked up with forces led by their ally John Casimir of the Palatinate-Simmern , before besieging Chartres in February 1568. The war ended shortly thereafter. After the failure of the Protestants to capture the king in the Surprise of Meaux , Charles IX and the queen mother rushed to Paris. Keen not to waste his mobilisation advantage, Conde made camp at Saint-Denis on 2 October, hoping to quickly starve

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1984-438: The bulk of his forces on the beach of Santa Lucía on May 4. The Viceroy of Galicia, Juan Pacheco de Toledo, 2nd Marquis of Cerralbo , could only oppose them with 1,500 hastily mobilized soldiers in and around the city. Despite which, all of Drake's attempts to seize La Coruña failed in the face of the tenacious resistance offered by these forces and the population itself, so on May 18 he was forced to re-embark his troops, leaving

2046-613: The capital out before the full royal army could mobilise. Simultaneous risings across France in Orléans , Nîmes and Montpellier aided the Protestant cause. Conde seized first Charenton-le-Pont , a strategic town in the suburbs of Paris that supplied the city with its grain and flour. Lagny-sur-Marne , Argenteuil and Aubervilliers also fell to his forces, leaving Paris surrounded. Further afield Montereau , Étampes and Dreux were seized, each of which controlled important roads towards

2108-511: The capital. Windmills were burned by the Huguenots in the Faubourgs of Paris, while many churches were looted of their valuables, further alienating the population of the city from their cause. Merchants were subject to forced loans, while peasants were conscripted into Corvée labour for the besieging army. Meanwhile, the city of Paris offered up 400,000 écus for the kings cause, and the clergy

2170-464: The coasts of these kingdoms and purge and secure these seas of corsairs and await and escort the fleets from the Indies and that the other ships may be discharged and the remaining infantry go into garrisons and in this way Your Majesty will save a lot of costs and be able to entertain yourself and wait for a better time and situation to carry out the main enterprise. This position by those who considered that

2232-469: The cog. Because of their widespread use by the Hanseatic League and English documents regarding trade, it is accepted by scholars that the hulk was predominantly a cargo vessel. It is also possible that hulks served as warships. The use of the median rudder as well as oars as depicted in some illuminated manuscripts would make the hulk more maneuverable than the cog, and the larger vessel could provide

2294-428: The council's response could not have been more expressive, since it considered that "time being so far advanced and how few soldiers and mariners they have to be able to undertake any important enterprise", a most intriguing one would be for 15 or 20 large ships to be chosen and adding to those another 12 or 15 flyboats, putting in them elite soldiers who could be chosen from the Tercios that are dedicated to them… patrol

2356-449: The enterprise of England but which was attached to the Armada. The situation described continued to be the same when the Spanish coasts were surprised by England's response, eager to take advantage of circumstances that they considered very favorable. With the arrival of spring, 180 ships with 27,667 men sailed from Plymouth under the command of Sir Francis Drake and Sir John Norris with

2418-403: The fact is that during these first months, the Spanish strategy had an eminently defensive character, since its fundamental objective was to protect the arrival of the fleets from the Indies , and as would later happen in Brittany, the need for new types of ships capable of adapting to the needs of this type of confrontation began to be considered. In this sense, the opinion of Don Juan Maldonado

2480-407: The failure of the enterprise of England represented a serious setback to Philip II's strategic thinking, although its repercussions were felt much more on a psychological level than a material one, since Casado Soto had accurately documented that of the 123 ships that sailed from La Coruña , "only" 31 were lost, of which only 3 were galleons , the rest being the urcas and other smaller vessels. On

2542-429: The field, and, thus although both sides would take similar casualties of around 300-400 men, the battle would be won for the crown. On 14 November Conde withdrew from Saint Denis. Conscious of his critical position, but granted breathing room by the death of his opposing commander, he sought to make his way to link up with the forces under John Casimir . He travelled first to Melun in the south, where he linked up with

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2604-475: The following day the Duke of Nemours captured another Parisian bridge. Misjudging his position Condé weakened his besieging forces further, by sending François de Coligny d'Andelot to take Poissy and Gabriel de Lorges, Count of Montgomery to seize Pontoise , the former leaving him 800 arquebusiers and 500 horse shorter. On 9 November Condé was forced to abandon Charenton setting fire to it as he departed. It

2666-512: The forces under La Rochefoucauld . This accomplished he headed towards Troyes, pursued by an army under Duke of Nevers where John Casimir's forces were, the young Henry I, Duke of Guise in Champagne failing to stop the link up. The royal army was now under the command of the king's brother, the Duke of Anjou , who was made Lieutenant-General of the army, with Charles de Cossé , and the Duke of Montpensier as his deputies. He narrowly missed

2728-410: The free exercise of religion regardless of station, the calling of an Estates General and four fortified towns to be given to them, as surety. While these negotiations were ongoing, the Duke of Savoy was sending recruits north, the main body under Strozzi travelling north via Piedmont with Gaspard II de Coligny and La Noue trying to intercept. Pope Pius V also sent troops up north, meanwhile,

2790-416: The hospital official Francisco de Ledesma, reveal that, during his captivity, he was able to learn that twelve Englishmen had embarked on a French urca anchored in the port of "Artamua", "who know how to speak French and Spanish and other languages, and among them an engineer … who brought orders to set fire to the Armada wherever it was moored, after it was refurbished." But aside from these utopian projects,

2852-526: The hull size of hulks. It was by the fourteenth century that the Hanseatic League had adopted the hulk as their main vessel, capable of rivaling the cog's carrying capacity. Whether this was a consequence of a perception of the cog's shortcomings or a result of a shift in the economic geography of Northern Europe towards the Dutch Low Countries is not easy to discern. By the 15th century, the hulk

2914-544: The need for medium vessels of 150 to 200 tons; their draught is of great consideration, since being light is what is intended. These defensive plans were still in force when, after the winter of 1589–1590, Philip II addressed the Council of War requesting their opinion on what could be done during that year with the Navy concentrated in Ferrol. By the summer of 1590, some 100 vessels were ready for service. At its meeting on May 18, 1590,

2976-601: The objectives of destroying the remnants of the Spanish Armada ships in Santander, then seizing Lisbon and the Azores in the name of Don António, Prior of Crato who kept alive his hopes of accessing the Portuguese throne. As this formidable fleet approached the Galician coast, it received notice that the Armada was anchored in La Coruña, whereupon Drake decided to revise the initial plans and attack that port to surprise and destroy

3038-403: The other hand, the invasion project was not abandoned and during the last years of the reign of Philip II there were several attempts to carry it out, within the increasingly generalized confrontation to which the two monarchies were forced in different maritime and ground based scenarios, among which the Brittany campaign stands out. The need to guarantee the safety of Spain's coasts while facing

3100-564: The port the following day. Their losses were estimated at between 1,000 and 1,500 men, while on the Spanish side, three galleons were set on fire by their own crews to prevent them from falling into enemy hands, although the galleys that fled to the Betanzos estuary were saved. From Galicia , the English ships went along the Portuguese coast during the first days of June where they attempted to capture Lisbon. After intense fighting, they failed and ultimately retreated. These bloody actions represented

3162-446: The possibility of new English attacks on the Spanish coasts while adequately protecting the arrival of the fleets from the Indies. The decision was made to transfer the entire navy to the port of Ferrol , which, due to its geographical location, was best suited for carrying out these missions. Ferrol and Lisbon would be, from then on, the bases from which naval operations would be carried out which, due to its numbers and characteristics,

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3224-577: The town of Saint-Ouen while Genlis held his left near Aubervilliers . Facing them Montmorency led the main body, while his son Marshal Montmorency commanded the Swiss. The battle began at 3pm with an attack up the hill by Condé, the Marshal was met with quick success and his experienced Swiss troops tore into the Huguenot lines. The Parisian levies under the command of Montmorency were however far weaker, and Condé

3286-516: The treasure fleets, frustrate English naval operations, make incursions along the English coast and aid the Catholic League , all with the ultimate goal being the invasion of England. On September 22, 1588, the surviving ships of the Grand Armada began to enter various Spanish ports with their battered ships, exhausted crews and a considerable number of sick men on board. There is no doubt that

3348-484: The very real fear of a potential English attack determined the adoption of a series of measures aimed at recovering the combat capacity of Spain's Navy, while at the same time replacing the human losses. On the one hand, most of the ships that survived the expedition were concentrated in Santander , where the necessary repairs were carried out using all available resources. Only the galleons "San Bernardo" and "San Juan" from

3410-457: The violence and power of the heretics". The council, which had been so reticent before to undertake important actions, now expressed its enthusiasm giving "thanks to Our Lord who has been served to open to Your Majesty those doors of Blavet to execute his holy and royal wishes and do him a very great service, preserving that province in the Catholic faith", without forgetting, however, that that port

3472-516: Was "the most comfortable and important that one could wish for, from there, to set foot in England and preserve it in spite of the whole world, for the ease with which one could help whenever one wanted, due to the abundance of provisions and other comforts that would be had from Brittany". The next day, the King, in view of what was reported by his Council, ordered the sending of this aid "as soon as possible", but "so as not to go around culling people from

3534-498: Was a military occupation of the Brittany , France , by Spain . It began in summer 1590 when Philippe-Emmanuel de Lorraine, Duke of Mercœur , the governor of Brittany , offered the port of Blavet to King Philip II of Spain so that he could harbour his fleet. The occupation formally ended on May 2, 1598, with the Peace of Vervins . The Spanish used it as a base of operations to protect

3596-502: Was able to break the line with his cavalry, exposing Montmorency's position. Robert Stuart approached Montmorency, and fired two bullets into his back, fatally wounding the Constable. By this point Condé's horse had been shot out from under him, and he had to be carried off the field, allowing time for Montmorency to be withdrawn from the fray, his wounded body dispatched to Paris where he would die on 12 November. The stronger remnants of Montmorency's army under his son would however hold

3658-516: Was fought on 10 November 1567 between a royalist army and Huguenot rebels during the second of the French Wars of Religion . Although their 74 year old commander, Anne de Montmorency , was killed in the fighting, the royalists forced the rebels to withdraw, allowing them to claim victory. The only major conflict of the second phase, the battle came about when Montmorency attempted to break Condé 's siege of Paris . The Huguenot army retreated towards

3720-414: Was now that Montmorency, who had slowly been building struck. On 10 November battle was joined between the forces under Condé and the forces of Montmorency. Condé had at his disposal 1200 foot and 1500 horse, with no artillery. Montmorency by contrast, boasted 10,000 foot, of which 6000 was drawn from the Swiss guard, and 3000 horse, with 18 artillery pieces. Coligny commanded Condé's right flank, around

3782-500: Was of great importance, as evidenced by the fact that at the beginning of 1590, the following ships were anchored in Ferrol: The impact caused by the English actions was so great that Philip II's Court even considered projects as chimerical as the one presented by the pilot Juan de Escalante to set English ships ablaze in their own ports. This method of attack by means of fire ships had manifested itself in all its effectiveness during

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3844-432: Was replaced by the caravel . Hulks were depicted with a single mast at the amidship that was commonly depicted with a square sail. The hull was constructed using reverse-clinker planking which involves starting clinker planking at the sheer strake and planking down to the keel. A hulk had two castles, one at the bow and one at the stern. Hulks went through two forms of rudder design. Earlier depictions showed hulks with

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