Siege of Calais

1558 CE.

Shown on the map at 50.964°, 1.847°.

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 and her husband Philip II of Spain. When the Kingdom of England supported a Spanish invasion of France, Henry II of France sent François, 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 Risbank from the English forces and Calais was besieged.

Text from the Wikipedia article Siege of Calais (1558), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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