Battle of Tarragona
1641 CE.
Shown on the map at 41.166°, 1.214°.
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.
Text from the Wikipedia article Battle of Tarragona (August 1641), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.