Wie eine uneinnehmbare Festung erobert wurde - Die Belagerung von La Rochelle 1627-28

On August 4,

1627

, an army of 11,000 men sent by the French king assaulted the town of La

rochelle

1. This was the beginning of a siege carried out by both sides with great determination, since the defender was their town, considered an impregnable fortress. ingenious siege constructions, in particular a mile-long sea dam with which they wanted to cut off the defenders from the outside world, this was a seemingly impossible monster project, la

rochelle

was one of the most important strongholds of French Protestants and the siege of the city marked the climax of the french reform wars this is the story of the siege an impregnable fortress La Rochelle in the decades after the Reformation many Frenchmen turned away from Catholicism and converted to the new faith, especially in the southern kingdom As aristocratic families became increasingly attached to the Huguenots, as the French Protestants were called, their influence and establishment grew.

The Catholic nobility saw their privileges and possessions threatened. The Catholics of France reacted accordingly to the new movement, trying to contain and suppress it. The Edding von Nord ended in 1598 in which it was discovered that Catholicism was still the official religion of France, but the Huguenots were given certain political and religious privileges, among other things they were allowed to hold certain fortresses around 100 in southern France. at the expense of the kingdom. including the city of La Rochelle which is located in the Bay of Biscay on the Atlantic coast and was inhabited by around 28,000 people La Rochelle was one of the largest cities in France and a thriving commercial and cultural center not only because it was a Catholic devout but also because he wanted to centralize power in his kingdom, the Edict of the North and Huguenot privileges got in the way when Louis tried to reduce his privileges on 16/21, the Huguenots revolted led by Henry II Rohan and his brother Benjamin successfully resisted the king. the advance failed at the fortresses of montopo and montpellier and in 1622 the addict of nord finally had to confirm but a year later a very determined new man entered the scene armoch and the plessi better known as cardinal richelieu set out to end the privileges Huguenots and the religious wars that have plagued France for more than 60 decades, the king and his new adviser intensified their anti-Huguenot policies and before long also broke the king's promises, sparking another rebellion that only ended in early of 16 26 with the Peace of Paris, but this peace was made out of necessity and attentive observers suspected from the beginning that it would not last long and in fact the king realized again that against the agreement soon, rian Löw prepared for him to break the power of the Huguenots once and for all by destroying their most important stronghold, La Rochelle, before moving on to the dramatic battle of La Rochelle, we would like to introduce you to the sponsor of this video, Horns, the brand with the stationery items made by The highest quality phoenixes that feel pleasantly heavy in the hand and glide beautifully quietly on paper are the ideal companion for anyone who likes to write by hand and a perfect gift for loved ones. dear my favorite is the noble Fortress fountain pen but also for ballpoint pens or rollerball lovers you can find something suitable at Hörner if you are still looking for a noble birthday or Christmas present for a relative or a good friend or just want to treat yourself whim, then take a look at www.hörnergroup.de with the code Sandra Roman you get a 10% discount on the entire assortment La Rochelle was a thriving center of commerce and an impressive fortress the city was accountable to no one and its citizens were proud and independent was ruled by a senate whose members were regularly elected this senate would not tolerate a royal governor or royal troops within the city walls The citizens of the city watched over this freedom with eagle eyes and strong defenses helped them three islands on the high seas they protect the coast and the port of Shell so that it was almost impossible to approach it from more nor more favorable conditions on the land side to the east and west of the city wetlands and swamps stretch as far as the eye can see it was passable Only by narrow stone paths could you approach the city dry foot only from the north, but not only does the larochelle protect nature, which the Venetian engineer Skip Sin Vergano had in 1569, having replaced the city's medieval fortifications, it was now surrounded by a massive wall reinforced by a considerable number of ravelins, i.e. a moat, and 6 to 10 bastions in front of it.

Unfortunately, this not only confused would-be attackers as they intended, but modern historians also allowed the defenders to flood large part of the surrounding area through a complex system of ridges and locks that was very efficient at doing it on even flat ground, even a few inches. of water for an attacker to dig when approaching life impossible for an attacker because they immediately filled with water the wall itself stretched around the city even along the coast only through a narrow passage between two massive towers ships could enter the inner harbor the site for more than 200 large ships ship a huge iron chain connected the two towers and could be stretched to close the only narrow gap in the seewald larochelle was practical and conquerable, and not just in theory 15 73 a lord of King Charles the 9th had tried to take the city Karl's men had fired 34,000 cannonballs into the city and launched eight assaults in which some 20,000 men had lost their lives to no avail the walls of Lara Shell had proved to be his best feat in keeping his preparations secret the Huguenots soon found out now also began To prepare, the residents brought food and ammunition to the town and Benjamin of Rohan appealed for England's support.

King Charles I of England saw the coming siege as a good opportunity to destabilize his rival France and therefore sent George Williams, the Duke of Buckingham at 80. Ships and 7,000 men in support of the Huguenots On July 10,

1627

, the English fleet reached the island of Reh, which had already been taken by the French army. Benjamin went to La Rochelle to ensure that the inhabitants would cooperate with the English. during the attack on buckingham island after a first skirmish on the beach the british besieged samachtande on july 17 quickly took the town but the strong and well prepared citadel held out while the inhabitants of larochelle benjamin and the british ambassador did not allow entry into the mayor city to open the gates because he wanted to remain loyal to his rightful master, the French king, only when Katrin, who was guarding the very influential and extremely popular mother of the two Rohan brothers, gathered a crowd in front of the San Nicola gate. the mayor left Benjamin and the ambassador Katrin said that the children of Rohan had always defended the freedom of Larochelle.

Negotiations now began, but the Senate preferred to consult with the other French Protestants and await the outcome of the battle for the island of Reh. on August 4, before the people of Larochelle had made up their minds, a royal army of 11,000 men under Charles de Valua, Duke of Angulem, marched in front of La Rochelle. Again the Senate faltered and was again indecisive when the French took the next step on In fact on September 10 they began to reinforce the San Luis front to the west of the city, this fort was built by the king in 1622 and since then has been considered by the citizens of the city as an unwanted surveillance to reinforce it was clearly an act of aggression from which Ford was able to get the French to not only fire on the city itself but also on the ships that wanted to enter the port, turning thus annoying surveillance into a direct threat.

The defenders reacted to this symbolic declaration of war. opening fire in the antechamber where the royal gunners fired naturally and an artillery battle ensued which lasted for a sensible subsidence so a peaceful solution was off the table knowing that attacking the city directly was pointless as its walls were too forts and swamps made it impossible. virtually impossible to dig access trenches the only way to take Larochelle was possible to pass Mongolem immediately set out to implement this plan his soldiers guarded all routes leading into the city warships patrolled the harbor and workers built a ring of fortifications around the port city a supposed circumambulation to completely isolate the city from the outside world he supervised the work because the king himself was bedridden with a severe fever his doctors bled him seven times in seven days but despite this treatment he quickly recovered and was soon informed of the situation the army in front of La Rochelle was well cared for well paid and constantly growing reinforcements from all over France marched there when the king himself arrived with more troops on 12 October 1627 the army had doubled there were now around 22,000 men at the gates of the Huguenot fortress meanwhile the citizens of the city had finally decided not to capitulate they were still not sure whether to join forces with the English, because it was one thing to oppose a direct attack, to make an alliance with a foreign ruler another Senate declared that we will always respect our king even if he forces us to throw ourselves into the arms of a foreign ruler we are not looking for another lord just a protector but they had hesitated too long because the british still know their teeth in the citadel of samarkandoree on october 27 pockingham ordered one last attack of trench changed miserably because the english siege ladders were too short and buckingham had to abandon the siege the english marched north to their ships but before they got there they were attacked by french cavalry and suffered heavier losses on 7 november the English fleet finally stabbed them and returned to Port Smith of the 7000 men Buckingham had brought to France only about 3000 remained and the drama of the proud city of Larochelle had begun the king represented by his right hand richerieu now focused all his attention on the city ​​itself, which was absolutely necessary because he was dealing not only with a mighty fortress but also with its warlike inhabitants, most of whom could use weapons and had learned to defend themselves and their city to the best of their abilities. the men were ordered to take up arms so that a militia that was quite impressive the soldiers of the not-so-little reinforced all the other healthy and strong in the city were instructed to help with other things, especially with strengthening and repairing the fortifications at the end of November Work was on The bypass completed a fortification system with several forts forts ensured that no one could enter or leave the city nor reinforcements nor supplies nor ammunition could be brought into the city by land This hit the defenders hard and morale in the town deteriorated rapidly although there was still plenty of food left, the residents of larochelle knew this would soon change and asked to be allowed to send their useless mouths out of town i.e. weak old men and children but Richelieu he did not agree even when some women and children left. city ​​anyway the cardinal could not be contacted the refugees perished miserably in the trenches when katrin departner heard richelius's response and saw the tragedy unfolding below the walls she wrote to the king asking for permission to leave the city with 200 women and children The response was devastating, either everyone leaves or no one.

Faced with this decision, Katrin knew that she would fight to the end. She now followed the motto of the famous Chantal Bree de la Reina de Navara and former spiritual and political leader of the Huguenots. lay down arms until a secure peace has turned into complete victory or an honorable death at that time La Rochelle was cut off from the land side but was still being manned by English ships who overcame the blockade so the king and rian leon sought a solution to bridge this gap as well. Finally they brought in an expert on modern sieges christopher darwin writes a relic of antiquity the indestructible fisherman of pompeiotargone was skeptical about it engineer he was the right one said it was impossible to trust him too much because he didn't seem that he would he speaks his skepticism was not unfounded because targone had tasted 25 years before the city of Ostend which was also supplied by the sea he had to cut a gut and failed miserably and this time his task was even more daunting, it was to block the fruit a mile wide so that neither man nor weather could breach the blockade targonen took on the seemingly impossible task and fashioned a ribbon of floating elements connected by chains, quickly completed its construction and launched it, but a ferocious storm of winter cast targon in its place, severing the ties betweenthe elements and sending the individual parts to sea. more substantial construction was needed and to block access to the region the task was now given to two less creative but highly practical men, the royal architect Klimo Mitte and the Parisian stonemason.

The two decided to take a completely different approach and began building stable piers from both shores Trying to flee just beyond the range of Larochelle's guns, between these sturdy beachheads the two builders left a space so that the water could flow freely and those shown would not break the construction of the project. it was of colossal proportions thousands of workers were with him all winter. Richelieu employed, that he wanted the job completed as quickly as possible. He made sure that the workers were well cared for and paid regularly. A rarity at the time. French gunners could already target enemy ships.

I was faced with a forest of huge, sharp logs mounted at a 45 degree angle and just above which water rats any ship that got too close was inevitably slashed, leaving Larochelle completely cut off from the outside world during the exceptionally non-stop siege. was the problem the catholic clergy saw the fight against the huguenots as a fight for the legitimate faith and ensured that the war chests remained full some clergy even took on military duties some became assistant priests lieutenants and the bishop of Mond even commanded the ships off the city until he finally found himself in battle with much of the most famous and industrious adjutant.

However, a Capuchin monk who went by the name of Bear beschussef supposedly traces to him the French term eminence grise. eminos crisis, which designates a powerful adviser who dies in secret Pulling the strings would be schussef was not only Richelius's adviser, but also made a very practical contribution to the siege. For example, he developed a plan to penetrate the city through the sewage system and thus conquer La Rochelle in one fell swoop when the first men entered the stinking secret path and saw through which swamps they were supposed to sneak into the city. they refused to go any further rische leo was angry but didn't want to set a good example in this particular case on march louis 13 he was running out of patience now he had almost 30,000 men out of town and work on the dike was going well and yet larochelle stood her ground the king did not want to wait any longer and waited for an opportunity for a storm attack to his delight he learned from a spy that there was a weak spot in larochelle's defenses at the entrance to the gate it was less fortified than the rest of the wall his man in the city was convinced that a small mine would be enough to jump him so brutally together with 5000 soldiers on the night of March 12 and took up position near the gate meanwhile demolitions experts pushed their way to pronounce the ditch gate, clearing the way for a fresh force to launch the first direct attack since the siege began, but the action did not go quite according to plan and demolitions experts lost their way in the swamps to the east of the city and they only found the weak point when the first light of day was already beginning to dissolve the morning mist. it was too late richieur stopped the attempt and finally abandoned the idea of ​​a direct attack in april the citizens of larochelle became a new mayor who should also lead the defense since guido was a seasoned and seasoned sailor small and broad-shouldered this man who came from an old local family was an extraordinarily determined leader when he was elected he reportedly ran his German across the table and said I accept the honor you test me, but only on the condition that the heart of anyone who dares to speak of surrender is run through with this dagger, especially my own case, ever stooped to such skill and he kept his word it was proclaimed that all who spoke openly of surrender would be punished with death Guido had his hands full from the start because the food and the dust had become scarce prices went up and soon the poor began to starve people had to eat small animals and buy grass and leather and have at least something on the mark an 18th century report from the town says whole families were dying of hunger and their houses became their tombs, but Gito did not think of giving up while there is a man to defend the walls.

I will never accept that doors open despite his determination. Guido knew that outside help was the only hope for his city. in desperate tones he wrote to the english king asking for help for gods sake come as soon as you can on the first of may the Giton calls for help are finally having an effect an english fleet appeared on the horizon they first kept their distance and tried to make contact with the town but this failed as the French kept missing the English messenger ships, the English then sailed to the pond and opened fire but information was missing on the French position, be very careful and sniff thanks. the intercepted land ships knew all their plans although the dike was not yet fully completed the English attack failed and they had to withdraw again having achieved nothing then they waited another three indecisive days nearby before sailing for England leaving the desperate inhabitants of Larochelle to his fate when I repulsed the English ships the mood in the city collapsed Richard on the other hand was in high spirits he wrote this shameful withdrawal of the English has so astonished the defenders that they would have surrendered voluntarily if it had not been for Madame von Rohan and Minister Salabär, a very seditious fellow, duped them with fabricated stories of support, though Katrin was an old woman afflicted with rheumatism and other ailments, according to historian Jack Oldenburg who was at least as great a warrior in spirit as her son.

Katrin used her popularity among the people to support the Don, who without her help would have had to give in to the pressure of the starving people long before and not only that, she also set a good example and when only a little horse meat and a half loaf of bread a day richelio was not entirely right when he said that the promises of aid were made up tales because as soon as the english king charles first learned of the failure of the second expedition, the old ships and men to dispatch a third fleet hastily prepared but despite this September came before Benjamin de Rohan and Commander Lord Lindsay Spikes when they arrived at La Rochelle hastened to discover that Rischerius had meanwhile completed the dam and was working on it on the banks of the bay. they were full of forts, batteries and warships larochelle was completely cut off but this time the british were determined to try everything despite the futility of the venture they sailed twice against the dike but twice unfavorable winds slowed them down so that they simply loitered managed to fire a few bullets into the structure.

On October 23, Lindt made one last attempt. He ordered his men to build what we would now call a rudimentary torpedo described in detail as a result, the torpedo consisting of a wooden box lined with tin. and a contact detonator, this device was to be carried unnoticed onto a French ship and blown up without warning to scare the French of further unexpected explosions and the like. Stupidly, the construction failed when it approached a French ship and touched its hull, but the lid of the wooden box dampened the explosive force so much that the explosion caused nothing more than a spectacular fountain.

This failure combined with the Lindt was so frustrating. due to the desperateness of the situation that he ordered the English ship to set sail. Finally leaving Larochelle with the withdrawal of the English, Larochelle's fate was sealed. The many powerful autumn storms that might have harmed the ladies failed to materialize this year, and curiously enough, the plague that swept through France that year spared the royal camp. it was as if God himself had decreed the fall of this proud city, a French officer is reported to have said that the impregnable fortress could no longer hold By the end of October 1628, the people of La Rochelle had had enough and demanded Guido to capitulate the The situation was so desperate that cannibalism increased and the crowd was so upset that the mayor had to fear for his life when he went out into the street he always carried a loaded pistol and he went out of ten accompanied by trusted guards at that time the garrison was made up of only 136 soldiers and even these could hardly hold their spears any longer on sunday october 26 they finally relented and sent negotiators to the french camp the evacuated men crawled with their last strength to cardinal richelieu and accepted without negotiation the terms he offered the October 28 after 14 months and 16 days of siege La Rochelle capitulated despite long resistance granted the city fair terms guaranteed the Huguenots the freedom to practice their religion and the safety of life and property of the cardinal pardoned even to most of those who had conspired with the english king against their own ruler only a few nobles including guito were sent in 67 not treated so leniently katrin the mate she was regarded as the fire that consumed this town and returned On November 1, Ludwig 13 came personally to the city, found a picture of misery and destruction before them, the bodies of the starving lay everywhere, and the survivors were so weak they could barely stand up, they were just skin and bones.

Of the 28,000 inhabitants that Larochelle had had in the summer of 1627, by the end of the siege only a third remained, even after regular care had been taken to look after the people and bring food to the city, over a thousand more died as a result of the hunger and exhaustion larochelle the proud and wealthy stronghold of the huguenots lost all their privileges the king dissolved the senate abolished the office of mayor and abolished all citizenships he also opposed the protestant faith with all severity henceforth no one was allowed more Protestants settled in La Rochelle it became Catholic reintroduced and a new bishopric established in the city the defenses of La Rochelle, which had held out to the end, were razed to the ground only the three great towers of the harbor remained intact the pond richelius was ironically destroyed by a storm a few days after the capitulation razed to the ground after the Huguenots had lost La Rochelle and its privileges, they fought a losing battle Henry II of Rohan still held out in southern France and was able to negotiate a peace for all in 16.29, but the Huguenots were left at the king's mercy with one less obstacle, Louis XIII making successful progress in his centralization efforts over the next few years, paving the way for the era of absolutism.