The Battle of Coutras, fought on 20 October 1587, was a major engagement in the

French Religious Wars The French Wars of Religion is the term which is used in reference to a period of civil war between French Catholics and Protestants, commonly called Huguenots, which lasted from 1562 to 1598. According to estimates, between two and four mil ...

between a

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

(

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

) army under

Henry of Navarre Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarch ...

(the future Henry IV) and a royalist army led by Anne, Duke of Joyeuse. Henry of Navarre was victorious, and Joyeuse was killed while attempting to surrender.

Context

The

Wars of Religion A religious war or a war of religion, sometimes also known as a holy war ( la, sanctum bellum), is a war which is primarily caused or justified by differences in religion. In the modern period, there are frequent debates over the extent to wh ...

between the Catholics and Protestants in France had begun in 1562 and continued intermittently thereafter, with temporary periods of nominal peace that were often also marked by violence. King Henry III conducted a conciliatory policy, as reflected in the enactment of the

Edict of Beaulieu The Edict of Beaulieu (also known at the time as the Peace of Monsieur) was promulgated from Beaulieu-lès-Loches on 6 May 1576 by Henry III of France, who was pressured by Alençon's support of the Protestant army besieging Paris that spring. Th ...

in 1576 and the

Edict of Poitiers The Treaty of Bergerac was signed at Bergerac on 14 September 1577 between Henry III of France and Huguenot princes, and later ratified by the Edict of Poitiers on 17 September.Knecht, The French Civil Wars (2000), p208 This accord was developed ...

the following year. But a new crisis arose in 1584 upon the death of the king's only remaining brother, Francis of Alençon. This made Henry of Navarre, a Protestant, heir presumptive to the throne. The

League League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

, led by the

Duke of Guise Count of Guise and Duke of Guise (pronounced �ɥiz were titles in the French nobility. Originally a seigneurie, in 1417 Guise was erected into a county for René, a younger son of Louis II of Anjou. While disputed by the House of Luxembourg (1 ...

, then set the kingdom against the king, who became isolated. On 18 July 1585, Henry III promulgated an edict canceling all previous edicts, giving precedence "to the Catholics", paying the mercenaries of the League from the Royal Treasury, prohibiting

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

in France, and ordering the return of safe Protestant

stronghold A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

s. Protestants were expelled from power. And while the Guise party won appointments and favours, the king of Navarre was deprived of his functions. This edict was effectively a declaration of war against the Protestants. Henry of Navarre sought support, initially without success. However, the "privatory bull" (''bulle privatoire'') by

Pope Sixtus V Pope Sixtus V ( it, Sisto V; 13 December 1521 – 27 August 1590), born Felice Piergentile, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 April 1585 to his death in August 1590. As a youth, he joined the Franciscan order ...

brought him a measure of support from French royalists and Gallican circles; these were joined by the ''Politiques'', supporters of religious tolerance (such as the Governor of

Languedoc The Province of Languedoc (; , ; oc, Lengadòc ) is a former province of France. Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately ...

, Montmorency-Damville) and later England and Denmark, in the wake of the assassination of William of Orange and the success of Spain in its fight against the Protestants of the Netherlands. Faced with the intransigence of Guise, war was inevitable. Joyeuse was sent south with an army, while Mercoeur invaded Poitou and blocked Condé at

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. With ...

Battle

The clash of the two cavalry forces was to the advantage of the King of Navarre. The Duke of Joyeuse launched a charge at full gallop; by the time they came into contact, his horses were exhausted, and his squadrons of lancers had lost cohesion, rendering them ineffective. For his part, Henry of Navarre adopted an innovative tactic in the disposition of his troops: he inserted the platoons of

musketeer A musketeer (french: mousquetaire) was a type of soldier equipped with a musket. Musketeers were an important part of early modern warfare particularly in Europe as they normally comprised the majority of their infantry. The musketeer was a pre ...

s (five men abreast) within cavalry squadrons, to improve their support. The charge of the Protestants

chevau-léger The Chevau-légers (from French ''cheval''—horse—and ''léger''—light) was a generic French name for several units of light and medium cavalry. Their history began in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, when the heavy cavalry forces o ...

s ('light or medium cavalry') broke the Royalist army, which was routed. The Duke of Joyeuse was defeated, captured, and killed by a

pistol A pistol is a handgun, more specifically one with the chamber integral to its gun barrel, though in common usage the two terms are often used interchangeably. The English word was introduced in , when early handguns were produced in Europe, an ...

shot. 2,000

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

s were also captured along with Anne's younger brother, Claude Joyeuse (1569-1587), lord of Saint-Sauveur and Jacques d'Amboise, the eldest of the branch of Amboise-d'Aubijoux. Victory went to the Protestants, led by

. He recovered the body of Joyeuse and attended a mass in honour of his slain enemies.Pierre Miquel, Les Guerres de religion, Club France Loisirs, 1980 (), p 344

References

Sources

* Pierre Miquel, Les Guerres de religion, Club France Loisirs, 1980 (), p 342-344 * Pierre de Vayssiére, Messieurs de Joyeuse (1560-1615 ), Paris, Albin Michel, 1926 * There is a detailed account of the battle in

Garrett Mattingly Garrett Mattingly (May 6, 1900 – December 18, 1962) was a professor of European history at Columbia University who specialized in early modern diplomatic history. In 1960 he won a Pulitzer Prize for ''The Defeat of the Spanish Armada''. Early l ...

's ''The Armada''.

External links

Histoire de la Ligue
par Maimbourg - Paris -1684 {{DEFAULTSORT:Coutras History of Aquitaine Battles of the French Wars of Religion Battles in Nouvelle-Aquitaine 1587 in France Conflicts in 1587 History of Gironde

Context

Battle

See also

References

Sources

External links