The Battle of Lleida took place on 7 October 1642, during the Catalan Revolt, part of the wider

Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659) The Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659) was fought between France and Spain, with the participation of a changing list of allies through the war. The first phase, beginning in May 1635 and ending with the 1648 Peace of Westphalia, is considered ...

. A combined Franco-Catalan army under

Philippe de La Mothe-Houdancourt Philippe, Comte de la Mothe-Houdancourt (1605 – 24 March 1657) was a French soldier and Marshal of France, who served as Viceroy of Catalonia when it was occupied by France during the Franco-Spanish War. He was awarded the Spanish title of Du ...

defeated a larger Spanish force led by Marquis de Leganés, sent to capture the town of

Lleida Lleida (, ; Spanish: Lérida ) is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital city of the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It is also the capital city of the Segrià comarca, as ...

Background

In the summer of 1642, an army commanded by

, French military commander in

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

, marched into

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...

. In order to divert him, Leganés assembled troops from

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; Phoenician: ''Tarqon''; la, Tarraco) is a port city located in northeast Spain on the Costa Daurada by the Mediterranean Sea. Founded before the fifth century BC, it is the capital of the Province of Tarragona, and part of Tar ...

and

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...

to retake the important city of

, then held by a French garrison. La Mothe positioned his smaller army in the ''Llano de las Forques'' and defeated the Spanish army. After the victory, the French Army besieged Tortosa, but was forced to withdraw.

References

Sources

* * * {{cite thesis , last1=Mitchell , first1=Andrew Joseph , title=Religion, revolt, and creation of regional identity in Catalonia, 1640-1643 , date=2005 , publisher=Ohio State University, type=PHD , url=https://etd.ohiolink.edu/apexprod/rws_etd/send_file/send?accession=osu1123962229&disposition=inline

1642 in Spain Lleida 1642