Fort Risban is a fort in

Calais, France Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department, of which it is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's Pref ...

, located on the coast on the Avenue Raymond Poincaré at the port entrance. In English medieval accounts it is Risbanke or Risbank.

History

The existence of the fort was first mentioned when Calais was

besieged Besieged may refer to: * the state of being under siege * ''Besieged'' (film), a 1998 film by Bernardo Bertolucci {{disambiguation ...

by the English in November 1346.

Edward III of England Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring ...

's troops, finding the defences of Calais impenetrable, decided to erect a small fort to prevent any supplies reaching the town by sea, with a view to starving the inhabitants into submission. Under the English occupation the wooden tower was replaced by a stone structure, the Stone Tower, after 1400 renamed Lancaster Tower, a name often given to the fort itself. Fort Risban was used by the English forces until 1558 when Calais was recaptured by France. In 1596, the fort was captured by the

Spanish Netherlands Spanish Netherlands (Spanish: Países Bajos Españoles; Dutch: Spaanse Nederlanden; French: Pays-Bas espagnols; German: Spanische Niederlande.) (historically in Spanish: ''Flandes'', the name "Flanders" was used as a ''pars pro toto'') was the H ...

until May 1598 when it was returned to the French following the

Treaty of Vervins A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal perso ...

. It was rebuilt in 1640. Vauban, who visited the fort some time in the 1680s, described it as "a home for owls, and place to hold the Sabbath" rather than a fortification and let the fortress be altered. In the 19th century the Engineers Corps altered it again. The sea-fortress was dismantled in 1908 but fortified again during World War II, when it served as an air-raid shelter.

References

Risban Buildings and structures in Calais {{PasdeCalais-geo-stub

History

See also

References