The Treaty of Hampton Court (also known as the Treaty of Richmond) was signed on 22 September 1562 between Queen Elizabeth and

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 ...

leader

Louis I de Bourbon, prince de Condé Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis ( ...

. The treaty was concluded by François de Beauvais, Seigneur de Briquemault. Based on the terms of the accord, 3000

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

troops were summoned to occupy

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...

and

Dieppe Dieppe (; Norman: ''Dgieppe'') is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to N ...

. Moreover, Queen Elizabeth promised to provide economic aid to the Huguenots. Once peace was restored in France, Elizabeth refused to withdraw her troops, stating that she had taken Le Havre not for religious reasons but to indemnify her for the loss of Calais, which was rightfully hers. The regent of France,

Catherine de' Medici Catherine de' Medici ( it, Caterina de' Medici, ; french: Catherine de Médicis, ; 13 April 1519 – 5 January 1589) was an Florentine noblewoman born into the Medici family. She was Queen of France from 1547 to 1559 by marriage to King ...

sent both Catholic and Huguenot troops against Le Havre, which surrendered on 28 July 1563. Feeling betrayed by the Huguenots, Elizabeth never trusted them again.Knecht, p. 93.Doran, pp. 21-23. This is evident when in 1572, Catherine de Medici ordered the killing of the Protestant Coligny. This resulted in 3000 Protestants being killed in what is known as the Massacre of St Bartholomew's Day. Elizabeth was urged to send support to the French Huguenots but refused.Doran, pp. 21-23.

Motivation

The English Secretary of State, William Cecil was concerned with safeguarding the Protestant cause in Europe, fearing a Catholic alliance of France and Spain if the powerful Guise family gained an upper hand in the

French Wars of Religion The French Wars of Religion is the term which is used in reference to a period of civil war between French Catholic Church, Catholics and Protestantism, Protestants, commonly called Huguenots, which lasted from 1562 to 1598. According to estim ...

. Elizabeth I shared her advisor's concern for England's fragile Protestantism, but she was more concerned with the possibility of recovering Calais (lost by

Mary I Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. She ...

in 1558) which might have occurred had the Huguenots triumphed.

References

Sources

* *Knecht, R. J. ''Catherine de' Medici''. London and New York: Longman, 1998. {{LB Richmond 1562 in England 1562 in France 1562 in law 1562 treaties Elizabethan era Hampton Court Palace History of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Political history of Middlesex Hampton Court (1562) Hampton Court (1562)