Château de Guînes was a castle in

Guînes Guînes (; ; ) is a commune in the northern French department of Pas-de-Calais. Historically, it was spelt ''Guisnes''. On 7 January 1785, Jean-Pierre Blanchard, a French pioneer in hydrogen-balloon flight, completed the first aerial crossi ...

Pas-de-Calais The Pas-de-Calais (, ' strait of Calais'; ; ) is a department in northern France named after the French designation of the Strait of Dover, which it borders. It has the most communes of all the departments of France, with 890, and is the ...

, France.

History

Baldwin II, Count of Guînes, began construction of a castle at Guînes on top of an ancient fort in the late 12th century, consisting of a courtyard, surrounded by towers with a

donjon A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residenc ...

. After the capture of

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Calais is the largest city in Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,6 ...

by King

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 from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring royal authority after t ...

in 1349, the castle was captured by the English in 1352 by an English force led by the valet John of Doncaster. The French laid siege to the castle to regain control, however the siege was unsuccessful. In 1360, the

Treaty of Brétigny A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, conventio ...

surrendered the city and its county to England becoming part of the

Pale of Calais The Pale of Calais was a territory in northern France ruled by the monarchs of England from 1347 to 1558. The area, which centred on Calais, was taken following the Battle of Crécy in 1346 and the subsequent Siege of Calais (1346–47), Siege o ...

Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy Philip III the Good (; ; 31 July 1396 – 15 June 1467) ruled as Duke of Burgundy from 1419 until his death in 1467. He was a member of a cadet line of the Valois dynasty, to which all 15th-century kings of France belonged. During his reign, ...

, laid siege to Guînes in 1436 with a force of Flemish militia. When an English relief army of some 10,000 men under

Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester Humphrey of Lancaster, Duke of Gloucester (3 October 1390 – 23 February 1447) was an English prince, soldier and literary patron. He was (as he styled himself) "son, brother and uncle of kings", being the fourth and youngest son of Henry IV ...

, approached, the Duke of Burgundy abandoned the siege, leaving his artillery and large amounts of baggage behind. Francis d'Orléans, Count of Angoulême, laid siege to Guînes in 1514, but broke the siege upon learning of the approach of an English army under the command of King

Henry VIII of England Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

. The castle was placed under siege by a French army in 1558, led by Francis, Duke of Guise. The castle withstood the siege for a few days. The English commander, William Grey, 13th Baron Grey de Wilton, was forced to surrender the castle, on 21 January, after the French entered the outer defences of the castle, Grey was wounded and his soldiers refused to fight on. The French gave honourable terms of surrender and English rule of the area came to an end. The castle was badly

slighted Slighting is the deliberate damage of high-status buildings to reduce their value as military, administrative, or social structures. This destruction of property is sometimes extended to the contents of buildings and the surrounding landscape. It ...

by the Duke of Guise, but it was known to be used to house the local commander. It was later destroyed during the Spanish incursions during 1595 to 1598.

Citations

References

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