Battle of Orthez (1569)
| Battle of Orthez 1569 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theFrench Wars of Religion | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Huguenots | Kingdom of France | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Gabriel de Montgomery | Terride | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| c. 2,500 | |||||||
The battle of Orthez was fought during theFrench Wars of Religion,between August 11 and 14, 1569.Huguenotforces under the leadership ofGabriel de Montgomerydefeated Royalist forces underAntoine de Lomagne, vicomte de TerrideinFrench Navarre.[1]Following the battle, Huguenot forces killed many of their Catholic prisoners.
Background
[edit]In the later half of the sixteenth century, allAquitaineabove theGaronneexcept forBordeauxwas inProtestanthands. At that time,Orthezwas the largest and most dynamic city ofBéarn.It was a market town which served as the main funnel for products making their way toBayonnefor export. Orthez was therefore quite wealthy. One wealthy Protestant,Adrien-Arnaud de Gachassin,had gifted his mansion in Orthez toJeanne d' Albretin 1555 (today, it is called Maison of Jeanne d' Albret and has become a museum of how wealthy Protestants lived). The Huguenots were therefore desirous of capturing the important and wealthy town ofOrthez.
Forces
[edit]The Huguenot army ofGabriel de Lorges, comte de Montgomerywas a highly mobile force of 2,500, with a large proportion of cavalry.[2]
En route to Orthez
[edit]
TheProtestantforces ofMontgomeryandMontamathad leftCastresaround noon on July 27, 1569. They pillaged along the way, passing through Mazères inFoix.The troops crossed theGaronneand theGaveatCoarrezeand by August 9, they reached Queen Jeanne d' Albret’s castle atNavarrenx,which had been placed under siege two and a half months ago by the Catholic army of Antoine de Lomagne, vicomte de Terride.[3]Terride, who had lifted the siege the previous day, withdrew his forces to Orthez.
On August 11, Montgomery crossed the Gave de Pau under fire and routed Terride's troops on the right bank. Isolated in Orthez and despairing of relief, Terride opened negotiations on August 14.[4]
In the following days the Huguenots killed many of their prisoners. A special death was contrived for the clergy - they were thrown to their deaths from the heights of Orthez'sLe Pont-Vieuxover theGave de Pau.In addition, the localMoncade castlewas destroyed as well as the town’s churches and many homes.
Aftermath
[edit]Massacre of religious opponents characterised much of the Wars of Religion.Montgomery’sHuguenot troops committed subsequent massacres of Catholics inArtix,Tarbes,and elsewhere,
Based on correspondence and the memoirs ofJeanne III d'Albret,as well as the fact that the war was taken specifically toOrthezandNavarrenxby her direct orders, the historianCommunayposits that she herself may have ordered the slaughter of the Catholic prisoners. Doubtless, however, the Huguenots were so enraged from the persecution inflicted on them by the Catholics that they could not be restrained from the massacre.
Montgomery's victory at Orthez gave the Huguenots the ability to recover after, in October, their main field army was destroyed atMoncontour.
References
[edit]- ^Dupuy, Richard Ernest; Dupuy, Trevor Nevitt (1993).The Harper Encyclopedia of Military History: From 3500 BC to the Present.HarperCollins. p. 522.ISBN978-0-06-270056-8.
- ^Bryson, David (1999).Queen Jeanne and the Promised Land: Dynasty, Homeland, Religion and Violence in Sixteenth Century France.Leiden, Boston, Köln: Brill. p. 230.
- ^Landurant, Alain (1988).Montgomery le régicide.Paris: Tallandier. p. 185.
- ^Marlet, Léon (1890).Le Comte de Montgomery.Paris: Picard, Libraire-Éditeur. pp. 89–90.