Siege of Lens

This article is about the 1647 siege. For the 1648 battle, see Battle of Lens.
Siege of Lens
Part of the Thirty Years' War
Datec. 4 August – 3 October 1647
Location
Lens
50°25′19″N 2°46′48″E / 50.422°N 2.78°E / 50.422; 2.78
Result Franco-Dutch victory
Belligerents
France
Dutch Republic		 Spanish Empire
Commanders and leaders
Jean de Gassion (DOW)
Antoine d'Aumont		 Unknown
Strength
Unknown Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown Unknown

The Siege of Lens was an episode of the Thirty Years' War. It was organised in 1647 by Jean de Gassion, Marshal of France.[1]

Background

The Siege of Lens took place during the Thirty Years' War, after France had entered the conflict directly in 1635. While its ally, the Dutch Republic, threatened to take Antwerp from the Spanish, forcing them to expose their western front, France won some successes in Flanders, along the Lys. After the Siege of Dunkirk (1646) and the Siege of Mardyck in August 1646, Marshal Jean de Gassion also captured the Château d'Isenghien on 12 September 1646. The small town of Lens was taken and retaken seven times in less than a century. In 1646, it had fallen back under Spanish control.[2]

Siege

The Siege of Lens took place the following year.[3] The fortified place, situated in a plain, had an earth-backed wall with towers, and a wide and deep dry ditch with a covered way.[1] On 28 September 1647, while attempting to pull out a palisade stake, Jean de Gassion was wounded in the head by a musket shot. He died at Arras on 2 October 1647.

The Siege of Lens continued under the Marquis of Villequier, who took the town on 3 October 1647.[1] In August of the following year, the Battle of Lens took place.[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c La Mothe (1740). Histoire de la vie et du règne de Louis XIV, roi de France et de Navarre (in French). Chez François Varrentrapp.
  2. ^ Dancoisne, L. (1859). Numismatique béthunoise: recueil historique de monnaies, méreaux, médailles et jetons de la ville de l'arrondissement de Béthune (in French). Alphonse Brissy.
  3. ^ Tallemant des Réaux, Gédéon. "Les historiettes de Tallemant Des Réaux: mémoires pour servir à l'histoire du XVIIe siècle. Tome 3". Europeana (in French).
  4. ^ Janicki, Jérôme (2 January 2009). "La puissance espagnole est anéantie en 1648 à la bataille de Lens". L'Avenir de l'Artois (in French).
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