Fort-Mardyck (; ; ) is a former commune in the Nord department in northern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. It has been part of the commune of

Dunkirk Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...

since 9 December 2010. In 2022 it had 3,491 inhabitants.

History

The fort of Mardyck was constructed in 1622 by architect Jean Gamel. It was built for the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

who ruled

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

at the time. The fort was captured by the French in 1644 but then lost to the Spanish in 1652. The fort was again besieged and captured by an Anglo-French force under the Comte de Turrenne on 21 September 1657. Turrene handed the fort over to the

English Commonwealth The Commonwealth of England was the political structure during the period from 1649 to 1660 when Kingdom of England, England and Wales, later along with Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland and Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, were governed as a republi ...

in accordance with the terms of their involvement. The following month the Spanish attempted to retake the fort one last time but the English garrison managed to repel the assault. After having bought Dunkirk and the fort of Mardyck from the English in 1662, King

Louis XIV of France LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

ordered that the fort be dismantled. On 12 February 1867, a French imperial decree established Fort-Mardyck as an independent municipality.

Heraldry

References

External links

Flags of the World - Fort Mardyck
Former communes of Nord (French department) 1622 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire French Flanders {{Nord-geo-stub