The Battle of Fontaine-Française occurred on 5 June 1595 between the French royal forces of King

Henry IV of France Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monar ...

and troops of

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

and the Catholic League commanded by Juan Fernández de Velasco and

Charles of Lorraine, Duke of Mayenne Charles of Lorraine, Duke of Mayenne (26 March 1554 – 3 October 1611), or Charles de Guise, was a French nobleman of the house of Guise and a military leader of the Catholic League, which he headed during the French Wars of Religion, followi ...

, during the eighth and final war (1585-1598) of 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 Catholics and Protestants, commonly called Huguenots, which lasted from 1562 to 1598. According to estimates, between two and four mil ...

Background

In early June 1595, Don Juan Fernández de Velasco ( governor of Milan and

Constable of Castile Constable of Castile ( es, Condestable de Castilla) was a title created by John I, King of Castile in 1382, to substitute the title ''Alférez Mayor del Reino''. The constable was the second person in power in the kingdom, after the King, and hi ...

) crossed the Alps with an army of 12,000 men from

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

. In the

Bishopric of Besançon In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

he was joined by Charles of Mayenne (chief of the Catholic League). Together they moved on

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlie ...

in order to take the city. Warned of their movements, Henry IV raced to

Troyes Troyes () is a commune and the capital of the department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within the Champagne wine region and is near ...

with 3,000 men that he was able to gather.

The battle

The battle took place on 5 June at

Fontaine-Française Fontaine-Française () is a commune in the Côte-d'Or department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative divi ...

(

Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The ...

). That morning, Henry IV accompanied his scouts. They encountered the Spanish troops by accident, and – as at the Battle of Eu the year before – Henry attacked them with light horse. Against all odds, he surprised them and forced them to retreat temporarily. After this charge, Henry decided to recruit local inhabitants (largely peasants) and to arm them with scythes and any metal object that might shine in the sunlight. He regrouped them on a hill with military troops, thus attempting to ruse the opposing force into believing he had a larger army. Meanwhile, Fernández de Velasco was convinced that Henry was waiting for reinforcements, and observing the troop movements from afar, came to believe that Henry's forces had superior numbers. He decided to retreat.

Aftermath

The French royal victory marked an end to the Catholic League, although the Wars of Religion would not come to a complete end until the signing of the

Peace of Vervins The Peace of Vervins or Treaty of Vervins was signed between the representatives of Henry IV of France and Philip II of Spain under the auspices of the papal legates of Clement VIII, on 2 May 1598 at the small town of Vervins in Picardy, northern ...

on 2 May 1598, under which the Spanish ceded their remaining captured French towns.

Notes and references

*''This article is based in part on a translation of the article Bataille de Fontaine-Française from the

French Wikipedia The French Wikipedia (french: Wikipédia en français) is the French-language edition of Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia. This edition was started on 23 March 2001, two months after the official creation of Wikipedia. It has articl ...

on 14 March 2007.'' * Jouanna, Arlette and Jacqueline Boucher, Dominique Biloghi, Guy Thiec. ''Histoire et dictionnaire des Guerres de religion''. Collection: Bouquins. Paris: Laffont, 1998. {{DEFAULTSORT:Battle Of Fontaine-Francaise Fontaine-Francaise Fontaine-Francaise Fontaine-Francaise Fontaine-Francaise 1595 in France Conflicts in 1595 History of Côte-d'Or