The Battle of Lleida took place on 7 October 1642, during the Catalan Revolt, part of the wider Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659). A combined Franco-Catalan army under

Philippe de La Mothe-Houdancourt Philippe, Comte de la Mothe-Houdancourt (1605 – 24 March 1657) was a French soldier and Marshal of France, who served as Viceroy of Catalonia when it was occupied by France during the Franco-Spanish War. He was awarded the Spanish title of Du ...

defeated a larger Spanish force led by Marquis de Leganés, sent to capture the town of Lleida.

Background

In the summer of 1642, an army commanded by

, French military commander in

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...

, marched into Aragon. In order to divert him,

Leganés Leganés () is a city in the Community of Madrid, Spain. Considered part of the Madrid metropolitan area, it is located about 11 km southwest of the centre of Madrid. , it has a population of 188,425, making it the region's fifth most popul ...

assembled troops from

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; Phoenician: ''Tarqon''; la, Tarraco) is a port city located in northeast Spain on the Costa Daurada by the Mediterranean Sea. Founded before the fifth century BC, it is the capital of the Province of Tarragona, and part of Tarr ...

and

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...

to retake the important city of Lleida, then held by a French garrison. La Mothe positioned his smaller army in the ''Llano de las Forques'' and defeated the Spanish army. After the victory, the French Army besieged

Tortosa Tortosa (; ) is the capital of the '' comarca'' of Baix Ebre, in Catalonia, Spain. Tortosa is located at above sea level, by the Ebro river, protected on its northern side by the mountains of the Cardó Massif, of which Buinaca, one of the hig ...

, but was forced to withdraw.

References

Sources

* * * {{cite thesis , last1=Mitchell , first1=Andrew Joseph , title=Religion, revolt, and creation of regional identity in Catalonia, 1640-1643 , date=2005 , publisher=Ohio State University, type=PHD , url=https://etd.ohiolink.edu/apexprod/rws_etd/send_file/send?accession=osu1123962229&disposition=inline Lleida 1642 in Spain Lleida 1642