The siege of Nice occurred in 1543 and was part of the Italian War of 1542–46 in which Francis I and

Suleiman the Magnificent Suleiman I (; , ; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the Western world and as Suleiman the Lawgiver () in his own realm, was the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman sultan between 1520 a ...

collaborated as part of the

Franco-Ottoman alliance The Franco-Ottoman alliance, also known as the Franco-Turkish alliance, was an alliance established in 1536 between Francis I of France, Francis I, King of France and Suleiman the Magnificent, Suleiman I of the Ottoman Empire. The strategic and s ...

against the

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...

Charles V, and

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. At that time, Nice was under the control of Charles III, Duke of Savoy, an ally of Charles V. This is part of the 1543–1544 Mediterranean campaign of

Barbarossa Barbarossa, a name meaning "red beard" in Italian, primarily refers to: * Frederick Barbarossa (1122–1190), Holy Roman Emperor * Hayreddin Barbarossa (c. 1478–1546), Ottoman admiral * Operation Barbarossa, the Axis invasion of the Soviet Uni ...

Siege

In the Mediterranean, active naval collaboration took place between France and the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

to fight against Spanish forces, following a request by Francis I, conveyed by Antoine Escalin des Aimars. The French forces, led by François de Bourbon, and the Ottoman forces, led by

Hayreddin Barbarossa Hayreddin Barbarossa (, original name: Khiḍr; ), also known as Hayreddin Pasha, Hızır Hayrettin Pasha, and simply Hızır Reis (c. 1466/1483 – 4 July 1546), was an Ottoman corsair and later admiral of the Ottoman Navy. Barbarossa's ...

, first joined at

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

in August 1543. Although the

Duchy of Savoy The Duchy of Savoy (; ) was a territorial entity of the Savoyard state that existed from 1416 until 1847 and was a possession of the House of Savoy. It was created when Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, raised the County of Savoy into a duchy f ...

, of which Nice was a part, had been a French protectorate for a century, Francis I chose to attack the city of Nice with the allied force, mainly because Charles III, Duke of Savoy had angered him by marrying

Beatrice of Portugal Beatrice (, ; 7–13 February 1373 – ) was the only surviving legitimate child of King Ferdinand I of Portugal and his wife, Leonor Teles. She became Queen consort of Castile by marriage to King John I of Castile. Following her father's d ...

, thus becoming an ally of the

Habsburgs The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

.McCabe, p.42 François de Bourbon had already attempted to make a surprise attack on Nice once, but had been repulsed by

Andrea Doria Andrea Doria, Prince of Melfi (; ; 30 November 146625 November 1560) was an Italian statesman, ', and admiral, who played a key role in the Republic of Genoa during his lifetime. From 1528 until his death, Doria exercised a predominant influe ...

Arrival of the Ottoman fleet

Following an agreement between Francis I and Suleyman the Magnificent, through the intervention of the French ambassador in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

, Captain Polin, a fleet of 110 galleys under

left from the

Sea of Marmara The Sea of Marmara, also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea, is a small inland sea entirely within the borders of Turkey. It links the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea via the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, separating Turkey's E ...

in mid-May 1543. He then raided the coasts of

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

and Southern Italy through the month of June, anchoring in front of Rome at the mouth of the

Tiber The Tiber ( ; ; ) is the List of rivers of Italy, third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the R ...

on 29 June, while Polin wrote reassurances that attacks against Rome would not take place. Barbarossa arrived with his fleet, accompanied by the French Ambassador Polin, at Île Saint-Honorat on 5 July. As almost nothing had been prepared on the French side to assist the Ottoman fleet, Polin was dispatched to meet with Francis I at Marolles and ask him for support. Meanwhile, Barbarossa went to the harbour of

Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

on 10 July and then was received with honours at the harbour of

on 21 July, where he joined the French forces under the Governor of Marseille, François, Count of Enghien."Barbarossa arrived at Toulon on 10 July, and (as the Venetian Senate wrote Suleiman) was received with honor in Marseille on the twenty first. In August he assisted the French in the badly-planned and unsuccessful siege of Nice" i
''The Papacy and the Levant, 1204–1571'' by Kenneth Meyer Setton p.470''ff''
/ref> The combined fleet sailed out of Marseille on the 5th of August.

Siege

The Ottoman force first landed at Villefranche, 6 kilometers east of

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionCatherine Ségurane, culminating with a major battle on 15 August, but the city surrendered on 22 August. The French prevented the Ottomans from sacking the city. They could not however take the castle, the " Château de Cimiez", apparently because the French were unable to supply sufficient gunpowder to their Ottoman allies. Boulets de la rue droite

Another important battle against the castle took place on 8 September, but the force finally retreated upon learning that an Imperial army was on the move to meet them: Duke

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

, ruler of the

, had raised an army in

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

to free the city.

Arrival of the relief force

Barbarossa withdrew his fleet a few hours before the arrival of Spanish-Italian relief fleet led

, who bombarded the French positions in Villefranche before disembarking '' tercios'' under Alfonso D'Avalos. Doria lost four galleys during the fight, but D'Avalos successfully made its way to the Nice citadel. Some sources say that the last night before leaving, Barbarossa plundered the city, burned parts of it, and took 5,000 captives. However, Spanish accounts are unanimous that it was the French who burned the town, and Sir Godfrey Fisher quotes the French Marshal Vieilleville as saying: “The town of Nice was sacked in defiance of the capitulation terms, and it was then burned. But for this one must not blame Barbarossa and his troops, for they were already far off when this happened… This was put upon the unfortunate Barbarossa in order to uphold the honour and reputation of France, indeed Christendom itself.” During the campaign, Barbarossa is known to have complained about the state of the French ships and the inappropriateness of their equipment and stores. He famously said "Are you seamen to fill your casks with wine rather than powder?". He nevertheless displayed great reluctance to attack Andrea Doria when the latter was put in difficulty after landing the relief army, losing 4 galleys in a storm. It has been suggested that there was some tacit agreement between Barbarossa and Doria on this occasion. File:French royal artillery besieging Nice.jpg, French royal artillery (white flags, left) besieging Nice File:Landing in Villefranche.jpg, Ottoman landing in Villefranche File:Main landing at Nice.jpg, Main landing at Nice

Aftermath

Barbarossa fleet wintering in Toulon 1543

Following the siege, the Ottomans were offered by Francis to winter at

, so that they could continue to harass the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

, and especially the coast of Spain and Italy, as well the communications between the two countries. Barbarossa was also promised that he would receive help from the French in reconquering

Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...

if he stayed through the winter in France. Throughout the winter, the Ottoman fleet, with its 110 galleys and 30,000 troops, was able to use Toulon as a base to attack the Spanish and Italian coasts under Admiral Salah Rais. They raided

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

in Spain, and Sanremo, Borghetto Santo Spirito, Ceriale in Italy, and defeated Italo-Spanish naval attacks. Sailing with his whole fleet to

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

, Barbarossa negotiated with Andrea Doria the release of Turgut Reis. France provided about 10,000,000 kilograms of bread to supply the Ottoman army during the 6 months it stayed in Toulon, and for the provisioning of the following summer's campaign and return to Constantinople. It seems the involvement of Francis I to this joint effort with the Ottomans were rather half-hearted however, as many European powers were complaining about such an alliance against another Christian power.
/ref> Relations remained tensed and suspicious between the two allies. A French-Habsburg peace treaty was finally signed at Crépy, Aisne, Crépy on 18 September 1544, and a truce was signed between the Habsburg and the Ottomans on 10 November 1545. The Habsburg emperor Charles V agreed to recognize the new Ottoman conquests. A formal peace treaty was signed on 13 June 1547, after the death of Francis I. A local consequence of the siege was the reinforcement of the coast with defensive fortifications, especially the castle of Nice and the Fort du mont Alban, and the fort of Saint-Elme de Villefranche.

Legacy

Catherine Ségurane (''Catarina Ségurana'' in the

Niçard dialect ( Classical orthography), ( Mistralian orthography, ), ( , ), or () is the dialect that was historically spoken in the city of Nice, in France, and in a few surrounding communes. Niçard is generally considered a subdialect of Provençal, it ...

of Provençal) is a

folk hero A folk hero or national hero is a type of hero – real, fictional or mythology, mythological – with their name, personality and deeds embedded in the popular consciousness of a people, mentioned frequently in Folk music, folk songs, folk tales ...

ine of Nice said to have played a decisive role in repelling the city's siege by Turkish invaders allied with Francis I, the siege of Nice, in the summer of 1543. At the time, Nice was part of

Savoy Savoy (; )  is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south and west and to the Aosta Vall ...

, independent from France, and had no standing military to defend it. Most versions of the tale have Catherine Ségurane, a common washerwoman, leading the townspeople into battle. Legend has it that she knocked out a standard-bearer with her beater and took his flag. Catherine's existence has never been definitively proven, and her heroic act is likely pure fiction or highly exaggerated; Jean Badat, a historian who stood witness to the siege, made no mention of her involvement in the defense. Historically attested defense of Nice include the townspeople's destruction of a key bridge and the arrival of an army mustered by a Savoyard duke, Charles III. Nevertheless, the legend of Catherine Ségurane has excited the local imagination. Louis Andrioli wrote an epic poem about her in 1808, and a play dedicated to her story was written by Jean-Baptiste Toselli in 1878. In 1923, a

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

monument to Catherine was erected near the supposed location of her feat. In Nice, Catherine Segurane Day is celebrated annually, concurrent with St. Catherine's Day on 25 November.

Notes

References

* William Miller ''The Ottoman Empire and Its Successors, 1801–1927'' Routledge, 1966 * Peter Malcolm Holt, Ann K. S. Lambton, Bernard Lewis ''The Cambridge History of Islam'' Cambridge University Press, 1977 * Roger Crowley, ''Empire of the sea'', 2008 Faber & Faber * Mark Fissel, ''The Military Revolution and Revolutions in Military Affairs'', 2022 De Gruyter * Baghdiantz McAbe, Ina 2008 ''Orientalism in Early Modern France'', , Berg Publishing, Oxford

External links

Anthem for Catherine Ségurane

(in French) {{DEFAULTSORT:Nice 1543 Sieges of the Italian Wars

Siege A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...

Islam in France Suleiman the Magnificent Conflicts in 1543 Sieges involving Savoy Sieges involving the Holy Roman Empire

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionSieges involving the Ottoman Empire Sieges involving the Republic of Genoa Sieges involving France 1543 in France 1543 in the Holy Roman Empire 1543 in the Ottoman Empire Italian War of 1542–1546 Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor Military history of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Attacks on castles in France

Siege

Arrival of the Ottoman fleet

Siege

Arrival of the relief force

Aftermath

Legacy

See also

Notes

References

External links