Battle of Gravelines (1558)
Gravelines, France
What happened
Lamoral, Count of Egmont, a general serving Spain, led the Spanish-Habsburg army against the French army of Marshal Paul de Thermes. In January 1558 the French captured Calais from England, and Marshal de Thermes then invaded Flanders and took the towns of Dunkirk and Nieuwpoort. Egmont blocked his way home at the mouth of the River Aa near Gravelines, where the French, loaded down with captured goods, struggled on the sand dunes and beach. An English squadron sailed in and fired on the French from the sea, Egmont's cavalry charged, and the French army broke.
Why it matters
Result: Anglo-Spanish victory. Leaders: Paul de Thermes against Lamoral, Count of Egmont / Edward Clinton, 1st Earl of Lincoln. Why it matters: Together with an earlier French defeat at Saint-Quentin, it pushed King Henry II of France to make peace. The war ended with the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis in 1559.
What came next
Marshal de Thermes was captured. Egmont later opposed Spanish rule in the Netherlands and died in 1568.
Did you know?
The English ships that decided the battle came because they heard the sound of the cannons from out at sea.
Timeline
- 1557 CESpanish forces defeat the French at Saint-Quentin.
- January 1558 CEThe French capture Calais from England.
- 13 July 1558 CEEgmont defeats de Thermes at Gravelines.
- 1559 CEThe Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis ends the war.
- 1568 CEEgmont dies in Brussels.