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Siege of Metz (1552)
The Siege of Metz was a failed siege of this city that lasted from October 19 to December 26, 1552.
The siege took place during the Italian War of 1551–59, which began when Henry II of France declared war on the Emperor Charles V with the intention of reconquering Italy and securing French hegemony in European affairs.
Historical context
With Luther dead and the Schmalkaldic League defeated by force of arms in 1547, the Protestant leaders were imprisoned in the castle of Halle, and the allies of the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V were rewarded. He granted Maurice of Saxony the office of elector for all his services, and rewarded those who had remained on the imperial side with various benefices.
But within a short time, after the Augsburg Interim, the surviving Protestant princes formed the Schmalkaldic League and allied themselves with Henry II of France through the Treaty of Chambord, which in April 1552 ceded the free cities of Toul, Verdun and Metz (the Three Bishoprics) to the Kingdom of France. When Maurice of Saxony was charged with subduing the Lutheran city of Magdeburg in 1550, he took advantage of the situation (and of the Diet's money) to form a personal army, which allied itself with the League.
The Emperor Charles V, who was not yet aware of Maurice's betrayal, summoned him to Innsbruck, but Maurice did not come. In May, Maurice had taken the Tyrol and was advancing toward Innsbruck, the capital of the county. Charles V was forced to flee with a small retinue across the Alps in the midst of a heavy snowstorm. Once in Innsbruck, Maurice handed the Emperor's belongings over to his soldiers and arranged the murder of several of the Emperor's servants.
Charles V set out from Lienz, accompanied by the Duke of Alba and his Italo-Spanish troops, toward Munich, where he joined his German soldiers. In Augsburg and Ulm he restored the aldermen removed by Maurice and expelled the Anabaptists and Zwinglians. Likewise, in Kaiserslautern he joined his Netherlandish armies, led by the Lord of Boussue. Now, at last, he could set out with confidence to reconquer the strategic City of Metz.
The Siege
For the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V,[1] recovering Metz was very important, since it was the pearl of Lorraine, one of the patrimonial domains he had received directly from the hands of his grandfather Maximilian. For this purpose he assembled what was perhaps the largest army of the 16th century, 55,000 men, for the battle.
Francis of GuiseGabriel (2013), p. 59Frieda (2006), pp. 129–130 ordered the walls to be hastily repaired and the outskirts destroyed until the place had been turned into a modern fortress. During the course of the summer, the inhabitants of Metz were able to stock up on provisions in anticipation of the impending siege.
The Duke of Alba had gone ahead to prepare the siege works, and on October 31 he began to open fire on the section immediately north of the Porte des Allemands, although he made no progress. On November 2 he decided to move the batteries to the south of the city, between the Seille and the Moselle. From there, protected by the rivers from possible sorties by the defenders, he began a sustained bombardment of the town. At that point he was maintaining a siege from three different points, but had barely made a dent in the walls.
When Charles V, who was ill and traveling in a litter, finally arrived with the rest of the army, the year was already too far advanced. Alba now concentrated his attacks on the west, between the Porte de Champenoise and the Tour d'Enfer. On November 24, after 1,448 volleys, a bastion was brought down, and a few days later a breach was opened in the wall. But when the dust cleared, the attackers discovered that a second wall had been erected behind it.
The imperial army was unable to take the city, and although the bombardments destroyed a large part of the fortifications of Metz,Frieda (2006), p. 130 on December 26, 1552 the siege was definitively abandoned, against the opinion of the Duke of Alba. Encamped on ground flooded by the rains and without provisions, the soldiers had been weakened by disease, especially the Italians and Spaniards, owing to their equipment being unsuitable for such a climate. On the first day of January 1553, during the night, the siege was lifted, leaving 600 wounded and sick men suffering from typhus, dysentery and scurvy[2] at the mercy of the enemy, who nevertheless took care of them, a humanitarian gesture uncommon at that time.Frieda (2006), p. 130
Despite the numerous criticisms coming from Germany, Charles V praised the role of the Duke of Alba at all times, absolving him of any responsibility and stating: "I could not hold Alba in higher esteem if he had taken Metz and Paris together."
Metz remained a French protectorate until its formal annexation to the kingdom in 1648 under the Treaty of Westphalia.Chaunu (2000), p. 707-760
References
- ↑ Parker 1976, p. 207.
- ↑ Gabriel 2013, p. 59.
Bibliography
- Chaunu, Pierre (2000). L'Espagne de Charles Quint (in français). Eds. Fayard.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Gabriel, Richard A. (2013). Between Flesh and Steel: A History of Military Medicine from the Middle Ages. Potomac Publishers.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Frieda, Leonie (2006). Catalina de Médicis (in español). Siglo XXI. ISBN 9788432312212.
- Parker, Geoffrey (1976). "The "Military Revolution," 1560-1660--a Myth?". The Journal of Modern History. 48 June (No. 2). The Chicago University Press. doi:10.1086/241429.
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