The Battle of Ivry was fought on March 14, 1590, during the French Wars of Religion. The battle was to be a decisive victory for Henry of Navarre, the future Henry IV of France, leading Huguenot forces against the Catholic League forces led by the Duc de Mayenne. Henry's forces were victorious and he went on to lay siege to Paris. March 14 is the 73rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (74th in Leap years) with 292 days remaining in the year. ... Events March 14 - Battle of Ivry - Henry IV of France again defeats the forces of the Catholic League under the Duc de Mayenne. ... The French Wars of Religion were a series of conflicts fought between the Catholic League and the Huguenots from the middle of the sixteenth century to the Edict of Nantes in 1598. ... Henry IV (French: Henri IV) (December 13, 1553 – May 14, 1610), called the Great (French: le Grand), was the first of the Bourbon kings of France, reigning from 1589 until 1610. ... In the 16th and 17th centuries, the name of Huguenots came to apply to members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France, or historically as the French Calvinists. ... The Catholic League was created by Henry of Guise, in 1576 during the French Wars of Religion. ... Charles de Lorraine, duc de Mayenne, (March 26, 1554 - October 3, 1611), or Charles de Guise, was a French nobleman and military leader. ... The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of Paris throughout the world. ...

The battle occurred on the plain of Épieds near Ivry (later renamed Ivry-la-Bataille), Normandy. Ivry-la-Bataille is located on the Eure River and about thirty miles west of Paris, at the boundary between the Île-de-France and the Beauce regions. Ivry-la-Bataille is a commune of the Eure département, in France, in the Haute-Normandie région. ... Mont Saint Michel is a historic pilgrimage site and a symbol of Normandy Normandy is a geographical region in northern France. ... The Eure River is a river in northern France. ... The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... ÃŽle-de-France coat of arms (1st version) ÃŽle-de-France is one of the traditional provinces of France, and the one that played the most crucial role in French history. ... Beauce is an historical region in northern France, located between the Seine and Loire rivers. ...

Background

Since Henry III, King of France, died without issue, and his brother, the Duc d'Alençon died in 1584, his cousin Henry of Navarre became the legitimate successor to the throne. However, Henry of Navarre was unpopular in the South, and not trusted by part of the army. Therefore, the rest of the country refused to recognise as its future King a Calvinist whom Pope Sixtus V had excommunicated along with his cousin, Henri Prince de Condé. The Catholic League took every opportunity to fight against the legitimate King and his successor. Henry III (French: Henri III; Polish: Henryk III Walezy; September 19, 1551 – August 2, 1589) was King of Poland (1573-1574) and subsequently King of France (1574-1589). ... François, Duke of Anjou Hercule François, Duke of Anjou and Alençon, (March 18, 1555 – June 19, 1584) was the youngest son of Henry II of France and Catherine de Medici. ... 1584 was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... Calvinism is a system of Christian theology advanced by John Calvin, a Protestant Reformer in the 16th century, and further developed by his followers, associates and admirers. ... Sixtus V, né Felice Peretti (December 13, 1521 - August 27, 1590) was pope from 1585 to 1590. ... Henri I de Bourbon, Prince de Condé (1552 – 1588) was, like his father Louis I de Bourbon, Prince de Condé, a French Huguenot general. ...

In December 1584, the Duke of Guise signed a treaty on behalf of the League with Philip II of Spain, who supplied a considerable annual grant to the League over the following decade hoping to destabilize the French Monarchy. The House of Guise had long been identified with the defence of the Catholic Church. The Duke of Guise and his relations, the Dukes of Mayenne, Aumale, Elboeuf, Mercoeur and the Lorraine controlled extensive territories that were loyal to the League. The League also had a following among the urban middle classes. 1584 was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... Henry I, Duke of Guise Henry, 3rd Duke of Guise (January 31, 1550 – December 23, 1588) was the son of Francis, Duke of Guise. ... Philip II of Spain (Spanish: Felipe II) - (May 21, 1526 – September 13, 1598), the first King of Spain understood as the whole peninsula of Hispania (r. ... The House of Guise was a French ducal family, primarily responsible for the French Wars of Religion. ... Charles of Guise, duc dAumale (January 25, 1555 – 1631, Brussels) was the son of Claude, Duke of Aumale and Louise de Brézé. He married Marie, daughter of René, Marquis of Elbeuf at the Château de Joinville on November 10, 1576, by whom he had five children: Charles... Charles II (February 15, 1543 – May 14, 1608), known as the Great, was Duke of Lorraine from 1545 until his death. ...

Navarre sought foreign aid from the German princes and Elizabeth of England. Meanwhile, the people of Paris, under the influence of the Committee of Sixteen were becoming dissatisfied with Henri III and his failure to suppress the Protestants. In May 1588, a popular uprising raised barricades on the streets of Paris and Henri III fled the city. The Committee of Sixteen took complete control of the government and welcomed the Duke of Guise to Paris. Elizabeth I (7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603 ) was Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. ... Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ... 1588 was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. ...

The League pressed for a meeting of the Estates-General, which was held in Blois. Guise was murdered on Christmas Eve in 1588 at Blois at this meeting with Henri III. The duke's brother, the Cardinal de Guise, was also ruthlessly dispatched. It thus fell upon their younger brother, the Duc de Mayenne, to become the leader of the Catholic League. In France under the Ancien Régime, the States-General or Estates-General (in French: États-Généraux), was an assembly of the different classes of French citizenry. ... Blois is a city in France, the préfecture (capital) city of the Loir-et-Cher département, situated on the banks of the lower river Loire between Orléans and Tours. ...

Henry's defeat of the House of Guise was fleeting. The League presses began printing anti-royalist tracts. The Sorbonne proclaimed that it was just and necessary to depose Henri III, and that any private citizen was morally free to commit regicide. In July 1589, in the royal camp at Saint-Cloud, a monk named Jacques Clément gained an audience with the king and put a long knife into his spleen. On his deathbed, Henri III called for Navarre and named him his heir. The Sorbonne, Paris, in a 17th century engraving The Sorbonne today, from the same point of view The Sorbonne is frequently used in ordinary parlance as synonymous with the faculty of theology of Paris or the University of Paris in its entirety. ... The broad definition of Regicide is the deliberate killing of a king, or the person responsible for it. ... Events Rebellion of the Catholic League against King Henry III of France, in revenge for his murder of Duke Henry of Guise. ... Saint Cloud or St. ... Jacques Clément (1567 - August 1, 1589) was the murderer of the French king Henry III. He was born at Serbonnes, in todays Yonne département, in Burgundy, and became a Dominican friar. ...

The City of Paris supported the League and had Mayenne appointed as Lieutenant-General of the Kingdom. He and his troops controlled rural Normandy. However, in September 1589, Henry inflicted a serious defeat on Mayenne at Arques. Arques is the name of several places in France: Arques, a commune of the Aude département Arques, a commune of the Aveyron département Arques, a commune of the Pas-de-Calais département See also: Arques-la-Bataille, a commune of the Seine_Maritime département, along the Arques River This is a...

Henry's army swept through Normandy, taking town after town that winter. On March 14, 1590, he inflicted a crushing defeat on the League at Ivry.

The Battle of Ivry

Henry had moved rapidly to besiege Dreux, a town controlled by the League. As Mayenne followed intending to raise the siege, Henry withdrew but stayed within sight. He deployed his army on the plain of Saint André between the towns of Nonancourt and Ivry. Dreux is a town and commune in northwest France, in the Eure-et-Loir département. ...

The army of the Catholic League consisted of citizens led by priests and rebellious nobles, Swiss infantry under Appenzell, spearmen brought from Flanders by Philip, Count of Egmont, and the troopers of the Guise family with the Duke of Mayenne in command. Appenzell (or Appenzellerland) is a region in the northeast of Switzerland, entirely surrounded by the Canton of St. ... Flanders (Flemish, Fleming) (Dutch: Vlaanderen (Vlaams, Vlaming), French: Flandre(s), (flamand, flamand), German: Flandern, (flämisch, Flame) has two main designations: a constituent community of the federal Belgian state through its social and political organisations, and through the institutions of the Flemish Community (with its own Flemish government and Flemish...

At first light on March 14, 1590, the two armies engaged. The Duke had 12,000 foot soldiers supported by an assortment of German and Swiss infantry and 4,000 cavalry, 2,000 of whom were Spanish. The King had only 8,000 foot soldiers and 3,000 men on horseback.

The action began with a few deadly cannon volleys from the six pieces of the royal artillery, which was under the command of the master, La Guiche. The cavalry of the two sides then clashed with a dreadful force. The Duke of Mayenne followed up with the mercenary troops of the Guelders and Almaine across the open field. The mercenaries, who were mostly sympathetic to the Protestant cause, fired in the air and put their spears in rest. For the present province also called Guelders in English, see Gelderland. ...

Mayenne charged with such a fury that after a terrible fusillade and a struggle of a full quarter of an hour which left the field covered with dead, following the defection of his mercenaries, the opposing left flank fled and the right was pierced and gave way.

Aumont soon overcame the League's light horse and their royalist counterparts retreated under the attack of a Walloon (essentially Belgian) squadron backed up by two squadrons from the League. It was then the turn of the Maréchal d'Aumont, the Duc de Montpensier and the Baron de Biron to charge the foreign cavalry, forcing it into a retreat. Marshal de Biron, in command of the rear-guard, joined up with the king who, without stopping after his victory, had crossed the river Eure in pursuit of the enemy. The term Walloon may refer to either the Walloon language, or to the ethnic people of the same name. ... The French lordship of Montpensier (départment of Puy-de-Dôme), which became a countship in the 14th century, was sold in 1384 by Bernard and Robert de Ventadour to John, duke of Berry, whose daughter Marie brought the countship to her husband, John I, Duke of Bourbon, in... Armand de Gontaut, baron de Biron (1524 - July 26, 1592) was a celebrated French soldier of the 16th century. ...

However, the decisive event took place elsewhere on the battlefield: the King charged the League's lancers, who were unable to get far enough back to use their weapons.

Mayenne was driven back, the Duke of Aumale forced to surrender, and the Count of Egmont killed. The Duke of Mayenne had lost the battle. The king pursued the losers, many of whom surrendered for fear of falling into worse hands, their horses being in no condition to get them away from danger. The countryside was full of Leaguers and Spaniards in flight, with the king's victorious army pursuing and scattering the remnants of the larger groups that dispersed and re-gathered. The Dukedom of Aumale was created in 1397 by Richard II of England (as King of France) for Edward Plantagenet, Earl of Rutland. ...

Henry of Navarre so defeated Mayenne at Ivry that he became undisputed king of France. He made a wise ruler, and was one of the best loved of all French kings. He was famous for his gallant bearing, his chivalry, and his bravery, all of which he had shown very strikingly at Ivry.

With the Edict of Nantes which granted freedom of worship throughout France and established Protestantism in 200 towns, and with the Treaty of Vervins with Spain (both in 1598), Henry IV brought the Wars of Religion to as successful a conclusion as the Protestants could desire. King Henry IV of France issued the Edict of Nantes on April 13, 1598 to grant French Protestants (also known as Huguenots) substantial rights in a Catholic nation. ... Events January 7 - Boris Godunov seizes the throne of Russia following the death of his brother-in-law, Tsar Feodor I April 13 - Edict of Nantes - Henry IV of France grants French Huguenots equal rights with Catholics. ...