The Huguenots, or French Protestants, launched a second uprising against the French Crown in 1627 from their stronghold at La Rochelle on the Bay of Biscay, alleging that their pledge of military autonomy in the Edict of Nantes (1598) had been violated. On August 10, 1627, the French chief minister Cardinal Riche- lieu (1585-1642), who saw the Huguenots as a threat to the Bourbon king Louis XIII (1601-43), put the city under siege.
Charles I of England (1600–49) sent three naval fleets to aid the rebels, who resolutely maintained the siege, out of sympathy for the Huguenot cause and a desire to take advantage of the short-lived instability of a competitor country.
However, each of the rescue efforts was unsuccessful, and the Huguenots' capitulation on October 28, 1628, marked the end of the 14-month siege.
Both Charles and Richelieu engaged in internal conflicts during the struggle. The killing of the duke of Buckingham, a supporter of the endeavor to aid the Huguenots, in August 1628 marked the conclusion of Charles' battle with Parliament over the funding for the voyage to aid the Huguenots. Richelieu was able to use his victory against the Huguenots to carry out his wider strategy of concentrating Bourbon control because he was power-hungry and he was entirely dependent on the absolute hegemony of the Bourbons. The Huguenot military presence in France was largely ended with the Peace of Alais, which was signed in 1629.
Bibliography:
Joseph Bergin and Laurence Brockliss, eds.
Richelieu and His Age (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992)
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