III) Austrian and
Spanish Habsburgs (1482 - 1655)
The period from 1482 to 1655 was very difficult
for Landrecies.
The town was controlled by the Austrian side of the Habsburg family and then by
the Spanish side from 1556, and it was also regularly attacked by French
leaders, who desperately wanted to take it over. In fact Landrecies would only
become French in 1655, after 7 sieges and 2 destructions in less than 200 years !
Actually there were two main waves of French
assaults. The first -and most devastating- one went from 1521 to 1545. At that
time Landrecies, because it was and still is a border town, became a victim of
the rivalry between the French king Francois Ist and the German Emperor Charles V.
The second wave went from 1636 to 1655 and was launched by Richelieu (the French
Prime Minister of Louis XIII), and then carried on by Louis XIV until the final
conquest of Landrecies in 1655.
In Landrecies, as well as in every other part of
the big Netherlander province, the arrival of a foreign prince aroused great
resentment. First Maximilian tried to rule on his own, but a rebellion was
looming in Flanders and Hainaut. Therefore the archduke attempted to please the
people, and for example he granted Landrecians a second annual fair in 1483.
However this was not enough to allay the rebellious atmosphere, just like
everywhere else in the Netherlands.
The year 1519 brought relief to the province :
Maximilian had just died. Landrecians and other Netherlanders deeply hoped that
the government of the province would come back to local dignitaries, that is to
say to the way it was at the time of Avesnian lords and earls of Hainaut.
Unfortunately for them, the grandson of Maximilian laid claim to the throne. His
name was Charles of Habsburg. Also known as Emperor Charles V...
The story of Charles V and of his exceptional
destiny is well-known : from 1515 to 1519, Charles benefited from an incredible
series of inheritances and got the Crowns of the Netherlands, of Spain, of
Naples and of Sicily, not to mention his vast colonies in the New World. Thus,
it was the master of a huge territory "where the sun never set" who became
the Holy Roman Emperor in 1519.
Vs.
Of course, such an unexpected power aroused the
jealousy of France, which was then ruled by Francois Ist. As from 1521, he
launched multiple assaults on the Holy Empire. Because of its proximity with the
French border, Landrecies turned out to be a particularly convenient target. The
first attack occurred in 1521, under the leadership of the duke of Vendôme,
a great military leader working for François Ist.
When Vendôme had something to do, he was
eager to do it the best way possible. And so, when he managed to take over the
little town after a siege of a few days,
he burned it to the ground ! Afterwards, the troops of Charles V succeeded in
driving back Vendôme but even so most of Landrecies lay in ashes. With the
support of the imperial army, Landrecians rebuilt their town and its ramparts as
fast as possible, because new assaults could come at any time.
And indeed these new assaults weren't long
coming. A few years later, the French army and Francois Ist himself came back
and besieged Landrecies for a second time, but this attempt eventually failed.
It was quite another matter with the third siege, in 1543. At that time,
Francois Ist once again led his troops against this little imperial stronghold,
and began another siege. When it seemed that the situation turned to Francois'
advantage and that he was about to win, some Landrecians, which had been
infuriated by the former violent French behaviors of Louis XI and Vendome,
preferred to burn the town themselves instead of opening the doors to Francois
Ist !
Therefore Francois Ist finally entered a town in
ruins
: this was quite a bitter victory for a king who was accustomed to glorious
battles... However he didn't feel dispirited and immediately ordered the
reconstruction of the town, and especially of the ramparts because now the key
issue was to protect himself against a possible counterattack of Charles V.
As a consequence, it was in 1543 and in 1544
that Landrecies was equipped with modern ramparts for the first time. Basically,
these new fortifications were made to resist artillery assaults, and they proved
efficient very early : as soon as 1544, imperial troops came back and tried to
seize back Landrecies, but in vain.
That's why the Emperor decided to negotiate. In
september 1544, the Crépy-en-Laonnois Treaty was signed between France
and the Holy Empire
: it specified that Charles V was given back Landrecies, but of course in
exchange for a great sum of money and for other concessions to France. A few
days later, imperial troops arrived in front of the walls of Landrecies. The
doors were opened, and in a very ceremoniously way the duke of Aerschot,
who was the town's French governor, gave them the control of the stronghold. The
French royal garrison left the town. Landrecies had been French for two years.
It won't be anymore before a whole century.
In 1556 Charles V was tired of having had so
many powers for such a long time, and so he abdicated and retired to Yuste
monastery in Spain, where he died two years later. His son Philip II, the king
of Spain, succeeded him to the throne of the Netherlands. Because Charles V was
an Austrian Habsburg, and because his son was essentially the king of Spain, we
can say 1556 was when Landrecies and the Netherlands went to the Spanish side of
the Habsburg family.
This king is remembered for his ruthless
authoritarianism and for his intolerance towards the new Protestant Church.
Following excessive religious oppressions, the Landrecian population revolted in
1568, as well as the rest of the Netherlands. The rebellion lasted for about ten
years. In 1579, the southern provinces of the Netherlands (in which Landrecies
was located) gave up and submitted again to the Spanish power, whereas the
northern provinces seceded and founded contemporary Holland.
The difficulties that Spain met in the
Netherlands were reinforced by France,
which hadn't abandoned the idea of taking back Landrecies one day, in spite of
the Crépy-en-Laonnois compromise of 1544. An "anti-Spanish" atmosphere
began to develop in France, especially from 1624, when the cardinal of Richelieu
became the mighty Prime Minister of the weak king Louis XIII. Basically, the
cardinal's foreign policy was very simple : his ambition was to weaken the
Habsburg family by all possible means.
In 1635, Richelieu prompted the king to declare
war on Spain. The military campaign of the first year (1636) was a disaster :
Spanish troops invaded the north of the French kingdom from the Netherlands and
reached the town of Corbie in the Somme region, not very far from Paris.
Understandably, Richelieu became very unpopular among the French population.
That's why he just couldn't afford to fail again
during the campaign of 1637. He gave the leadership of the French northern army
to the cardinal of La Valette, one of his most faithful followers, with a simple
order : take back all of the captured territories, and then cross the border to
seize Landrecies.
Thus La Valette headed northwards with his army,
towards Landrecies. This man had very strong military skills, and so he managed
to regain possession of most of the previously lost fortresses. In July, he
finally arrived in front of the Landrecian walls. The siege lasted several days,
but eventually the Spanish garrison ran up a white flag : Landrecies surrendered.
La Valette's troops entered the vanquished town in a triumphant way.
In Paris, Richelieu was delighted to hear such
good news. However this victory would prove short-lived. In 1647, indeed, the
war against Spain was still not over, and the Spanish army wanted to strike a
decisive blow. They chose to besiege Landrecies,
which they had lost ten years before. This was a complete success : the fortress
surrendered to Spanish forces, and the French garrison was imprisoned.
Thus, after a first French period of only two years (1543-1544), the second one
lasted for only ten years (1637 - 1647).
Would Landrecies become French one day, or not ?
Next :
Landrecies is finally French ! (1655 - 1794)