Battle of Jarnac

Overview

The Battle of Jarnac on 13 March 1569 was an encounter during the French Wars of Religion between the Catholic forces of Marshal Gaspard de Saulx, sieur de Tavannes and the Huguenots led by Louis I de Bourbon, prince de Condé. The two forces met outside Jarnac between the right bank of the Charente and the high road between Angoulême and Cognac. The Huguenots were routed and Condé was killed after his surrender and his body paraded on an ass in Jarnac.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Battle of Jarnac on 13 March 1569 resulted in a Huguenot rout and the death of Louis I de Bourbon, prince de Condé, the most prominent military leader of the Protestant cause in the French Wars of Religion. Condé's killing after his surrender — and the subsequent parade of his body on an ass through Jarnac — gave the engagement an exemplary and symbolic dimension beyond its immediate military result. The loss of Condé removed the Huguenots' senior commander in the field, leaving Gaspard II de Coligny as the principal figure of Huguenot military leadership at a critical stage of the conflict. Command of the Catholic force was exercised by Marshal Tavannes under Henry, Duke of Anjou, lending the victory dynastic prestige to the crown's campaign against the Protestant faction.

Tactics

Commanders (5)