1556-1559
FRANCE AND ITALY;
The Hapsburg-Valois War (1551-59)
Pope Paul renewed his alliance with France as a defensive alliance then went out of his way to engineer an invasion of the Papal States from the south [arresting the secretary of the Spanish Embassy]. So, in December a French army, under the Duke of Guise, crossed the Alps into Italy. The Pope convinced Guise to attack Naples. Guise moved south and began a siege of Civitella in 1557.
By 1557 Philip II completed the encirclement of France, as husband of Mary he was also King of England and, in June, England declared war. In July Philip II invaded northern France with 50,000 men [including an English contingent] commanded by Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy. The French had only a small army in the north, led by Anne of Montmorency, and Paris was vulnerable to attack.
Instead of exploiting their numerical avantage Philip refused to leave French fortresses in his rear, the Spanish besieged Guise then St. Quentin. Admiral Coligny reached St. Quentin before the siege began, and inspired the defenders to hold out for longer than expected. Montmorency raised 26,000 men, raw and badly trained, and tried to harass the Spanish but suffered a heavy defeat near St. Quentin in August 1557 when his forces were caught crossing a river. He lost 6,000 dead and 6,000 captured, including himself.
Philip still refused to advance on Paris, insisting on capturing St. Quentin. Coligny surrendered in late August, giving the French time to recover from their defeat. In September Philip abandoned the siege, retreating back to the Netherlands. Duke Emmanuel resigned his position in disgust.
News of St. Quentin soon reached Guise in Naples, forcing him to abandon the siege of Civitella and retreat back to France, available to defend of France, but leaving Pope Paul IV without any allies in Italy. Philip II agreed a lenient peace with the Pope to free up his troops.
Late in the year Guise carried out a series of raids from Champagne across the frontier of the Netherlands to keep the Imperial forces off balance.
At the start of January 1558, Guise attacked and captured Calais, reducing the chance of further English invasion by removing their port of entry. In spring 1558 the French held the initiative, the plan was to capture Thionville then launch a two-pronged invasion from Calais. The plan was disrupted by the defenders of Thionville, who held out until mid June, preventing Guise from taking part in the invasion of Flanders.
The left wing of the French army still attacked, taking Dunkirk in late June, but was forced to retreat in the face of a Spanish-Netherlands army. In mid July 1558 the French were defeated, by a combination of the Spanish army and English naval gunnery, at Gravelines. Guise's army, however, was able to prevent the Spanish from taking advantage of the victory.
Negotiations begun in May resumed at Saint Pol in October. The death of Mary I of England removed any need for Philip to arrange the return of Calais. The Treaty of Edinburgh of 1560 ended the Franco-English part of the war.
In April 1559 the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis was signed the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis ending the Italian Wars. France would give up all of their claims in Italy, apart from in the border region of Saluzzo, and surrender Guise's conquests from the last year of the war. France would keep Metz, Toul and Verdun. Duke Emmanual Philibert of Savoy was restored to Savoy and Piedmont.
At the end of the wars Milan and Naples had been taken over by the Spanish where, before most of the peninsula had been in the hands of Italian rulers, or dynasties mainly based in Italy. Florence was now an independent duchy, but firmly within the Spanish sphere of influence. Only Venice, Genoa, Lucca and San Marino remained independent republics.
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HUNGARY;
In June 1556, Ferdinand wrote to the Sultan, confirming the verbal offer of his ambassadors to revoke Transylvania and give it to John II Zápolya, to evacuate the castles and withdraw his troops from the country but, prompted by the French, Suleiman made new demands. He demanded the dismantling of fortifications at Szigetvár. News of this only reached Ferdinand in the summer of 1557, negotiations were slow due to travel between the two capitals, whilst talks took place, in March 1558 they made a seven-month truce.
The following year the rebellion of one of the sultan's sons again took precedence over peace. Ferdinand wanted to take advantage of the situation but King Philip of Spain advised him to make peace even if he had to raise the annual tax of 30,000 by 5-10,000 thalers. The demolition of Szigetvár, however, was strongly opposed by Philip because of it's military importance standing in the way of a Turkish march on the Danube.
The peace treaty was made for eight years, from 1 February 1559, on the basis of actual holdings.
This treaty did not come into force, there was always new wording; so from 1560 to 1562 negotiations continued. In 1562 it became apparent that the treaty consecrated by Sulieman was very different from that signed by Ferdinand. Transylvania remained an unresolved, open question even after reconciliation with the Sultan. Although Ferdinand renounced Transylvania in 1556 and withdrew his armies, he did not reconcile with Isabella, who made a claim to the neighbouring counties and tried to assert the claim by force.
Isabella again fell out with the powerful lords who had supported her return and had the three most powerful murdered in August 1559 however, she became ill and died herself in September.
John II Zápolya, when he finally ascended the throne, led the government with surprising intellect, zeal, and force despite his youth. Elected long ago, his accession to the throne took place without disturbance, and the Sultan immediately acknowledged it.
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OTTOMAN EMPIRE;
Background
The Saadian dynasty developed in southern Morocco. It had been successful evicting the Portuguese from it's forts in southern Morocco including Agadir, in 1541. The Saadians challenged the Wattasids of northern Morocco, trying unify Morocco.
Wattasid - Ottoman contact started around 1545. In June 1545 the Ottoman Regent of Algiers, occupied Tlemcen, installing a Turkish garrison, putting pro-Ottoman Sultan Muhammad on the throne. The Ottoman Regent wanted to establish an alliance with the Wattasids, against the Spanish. In 1545 the Wattassid Emir was captured by the Saadians. Ali Abu Hassun, regent for the Emir's young son, needing Ottoman military support against the Saadians, pledged allegiance to the Ottomans to obtain it.
In 1547, Spain sent an expedition against Mostaganem, in support of the ousted ruler of Tlemcen, but, whilst it failed, they did capture Tlemcen from the Ottomans and installed a puppet ruler. After the expedition was withdrawn Tlemcen was reconquered.
The Ottoman Regent could not intervene when the Saadians conquered Fez in 1549 but, the deposed pro-Ottoman regent was given asylum in Algiers. With the Ottomans preparing to restore Wattassid rule, the Saadians attacked the Regency of Algiers in 1551. An army of 30,000 men invaded Tlemcen, taking it easily. The Saadians advanced to Mostaganem, but failed to capture the city. The Saadian army was defeated by a joint army of Ottoman Janissaries and tribal troops. Tlemcen was again reconquered and an Ottoman governor and garrison installed, establishing direct Ottoman rule.
In 1552 Suleiman started diplomatic negotiation with the Saadians but this failed in 1554, the Saadians rejecting cooperation with the Ottomans. The Regent of Algiers marched on Fez, occupying it in early 1554. Ali Abu Hassun was installed as Emir of Fez, supported by Janissaries but, in September 1554, Fez fell to the Saadians who opened negotiations with Spain for an alliance.
The Regent of Algiers had the Saadian ruler assassinated in October 1557 and, in early 1558, invaded Morocco, but he was defeated by the Moroccans north of Fez at the Battle of Wadi al-Laban, and retreated after hearing of Spanish preparations for an offensive from Oran. He returned to Algiers to prepare a defense.
The Spanish attacked Mostaganem, with Saadian support, in 1558, but, again, failed. The failure ended attempts to form an alliance between Spain and Morocco.
In Morocco, following the 1557 assassination a struggle for power between the sons of the Emir forced the three younger sons to leave Morocco for exile Istanbul, where they received Ottoman training.