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Carlos I of Spain (Barcelona 1558 — Barcelona 1640)
called "the Great" (Spanish: el Grande, Catalan "el Gran"),
King of the United Kingdom of Aragon, Castille, Navarre,
Naples, Valencia, Majorca, Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica
and count of Barcelona, Roussillon and Cerdanya.
Christian IV's military effort was help by two elements: the monetary support of France and the mistakes of Ferdinand II. The Danish king marched south with a small army that was reinforced by mercenaries and his Protestant allies, as well as Mansfeld army, that left the Netherlands to join hand with the Danish king. To fight Christian, Ferdinand II employed the military help of Albrecht von Wallenstein, a Bohemian nobleman who had made himself rich from the confiscated estates of his countrymen.
Wallenstein began by defeating Mansfeld at Dessau. However, when he turned to face Christian, the Danish king was retreating towards his country after being crushed by Tilly at Lutter. With Wallenstein and Tilly marching towards Denmark, Christian sued for peace. The Treaty of Lübeck (1627) removed Denmark form the fight.
Then, as Ferdinand II was preparing his Edict of Restitution, he received news from Barcelona. Carlos knew too well that this Edict was going to make Germany to explode and help Gustavus Adolphus to enter the fray. Thus, as the lack of funds had crippled Christian's war efforts, Carlos threatened Ferdinand to cut any help, military and economical, to Ferdinand if he went on with his present policies.
Carlos knew that France could not financially support neither Sweden nor Denmark, and he also knew that Ferdinand depended too much of the Spanish gold from the colonies to go on. Tired of war, Carlos I had in mind a quite novel idea in his mind. Peace for Europe, never mind of religious ideas. First he would take care of Louis and then come to terms with Ferdinand.
The Spanish king, that was 69 years old by 1627, had grown weary of wars, and, in the last two decades of his life, tried to solve problems by diplomatic means. He saw himself as the "judge" of Europe, as the gold from the Americas (even if he was aware that so many decades of fighting were beginning to damage the economy of his empire) and the power of his Tercios give him the chance. And to prove it, he selected poor Louis XIV to make an example of what he meant.
While mustering his army, King Louis XIV had in mind an almost utopian plan. It was scheme of such dimensions that lesser men would find it impossible. Of course, Louis think otherwise. Before going south to hit hard Spain before turning west to break the Habsburg iron grip over the Protestants of Germany, he met in Paris with the German princes and proposed them a new Europe. He offered to his allies the chance to redraw the map of the old world completely. There were to fight a war against Austria and Spain as one until they gave in to the demands of the protestants. The goal was the liberation of the Bohemian and Hungarian crowns and the destruction of the Habsburg dominated Empire.
The idea did not please at all the German Princes, Bavaria among them. They liked to have France suporting them and they saw Louis as a way to counterbalance Ferdinand. But destroying the Habsburg and Spanish power would meant to be left alone with an allmighty France, and that meant just changing a master for another. Thus, the German princes promised little and aimed to fulfill no promise to the French king, while pressing Gustavus Adolphus to enter the fray.
Then the Spanish Tercios crossed the Pyrénees for the last time and Louis had to hurry south again. He took with him L’armée des Flandres (the Army of Flanders) to join the forces already deployed in the south, that is, L'Armée Royale (The Royal Army) was the largest of the great armies of France. All in all, Louis massed L’armée des Flandres (the Army of Flanders) under the King numbered 23,000 horsemen, 24,000 infantry and 200 guns. Against him Carlos mustered 32,000 cavalry, 26,000 infantry (includes 8,000 German mercenaries) and 260 guns.
The Spanish king was determined to bring the war to and end for good.
The battle began after dawn, Mary 19, 1628. The French army attacked, but the French infantry in the centre were bested by the Spanish Tercios. The cavalry on the French left was also thrown back. But the cavalry on the French right, under the command of Jean de Gassion, routed the Spanish cavalry opposite. Louise sense that he could attack the exposed left flank of the Spanish infantry and rout the whole army. Before he could react, the Spanish cavalry made a successful counter-attack to drive off the French enemies.
Then the Tercios began to move forwards. The rumble of the drums sounded in the eerie quite morning. The French guns fired at the stubborn Spanish squares, but the Tercios kept advacing. Louis send the cavalry against them. The Tercios stopped, readied their muskets and fired against the French cavalry. Despiste of the loses, the French horsemen charged four times against the tercios, unable to break their formation not even with their heavy artillery support.
After the last charge was broke, the Spanish squares resumed their advance, again, in silence, with the drums beating. When the Tercios lowered their pikes and closed against the French army, Louis soldiers began to loose heart. Part of the French army of Flanders fled from the battlefield, while those whoh remained on the field with their King repulsed two Spanish assaults until they were broken by the third.
Part of the French army, surrounding their king, withdraw in close order, still facing the enemy, with deployed flags, as in a parade, under the punishing fire of the Spanish guns.
The total French losses were about 15,000 dead, wounded, or captured. Spanish losses were about 4,000.
The French power was broken for good in the fields of Barrois.
Note: I'm sorry for the bit of, perhaps, excessive Spanishwank here, but I couldn't miss the chance of avenging Alatriste and MeloI promise to be less wankist and more logical from now on
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Great update and about apologies at least in my opinion are not necessary ...
Although you would have to correct a small typo (underlined ).
Maybe you should make a note to clarify his reference to Alatriste, Pérez-Reverte anti-hero of that maybe can be a bit obscure to some readers.
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