Messina revolt

The city of Messina had a population of 120,000 in the mid-17th century, with the city council dominated by a few patrician families. The Spanish government granted Messina a monopoly on the export of silk in 1663, but after loud protests from other ports of Sicily withdrew it the next year. There were no immediate disturbances, but the nobility and upper bourgeoisie of the city became hostile to the Spanish. The Spanish captain-general Luis de Hojo conceived the plan of turning the common people against the upper classes through a display of charity and devotion, and through engineering an artificial shortage for which the senate of the city would be blamed.^[1] The artisan workers threw out the patricians in 1672, but did not dispute Spanish rule.^[2] The Prince de Ligne, Viceroy of Sicily, was alarmed by the disturbances, and had Hojo removed. When the disturbances continued and there was talk of using force against the rebels, Ligne also resigned.^[1]

On 7 July 1674 the trades companies united with the patricians in a revolt against the Spanish, and besieged Captain-General Crispano in his palace.^[1] They drove out the Spanish garrison and gained control of almost all of the city.^[3] Four of the five forts were taken. Messina sent deputies to the French ambassador in Rome and to Admiral Louis Victor de Rochechouart de Mortemart, Compte de Vivonne, on the coast of Catalonia.^[4]

On 27 September 1674 Vivonne sent Jean-Baptiste de Valbelle to help the rebels with a convoy of supply vessels guarded by a squadron of seven warships and three fire ships.^[3] Valbelle took advantage of the tide and a stern wind to speed through the channel, past the galleys and into the city, bringing enough provisions for about five weeks.^[3] Valbelle helped the Messinese expel the Spanish from the last fort, the Faro at the harbour entrance. Lacking sufficient provisions and land forces to act against the Spanish, he left to ask for more effective assistance.^[4]

Jean-Baptiste de Valbelle

On 1 January 1675 Valbelle's squadron returned, bringing a small corps of land forces under Lieutenant-General Valavoire^(fr).^[4] The French minister of foreign affairs, the Marquis de Pomponne, had instructed Vallavoire to encourage the people of Messina to form an independent republic, unless they wanted to become part of France or to accept as ruler a prince designated by Louis XIV.^[4] When they arrived on 2 January 1675 the Spanish army was camped outside the city, had retaken some of the forts and seemed to be about to take the city.^[3] The Spanish had a fleet of 22 ships and 19 galleys cruising at the entrance to the Strait of Messina.^[5] Valbelle, with six warships and three fire ships, boldly attempted the passage and entered the port unharmed on 8 January. Although the Spanish troops withdrew some distance from the city, Valavoire did no have the resources to advance inland, and provisions soon ran low again.^[6]

Vivonne sent another squadron under Capitaine de Tourville. He joined Valbelle, but together they were still not strong enough to attack the Spanish Admiral Melchor de la Cueva's force of 15 sailing warships and 15 galleys.^[3] Vivonne himself arrived on 11 February 1675 with eight warships and three fireships.^[7] The French fleet now had 20 sailing warships, of which nine were ships of the line.^[3] The French easily defeated the Spanish in the Battle of the Lipari Islands, and captured the 44-gun frigate Nuestra Señora del Pueblo. Vivonne was now able to sail into Messina, delivering large quantities of food. In the remainder of 1675 the French increased their strength in Sicily and along the southern coast of Italy.^[8] In 1676, Michiel de Ruyter in command of a combined Dutch fleet, with one Spanish warship attached, which was intended to blockade Messina fought a French fleet, under Abraham Duquesne, at the indecisive battle of Stromboli in January 1676 and, under a Spanish admiral in command of a Dutch-Spanish fleet, commanded the leading squadron at the Battle of Augusta in April that. At Augusta, de Ruyter was fatally wounded; the combined fleet suffered more casualties than the French, and was forced to withdraw from Messina. However, despite frustrating Dutch–Spanish fleet's blockade, the bulk of the French fleet was recalled to France later in the year, and the French evacuated their troops from Messina early in 1678.^[9]

Discover more about Revolt against Spain related topics

Louis Victor de Rochechouart de Mortemart

Louis Victor de Rochechouart de Mortemart

Louis Victor de Rochechouart de Mortemart, Duke of Mortemart was a French nobleman and member of the ancient House of Rochechouart. His father Gabriel de Rochechouart de Mortemart was a childhood friend of Louis XIII. His older sister was Gabrielle de Rochechouart de Mortemart, the celebrated beauty of the era; another sister was Madame de Montespan herself the mistress of Louis XIV. He was Général des galères and Marshal of France, Maréchal de Vivonne.

Jean-Baptiste de Valbelle

Jean-Baptiste de Valbelle

Jean-Baptiste de Valbelle was a French naval officer, descended from a prominent naval family of Marseille. He is known for his role as commander of a squadron of French ships during the Franco-Dutch War of 1672–78.

Simon Arnauld, Marquis de Pomponne

Simon Arnauld, Marquis de Pomponne

Simon Arnauld de Pomponne, Seigneur and then Marquis (1682) of Pomponne was a French diplomat and minister.

Strait of Messina

Strait of Messina

The Strait of Messina is a narrow strait between the eastern tip of Sicily and the western tip of Calabria in Southern Italy. It connects the Tyrrhenian Sea to the north with the Ionian Sea to the south, within the central Mediterranean. At its narrowest point, between Torre Faro and Villa San Giovanni, it is 3.1 km (1.9 mi) wide. At the city of Messina, it is 5.1 km (3.2 mi) wide. The strait's maximum depth is about 250 m (820 ft).

Anne Hilarion de Tourville

Anne Hilarion de Tourville

Anne-Hilarion de Costentin, Comte de Tourville was a French naval commander who served under King Louis XIV. He was made Marshal of France in 1693. Tourville is widely considered as one of the most celebrated admirals in French naval history and is usually counted as one of the greatest naval technicians of his time.

Michiel de Ruyter

Michiel de Ruyter

Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter was a Dutch admiral. Widely celebrated and regarded as one of the most skilled admirals in history, De Ruyter is arguably most famous for his achievements with the Dutch Navy during the Anglo-Dutch Wars. He fought the English and French forces and scored several critical victories, with the Raid on the Medway being the most famous among them.

Abraham Duquesne

Abraham Duquesne

Abraham Duquesne, marquis du Bouchet was a French naval officer, who also saw service as an admiral in the Swedish navy. He was born in Dieppe, a seaport, in 1610, and was a Huguenot. He was the son of a naval officer and therefore became a sailor himself, spending his early years in merchant service.

Battle of Stromboli

Battle of Stromboli

The Battle of Stromboli, also known as the Second Battle of Stromboli or the Battle of Alicudi, took place on 8 January, 1676, during the Franco-Dutch War. The battle occurred between a French fleet of 20 ships under Abraham Duquesne and a combined fleet of 19 allied ships under Lieutenant-Admiral-General Michiel de Ruyter. It lasted eight hours and ended inconclusively. The fleets fought again several months later at the Battle of Augusta in April.

Battle of Augusta

Battle of Augusta

The Battle of Augusta, also known as the Battle of Agosta and the Battle of Etna, took place on 22 April 1676 during the Franco-Dutch War and was fought between a French fleet of 29 men-of-war, five frigates and eight fireships under Abraham Duquesne, and a Dutch-Spanish fleet of at least 28 warships besides several frigates and five fireships with a Spanish admiral in overall command and Dutch Lieutenant-Admiral-General Michiel de Ruyter commanding the squadron most involved in the fighting.

On 10 January 1678 England and the United Provinces signed an treaty of alliance at the Hague.^[10] Louis XIV saw that he could not compete at sea with the combined Anglo-Dutch forces and decided to withdraw from Sicily, which he had never seen as more than a distraction. He sent François d'Aubusson de La Feuillade from Toulon with Duquesne's fleet, ostensibly to replace Vivonne as viceroy in Sicily but in fact to evacuate the French troops. La Feuillade had himself proclaimed viceroy with great pomp on 28 February 1678. On 13 March 1678 he embarked the French troops on the pretence of an expedition against Palermo. He then informed the Messinese jurats that the French were leaving for good. A few hundred leading families were allowed to embark before the fleet left.^[11] The Spanish viceroy returned to Messina without opposition, having promised a general amnesty, a promise that was not kept.^[12]