Siege of Ypres (1678)

In October 1677, Mary Stuart, niece and possible successor of Charles II of England, married William III of Orange, concluding the rapprochement between England and the Dutch Republic, who had been at war with each other until 1674. Louis XIV decided to invade the Spanish Netherlands to counter a possible English military intervention against him.

The Dutch expected an attack against Namur.^[1][2] But Louis XIV directed his troops towards Ghent, taking the city on March 9, and then turned immediately west in the direction of Ypres.

Discover more about Prelude related topics

Mary II of England

Mary II of England

Mary II was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland, co-reigning with her husband, William III & II, from 1689 until her death in 1694.

Charles II of England

Charles II of England

Charles II was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651, and King of England, Scotland and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685.

Louis XIV

Louis XIV

Louis XIV, also known as Louis the Great or the Sun King, was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the longest of any sovereign in history whose date is verifiable. Although Louis XIV's France was emblematic of the Age of Absolutism in Europe, the King surrounded himself with a variety of significant political, military, and cultural figures, such as Bossuet, Colbert, Le Brun, Le Nôtre, Lully, Mazarin, Molière, Racine, Turenne, and Vauban.

Ghent

Ghent

Ghent is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in size only by Brussels and Antwerp. It is a port and university city.

Ypres

Ypres

Ypres is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name Ieper is the official one, the city's French name Ypres is most commonly used in English. The municipality comprises the city of Ypres/Ieper and the villages of Boezinge, Brielen, Dikkebus, Elverdinge, Hollebeke, Sint-Jan, Vlamertinge, Voormezele, Zillebeke, and Zuidschote. Together, they are home to about 34,900 inhabitants.

On March 18, the French, led by Vauban, started digging approach trenches towards the citadel. The city was defended by a Spanish garrison under Dom Francisco de Pardo, who ordered the surroundings of the city flooded.^[3] But the French had already advanced too much to be stopped by this action. The city was pounded by 22 high caliber guns and 12 mortars. After one week, the works had advanced so far, that Louis XIV ordered an attack in the night of March 24–25. The city was quickly conquered and the defenders capitulated by dawn. Only the citadel held out for one more day, after which the surviving 1600 valid men and 600 wounded also surrendered.^[4]

In April, Vauban started reconstructing and modernising Ypres' fortifications, giving it the form that can still be seen today. Louis de Crevant, Duke of Humières became governor of the city.
In England, Charles II raised some 20 regiments to be shipped to Ostend, but then hesitated to go to war with France. In the meantime, negotiations started between France and the Dutch Republic, leading to the Treaty of Nijmegen on August 10.