The Religious Wars of Sixteenth Century France decided little in the bitter struggle of Catholic versus Protestant, and though the Edict of Nantes in 1598 granted tolerance to the Protestant Huguenots, both sides knew that the issue of religion had not been solved, but only postponed. The Crown, and most of the people, remained steadfastly Catholic, with little interest in accepting the new faith, while Calvinism gained a firmer grip on certain regions and classes of French society.
The heart of the Huguenot movement remained at La Rochelle, one of France's major ports in the Bay of Biscay. The city, secure behind powerful defences that had withstood an army of 20,000 men during the Religious Wars, maintained an independent stance that could not be curbed. The Kings of France were forced to treat with La Rochelle almost as if it were an independent nation, and from Henry IV obtained permission to pursue their Protestant faith - even as far as destroying Catholic churches and turning away missionaries of the Roman Church -without hindrance from the Crown.
In the second decade of the new century, La Rochelle's arrogance and power grew. I t became both port and bastion of the Huguenot movement, a rallying point for Protestant rebels and a base for pirates who preyed upon shipping from many nations, including France itself. From 1620 until 1622, the city became actively rebellious, attacking the Royal Fleets and resisting a short and largely inconclusive blockade by land.
Efforts to end the city's truculence politically met with little success, for although a truce - 'the Peace of 1622,' which sounded more like a treaty between rival sovereignties than an attempt to settle a domestic problem - was declared, neither side adhered to its terms. The King refused to destroy the fortifications of Fort Louis, erected to guard the seaward approaches to La Rochelle during the recent blockade, while the Huguenots did little to halt the depredations of pirates working out of the port. Matters came to a head again in 1625, with a daring stroke by the Seigneur de Soubise, who sailed with a small fleet and captured a squadron of the King's ships in the harbor of Le Blavet. Thereafter, war was inevitable, and Cardinal Richelieu and the King alike knew that only a quick victory could avert a new round of blood conflicts that would sap French strength anew.
The Huguenots of La Rochelle were backed in their rising by England, led by the Duke of Buckingham. In the summer of 1627, the opposing forces drew their battle lines. A French army watched La Rochelle by land but could do little against the city. If the sea lanes remained open, the port could resist a siege, and the Royal Navy was weak and scattered. The important campaign of this war was not yet the city itself, but the Ile de Re'. Here the French Royalists held the fortresses of St. Martin and La Pree', but the English landing on the island in July, had moved to besiege these. If the Ile de Re fell to England, La Rochelle could hold out indefinitely. Its swamps and pestilence would wear down the besiegers, while the besieged would be secure with the sea at their backs. So the focus of strategy through the summer and fall of that year was the island, not the mainland, and the fighting between the English and the French occupied centre stage for most of those concerned with the conduct of the war. By the end of September, the balance was fast shifting to favour France, for the two forts on the island had twice been resupplied and reinforced by daring thrusts past the English attackers, and an assault by Buckingham had failed. Though the English remained a threat, the French position was becoming more secure, and King and Cardinal were on their way to take charge of the army in the field before La Rochelle to tighten the siege and begin the reduction of this troublesome centre of Calvinism.
Forces committed to the two fronts include the Guards Regiment, the Musketeers du Marechal, the Arquebusiers of Vincennes, the Old Guards Regiment, the Queen's Fusiliers, the Swiss Guards, the Fusiliers de Ste. Gervaise, the Royal Grenadiers, the Gascon Regiment, the Old City Guards, the Fusiliers des Pyrenees, and the Italian Regiment
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