St Quentin, Battle of

In the war between Henry II of France and Philip II of Spain, a Spanish victory over the French 10 August 1557 at St Quentin, a French town 150 km/95 mi northwest of Paris.

A Spanish force, estimated at 5,000 cavalry and 3,000 foot under Duke Philibert of Savoy was threatening St Quentin and the Constable of France, the Duc de Montmorency, set out to relieve it with a 20,000-strong army of mainly French troops, but including some German mercenaries. Their route lay through a narrow valley, at which the Spanish set up an ambush. This proved so effective that Montmorency lost some 15,000 troops and all but two of his guns were captured. The Spanish lost only 50 troops and were able to deal with St Quentin at their leisure.