Second Siege of Livron, 17 December 1574-24 January 1575

The second siege of Livron (17 December 1574-24 January 1575) saw a second unsuccessful Catholic attempt to capture this Huguenot-held town. Livron, on the banks of the Drôme, close to that river's confluence with the Rhône, was held by a small Huguenot garrison led by the veteran commander Montbrun. It had held off a short-lived attack by Prince Dauphin in June 1574 (first siege of Livron), but the second siege was a rather more determined affair.

The Catholic army of the first siege was now a Royal army, led by Marshal Bellegarde and encouraged by the new king, Henry III, who had arrived in the south of France in September 1574 on his way home from Poland. Bellegarde was no more successful than Dauphin had been in June. Henry III arrived in person early in 1575 after leaving Avignon to begin his journey north towards Rheims and his coronation. Henry was greeted by a salvo of artillery fire and by derision from the walls, but he didn’t have the time to pursue the siege properly. On 24 January Henry raised the siege and marched away north. 

The French Religious Wars 1562-1598, Robert Jean Knecht. A useful guide to the complex series of nine French Wars of Religion, including an examination of who the wars began and the main players on both sides, narrative accounts of the wars, overviews of the most important battles and sieges. Also looks at the impact of the wars on France’s neighbours, many of whom got dragged into the conflict, and on a selection of soldiers and civilians. Supported by a series of maps that help show how complex the conflict was

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