[2] Following failure in mid-1557, a renewed attack captured the outlying forts of Nieullay and Rysbank and Calais was besieged.

[3] On 1 January 1558, the French vanguard invested Sangatte and Fréthun Nielles, and the Army Corps reduced Fort Risban the next day.

Thomas, Lord Wentworth, completely overwhelmed by a lightning attack, handed the keys of the city to the French on 7 January.

The new French administration made a particularly efficient demarcation of the border, created a new division of farmland, reorganized the 24 parishes, and reconstructed villages and churches.

The story goes that a few months later Queen Mary, on her death bed, told her ladies: "When I am dead and cut open, they will find Philip and Calais inscribed on my heart."