Second; 1567–1568Saint-Denis; Chartres Third; 1568–1570Jarnac; La Roche-l'Abeille; Poitiers; Orthez; Moncontour; Saint-Jean d'Angély; Arney-le-Duc Fourth; 1572–1573Mons; Sommières; Sancerre; La Rochelle Fifth; 1574–1576Dormans Sixth; 1577La Charité-sur-Loire; Issoire; Brouage Seventh; 1580La Fère War of the Three Henrys (1585–1589)Coutras; Vimory; Auneau; Day of the Barricades Succession of Henry IV of France (1589–1594)Arques; Ivry; Paris; Château-Laudran; Rouen; Caudebec; Craon; 1st Luxembourg; Blaye; Morlaix; Fort Crozon Franco-Spanish War (1595–1598)2nd Luxembourg; Fontaine-Française; Ham; Le Catelet; Doullens; Cambrai; Calais; La Fère; Ardres; Amiens The siege of Rouen was a key military engagement of the first French War of Religion.

[7] The ultra-Catholic Guise faction which was increasingly influential in the wider region of Normandy could also count on several allies in the city including the President of the Parlement Louis Pétremol, the Procurer Général Jean Péricard and the Bailli Villebon d'Estouteville.

[15] With a Parlement order of execution for any Calvinist minister arrested, and the seizing of the property of anyone found to be hosting an assembly many converts chose to flee to Geneva prior to 1559.

[24] To this end local Huguenots in centres across France were encouraged to seize control of their cities, with Tours, Blois, Montpellier and Rouen among others falling to the rebels over the following months.

[25] News of the massacre of Wassy and subsequent actions by the Duke of Guise reached Rouen quickly, inducing a climate of fear and militancy among the towns Huguenots.

[9] The nearby town of Dieppe fell to a Huguenot coup on 22 March, and with the outbreak of formal hostilities in April Claude, Duke of Aumale was given special authority in the Normandy region as Lieutenant General with his deputy Matignon.

[10] This angered the Governor of Normandy the Duke of Boullion who, while not allying with Condé, endeavoured to assert his local authority by besieging Matignon in Cherbourg catching him off guard.

[27][9] The Huguenots of the town justified their actions in a remonstrance to the Duke of Bouillon later in April citing their concern that the recruiters were operating as agents of the Guise client the baron de Clères.

[28] In the later partisan account of the Histoire Ecclesiastique the Huguenots would assert that he had been plotting their extermination and their actions had been to forestall this, however it is notable that this occurred during a wave of town coups across France.

[31] Inside the town, a fraught dynamic quickly developed between the moderate rebels and those who wished to go further, a split in part on lines of class between the elders and the artisan converts.

[30] On 3–4 May a wave of systematic iconoclasm swept the city with armed Protestants breaking into churches to destroy the altars, smash icons and loot precious metals.

[36] This proposal ran afoul of the Catholic hardliners at court upon whom Catherine's power was dependant and the rebels, who wanted the Duke of Aumale's recently given commission over Normandy revoked as part of any deal, as such it came to nought.

[38] With the failure of the direct siege and the continued absence of the main royal army Aumale changed tactics, beginning a campaign of harassment and trying to counteract forays from the town.

[36] Among these troops arrived Gabriel de Lorges, 1st Earl of Montgomery who received a commission from Condé in August to assume leadership of the defence of the town, tying it closer to the larger rebellion.

[12] With the Royal Army beginning to move North on a path to clear the Loire, and Catholic Breton troops entering Normandy, the city began to consider reaching out abroad for aid.

[42][43] On 15 August a deputy of the city and the Vidame of Chartres headed to England to entreat Elizabeth's support, several weeks later with the fall of Bourges to the Royal Army an urgent appeal was sent to her.

[42] Finally on 20 September the Treaty of Hampton Court was finalised between the Prince of Condé and Elizabeth with Le Havre being offered to the English in return for a 6000 man relief force for the towns of Rouen and Dieppe.

[38] Having successfully subdued Bourges in early September, the Royal Army made the decision to bypass Orléans and begin a second siege of Rouen, aware of the recently signed Treaty with Elizabeth and desiring to pre-empt any English reinforcements from reaching the city.

[53] Concerned about the potential power that would concentrate in the hands of Guise if total victory was achieved, and desiring the rich city of Rouen remained an intact inheritance for her son, Catherine continued to seek a negotiated end to the siege.

The royal army, outnumbering Condé's, failed to prevent a linkup between his force and German mercenary reinforcements brought across France by François de Coligny d'Andelot but were able to pre-empt his march on Paris leading to him turning North instead, hoping to link up with the English who had the funds he critically needed to pay his troops.

[57] Having lost Montmorency as a prisoner and their other leader Jacques d'Albon, Seigneur de Saint André on the field of Dreux, Guise was now left in sole command of the crowns war effort, and despite Catherines desire for a negotiated settlement sought a decisive engagement with a victory at Orléans.

[62] While the Parlement wanted harsh reprisals Catherine pushed for a conciliatory line, with 4 leaders to be executed and a forced loan of 140,000 écus to be extracted from the city to prop up the crowns finances.

[63] Once the royal administration had moved on from the city the local authorities went further, disarming all Huguenots in the town and mandating a special tax for Protestants to pay to fix the damage in the wall.