The Fourth War of Religion (1562–98) started with the St Bartholomew's Day massacre and finished with the Edict of Nantes.

Marshall Damville laid siege to Sommières for the second time on 11 February 1573, and the garrison held out until 9 April, resisting the attackers with red hot iron and boiling oil.

Though nominally a royal victory, the defenders were offered generous terms, including the right for the garrison to march out with full honours of war.

The Siege of Sommières delayed the advance of the royal army by two months and is calculated to have cost them 2500 lives.

The Revocation of the Edict of Nantes left the Protestants in a dangerous situation - and the Château at Sommières was used to incarcerate them - along with English and Dutch sailors and women accused of prostitution.

The ancient Roman road (Via Luteva) leads from the gate, along the Grande Rue to the 'Marché-Haut' or Place Jean Jaurès, the old wheat market.

[5] The writer Lawrence Durrell lived in Sommières from 1966 to 1990, and is buried in the churchyard of the Chapelle St-Julien de Montredon.