France Defeats Spain at Rocroi: End of Spanish Dominance
French forces under the 21-year-old duc d'Enghien (later known as the Grand Conde) routed the Spanish Army of Flanders at the Battle of Rocroi on May 19, 1643, just five days after Louis XIII's death. The battle destroyed the tercios, the legendary Spanish infantry formations that had dominated European battlefields for 150 years. Approximately 8,000 Spanish soldiers were killed or captured out of a force of 27,000. The victory announced France as the dominant military power in Europe, a position it would hold for the next 170 years through the reigns of Louis XIV, XV, and XVI, and through the Napoleonic era. Rocroi marked the end of Spanish military supremacy and the beginning of France's ascendancy on the continent.
May 19, 1643
383 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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