fighting the “Wars of Jacob”
English mercenaries vigorously fought for henry iv and were present at the siege of amiens in large numbers
although he ultimately converted to roman catholicism out of political expediency, henry iv was one of the most significant royal advocates of Protestantism in europe. he was greatly supported in his cause by english Protestant mercenaries. Between 1562-1610 these soldiers fought across europe although most of their fighting was confined to france, the netherlands and spain. an average of 3,000 of these men actively campaigned every year and many were of noble birth, highly educated, politically involved and above all – religiously motivated. The english elite regarded the huguenots’ conflicts as
“Jacob’s (‘holy’) wars” and wanted to actively support their co-religionists.
english companies and naval support were key fighting components of henry iv’s operations and were present at many royalist victories including arques, ivry, Morlaix and fort crozon.
Many english troops were also present at amiens after 2,000 were initially, but reluctantly, dispatched by elizabeth i. additional contingents commanded by sir Thomas Baskerville and sir arthur savage contributed to a total english force of 4,200 men. savage soon replaced the mortally ill Baskerville and the english were often in the thick of the fighting.
During the spanish relief attempt in september 1597, the english camp was attacked but the assault was successfully repelled. Their fighting spirit was reflected by the bravery of sir arthur chichester who was wounded in the shoulder during the attack. chichester had already received a knighthood for his role during the
1596 raid on cádiz but an impressed henry iv knighted him again for his valour.