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Battle of Lens
On August 20, 1648, the Great Condé defeated the Spanish Habsburg army at Lens in the last large field battle of the Thirty Years' War, heavily damag…
Timeline
- 1648Lens · FranceThe Great Condé drew up about 16,000 French troops near Lens to face roughly 18,000 allied troops under Don Luis de Haro, Spanish governor of the Flanders, as both sides contested strategic initiative over the Spanish Netherlands.
- 1648Lens battlefield · FranceFrench cavalry outflanked and broke the Spanish infantry lines; the coalition suffered heavy casualties with many captured, and Spain's military deterrent in the Netherlands direction dropped sharply.
- 1648Spanish Netherlands border · Low CountriesThe victory at Lens strengthened France's bargaining position late in the Thirty Years' War, prompting all parties to accelerate the signing of the Peace of Westphalia, and is regarded as an important military milestone in Spain's 'Age of Decline'.
Sources
- Encyclopaedia Britannica: Battle of Lens https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Lens
- The Thirty Years War: Europe's Tragedy — Peter H. Wilson (2009)