Battle of Gravelines (1558)

The Battle of Gravelines was fought on July 13, 1558 at Gravelines

Gravelines

Gravelines is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.It lies at the mouth of the river Aa 15 miles southwest of Dunkirk. There is a market in the town square on Saturdays. The "Arsenal" approached from the town square is home to an extensive and carefully displayed art collection....

, near Calais

Calais

Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. It occurred during the 1547–1559 war between France and Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

.

The battle resulted in a victory by the Spanish forces, led by Lamoral, Count of Egmont

Lamoral, Count of Egmont

Lamoral, Count of Egmont, Prince of Gavere was a general and statesman in the Habsburg Netherlands just before the start of the Eighty Years' War, whose execution helped spark the national uprising that eventually led to the independence of the Netherlands.The Count of Egmont headed one of the...

 over the French under Marshal Paul de Thermes

Paul de Thermes

Paul de La Barthe de Thermes , also Paul de Terme or Maréchal de Thermes, was a French Army Marshal who led the French effort in the Invasion of Corsica in 1553. The Ottoman fleet supported the French by ferrying the French troops under Marshal de Thermes from Siennese Maremma to Corsica...

. The Spanish were supported by the English Navy, who after the battle opened fire on the French as they reached the sand dunes at Gravelines.