Editing Calais (section)

===16th century===
[[File:Borough of Calais arms.svg|right|140px|The arms of English Calais recorded in the College of Arms]]
In 1532, the English King [[Henry VIII]] visited Calais and his men calculated that the town had about 2,400 beds and stabling to keep some 2.000 horses.<ref name="Calais1846">{{Cite book |last=Calais |url=https://archive.org/details/chronicleofcalai00turprich |title=The chronicle of Calais, in the reigns of Henry vii, and Henry viii |publisher=Camden society |year=1846 |editor-last=[[John Gough Nichols]] |page=[https://archive.org/details/chronicleofcalai00turprich/page/26 26] |access-date=5 February 2012}}</ref> Following the royal visit, the town's governance was reformed in 1536, aiming to strengthen ties with England. As part of this move, Calais became a [[Calais (Parliament of England constituency)|parliamentary borough]] sending [[burgess (title)|burgesses]] to the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]] of the [[Parliament of England]].<ref>[http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/constituencies/calais "Calais"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411134858/http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/constituencies/calais |date=11 April 2021 }}; in {{cite book |last1=Bindoff |first1=S.T. |title=The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1509-1558 |date=1982 |publisher=Boydell and Brewer}}</ref>

In September 1552, the English adventurer [[Thomas Stukley]], who had been for some time in the French service, betrayed to the authorities in London some French plans for the capture of Calais, to be followed by a descent upon England.<ref name="Froude1860">{{Cite book |last=Froude |first=James Anthony |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4Mc9AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA453 |title=History of England from the fall of Wolsey to the death of Elizabeth |publisher=Parker |year=1860 |page=453}}</ref> Stukley himself might have been the author of these plans.

On 7 January 1558, King [[Henry II of France]] sent forces led by [[Francis, Duke of Guise]], who laid [[Siege of Calais (1558)|siege to Calais]].<ref name="Groot2005">{{Cite book |last=Groot |first=Wim de |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k5rqlZeWQIUC&pg=PA25 |title=The seventh window: the king's window donated by Philip II and Mary Tudor to Sint Janskerk in Gouda (1557) |publisher=Uitgeverij Verloren |year=2005 |isbn=978-90-6550-822-5 |page=25}}</ref> When the French attacked, they were able to surprise the English at the critical strongpoint of Fort Nieulay and the sluice gates, which could have flooded the attackers, remained unopened.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jj8KAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA15 |title=The London encyclopaedia: or Universal dictionary of science, art, literature, and practical mechanics, comprising a popular view of the present state of knowledge |year=1829 |page=15}}</ref> The loss was regarded by Queen [[Mary I of England]] as a dreadful misfortune. When she heard the news, she reportedly said, "When I am dead and opened, you shall find '[[Philip II of Spain|Philip]]' [her husband] and 'Calais' lying in my heart."<ref>Holinshed, Raphael (1808) [1586] ''Holinshed's chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland'', Vol. 4 (England), Ellis, Sir H. (ed.), London : J. Johnson ''et al.'', 952 p.</ref> The region around Calais, then-known as the ''[[Calaisis]]'', was renamed the ''Pays Reconquis'' ("Reconquered Country") in commemoration of its recovery by the French.<ref name="TurpynBritain)1846">{{Cite book |last=Turpyn |first=Richard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1v0UAAAAQAAJ&pg=PR24 |title=The chronicle of Calais: in the reigns of Henry VII. and Henry VIII. to the year 1540 |publisher=British Library, Printed for the Camden Society by J.B. Nichols |year=1846 |page=24 |access-date=5 February 2012}}</ref> Use of the term is reminiscent of the Spanish [[Reconquista]], with which the French were certainly familiar—and, since it occurred in the context of a war with Spain ([[Philip II of Spain]] was at the time Queen Mary's consort), might have been intended as a deliberate snub.<ref name="Larousse(Firm)1960">{{Cite book |last=Larousse |first=Pierre |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ft9MAQAAIAAJ |title=Grand Larousse encyclopédique |publisher=Librarire Larousse |year=1960 |page=59}}</ref>

The town was [[Siege of Calais (1596)|captured by the Spanish]] on 24 April 1596 in an invasion mounted from the nearby [[Spanish Netherlands]] by Archduke [[Archduke Albert, sovereign of the Habsburg Netherlands|Albert of Austria]], but it was returned to France under the [[Treaty of Vervins]] in May 1598.<ref name="CWStc" /><ref name="Crowe1830">{{Cite book |last=Crowe |first=Eyre Evans |url=https://archive.org/details/historyoffrance01crowiala |title=The history of France |publisher=Printed for Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, & Green |year=1830 |page=[https://archive.org/details/historyoffrance01crowiala/page/368 368] |access-date=5 February 2012}}</ref>