Battle of Moncontour

This anonymous print, held at the Bibliothèque nationale de France within the Michel Hennin collection, depicts the **Battle of Moncontour**, fought on 3 October 1569 during the third War of Religion. Catholic troops, commanded by the Duke of Anjou — the brother of King Charles IX and future Henry III — crushed the Protestant army of admiral Coligny there, only seven months after the death of the Prince of Condé at Jarnac. Despite this further major defeat, Coligny managed to preserve most of his forces, forcing the crown to negotiate the Peace of Saint-Germain-en-Laye the following year. This engraving, like many prints contemporary with the Wars of Religion, testifies to the rapid spread, through printed imagery, of the conflict's major military episodes among the public of the time.