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Origin and history

Fort Louis was a royal fort built in 1620-1622 in the immediate vicinity of La Rochelle, then Protestant bastion. Its construction was launched by Louis de Bourbon-Soissons during the first Huguenote rebellion, as part of the city's blockade. Positioned on a mound overlooking the entrance of the port, it is conceived as a dread armed with cannons, with bastions and courtesies drawn by Pierre de La Mothe-Arnaud, quarter of camp of the Champagne regiment. The work was led by the captains of this regiment, under the supervision of Arnaud du Fort.

The fort quickly became a symbol of tension between the rocherish Huguenots and Louis XIII. Perceived as an existential threat to the city, it crystallises religious and political oppositions. Despite the Treaty of Montpellier (1622) promising its destruction, Louis XIII temporises and maintains a garrison on site, led by Arnaud du Fort. This refusal to evacuate fueled the fears of the Rochelais, as the Marshal Lesdiguières predicted: " Either La Rochelle must take Fort Louis or the fort will destroy La Rochelle".

During the great siege of La Rochelle (1627-1628), Fort Louis played a strategic role in the royal arrangement. Originally built to counter the ambitions of Protestant independence, it helps suffocate the city by locking its maritime access. Its location, within easy reach of the ramparts, allows royal troops to bomb the port effectively, accelerating the surrender of the Rockies after 14 months of blockade. The fort thus embodies the centralizing will of the monarchy against the Huguenot strongholds.

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