page_title: L'Escalade
section_title: Attack
hierarchical_section_title: L'Escalade / Attack
caption_attribution_description: English: Diameter of this Silver medallion 25 mm. 6.56 g Ag. The arms of Geneva above 7 lines: "SI LE SEIGNEUR N´E ÛT SON PEUPLE ASISTÉ C´EN ÉTAIT FAIT SANS ESPOIR DE RETOUR PS CXXIV", around: "* SOUVENIR DU XII DECEMBRE MDCII * 1840 *"/ On a plaque the names of 17 Genevois directly killed in the battle of 12 December 1602 against the forces of the Duke of Savoy. An 18th citizen died one year later because of his injuries suffered in that battle. Around: "LA PATRIE AUX CITOYENS MORTS EN DEFENDANT LA PATRIE". Medallist: Antoine Bovy, 1795 Geneva - 1877 Geneva. Condition: EXTREMELY FINE+, old patina.
context_page_description: L'Escalade, or Fête de l'Escalade, is an annual festival in Geneva, Switzerland, held each December in celebration of the defeat of an attempt to conquer the Protestant city by the Catholic Duchy of Savoy. Troops sent by Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy, attempted a surprise attack during the night of 11–12 December 1602, but according to legend, were repulsed by a cook who dumped boiling vegetable soup on the invaders before raising an alarm. The celebrations and other commemorative activities are usually held on 12 December or the closest weekend.
context_section_description: On December 11 and December 12 (Old Style) 1602—the darkest night of the year—the forces of the Duke of Savoy, under the command of the seigneur d'Albigny, and those of Charles Emmanuel's brother-in-law, Philip III of Spain, launched an attack on the city-state of Geneva. The troops marched along the Arve River at night and assembled at Plainpalais, just outside the walls of Geneva, at 2 o'clock in the morning.  The original plan was to send in a group of commandos to open the city gate and let the other troops in.  The Geneva citizens defeated the invaders by preventing them from scaling the wall using cannon fire, and by fighting in the streets against the few who managed to climb over (a climb in French is an escalade). The alarm was raised, the church bells were rung and the Genevese were alerted. The night guard Isaac Mercier succeeded in cutting the rope holding up the portcullis, thus foiling the plan to open the main city gate. The populace fought alongside their town militia and the duke's 2000-plus mercenaries were defeated. The Genevese lost 18 men in the fighting; the Savoyards suffered 54 fatalities and the troops had to retreat. Thirteen invaders who had been taken prisoner, including several well-born gentlemen, were summarily hanged the following day as brigands, since they could not be treated as prisoners of war, peace having been repeatedly sworn on the part of Savoy.
  According to Genevese legend, Catherine Cheynel ("Mère Royaume"), originally from Lyon and the wife of Pierre Royaume, seized a large cauldron of hot soup and poured it on the attackers. The Royaume family lived just above the La Monnaie town gate. The heavy cauldron of boiling soup landed on the head of a Savoyard attacker, killing him. The commotion that this caused also helped to rouse the townsfolk to defend the city.
  After the defeat, the Duke of Savoy accepted a lasting peace, sealed by the Treaty of St. Julien of 12 July 1603.
  The story of L'Escalade is told in a song called "Cé qu'è l'ainô", written in a Franco-Provençal dialect around 1603 by an unknown author. The song has become the "national" anthem of Geneva; while the complete version comprises 68 stanzas, only four of them are usually sung.
  It was also celebrated in verse by Samuel Chappuzeau in his Genève Délivrée.
caption: Geneva Medal 1840. Commemoration of L'Escalade 1602, obverse.
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