Siege of Calais ( 1558 ) The Siege of Calais was fought in early 1558 during the Italian War of 1551 – 1559 . The Pale of Calais had been ruled by England since 1347 , during the Hundred Years War . By the 1550s , England was ruled by Mary I of England and her husband Philip II of Spain . When the Kingdom of England supported a Spanish invasion of France , Henry II of France sent Francis Duke of Guise against English - held Calais , defended by Lord Thomas Wentworth , Baron Wentworth . Following failure in mid - 1557 , a renewed attack captured the outlying forts of Nieullay and Rysbank and Calais was besieged . When the city capitulated , England lost her last territory in France . Background . The victory of Louis XI of France over Charles the Bold in 1477 and the annexation of Picardy to the Kingdom of France marked the end of a status quo over the possession of Calais . For nearly a century the House of Valois had preferred to turn their armies towards Italy , rich and technologically ahead of the rest of Europe , rather than take Calais . France had to fight the English on three occasions during the sixteenth century ( 1526 , 1544 , and 1547 ) when they attempted to extend the English possessions in Picardy . At the behest of Pope Paul IV , in 1557 France put an end to the Truce of Vaucelles which concluded the tenth Italian war , and resumed hostilities in the Kingdom of Naples . In response , the crown of Spain returned to its customary strategy since the Battle of Ceresole : it again attacked in Picardy , and inflicted a crushing defeat on the Constable of Montmorency at the Battle of St . Quentin ( 1557 ) . Henry II of France had lost his best captains and the road to Paris was open to invasion . In these circumstances , Francis , Duke of Guise , who had raised an army and prepared to lead it in Italy , was recalled to Picardy and promoted to lieutenant - general of France . To avoid the intervention of an English expeditionary force , King Henry II of France arranged , in great secrecy , to attack Calais in the winter with 30 , 000 men assembled at Compiegne , Montreuil - sur - Mer , and Boulogne - sur - Mer . The capture of Calais . In the absence of any natural defence , continued English control of Calais depended on fortifications maintained and built up at some expense . Near Calais , the Franco - Burgundian forces were frequently pitted against the English garrison forces and against the Duchy of Burgundy . Relieved by the long confrontation between Burgundy and France , English rule over Calais was able to flourish for 150 years . The French and the Burgundians each coveted the city , but preferred to see it under the English rather than their rival . On 1 January 1558 , the French vanguard invested Sangatte and Fréthun Nielles , and the Army Corps reduced the strong point of Risban the next day . On January 3 , the artillery moved into Fort Nieulay at Risban . Thomas , Lord Wentworth , completely overwhelmed by a lightning attack , handed the keys of the city to the French on 7 January . The booty taken by the French was more than they had hoped for : food for three months and nearly 300 guns . The English defences of Guînes and Hames soon also fell . Henry II of France arrived at Calais on 23 January 1558 . France had reconquered the last territory it had lost in the Hundred Years ' War and put an end to two centuries of fighting between England and France . The new French administration made a particularly efficient demarcation of the border , created a new division of farmland , reorganized the 24 parishes , and reconstructed villages and churches . In England there was shock and disbelief at the loss of this final Continental territory . The story goes that a few months later Queen Mary , on her death bed , told her family : " When I am dead and cut open , they will find Philip and Calais inscribed on my heart " . Consequences . Lord Wentworth , the governor of the city , and the English inhabitants of Calais and Guines returned to England . Calais was declared a " reclaimed land " to commemorate the restoration of French rule . François de Guise was able to strike back against the Spaniards : during the summer he attacked Thionville and Arlon , and was about to invade Luxembourg when the treaties of Le Cateau were signed . In April 1559 the Treaty of Cateau - Cambrai between France , Spain , and England recognized Calais as an integral part of the territory of the crown of France , and festivals were held throughout France to celebrate the peace . However , at the beginning of the French Wars of Religion , the new queen Elizabeth I of England , revived her kingdom ' s claims to Calais and took the French port of Le Havre . French forces ejected the English in 1563 , and the Treaty of Troyes ( 1564 ) , recognized French ownership of Calais , in return for payment to England of 120 , 000 crowns .