Battle of St . Quentin ( 1557 ) The Battle of Saint - Quentin of 1557 was fought at Saint - Quentin in Picardy , during the Italian War of 1551 – 1559 . The Spanish , which is to say the international forces of the Habsburg Philip II of Spain , who had regained the support of the English whose Catholic queen he had married , won a significant victory over the French at Saint - Quentin , in northern France . Battle . The battle took place on the Feast Day of St . Lawrence ( 10 August ) . Spain , now under the rule of Philip II , was allied with England following Philip ' s marriage to the queen of England , Mary I . At the Battle of St . Quentin the French forces under Constable Anne de Montmorency were overwhelmed , and Montmorency was captured by the forces under the command of the Duke Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy and the Count of Egmont in an alliance with English troops , and the French were defeated . After the victory over the French at St . Quentin , " the sight of the battlefield gave Philip a permanent distaste for war " ; he declined to pursue his advantage , withdrawing to the Spanish Netherlands to the north , where he had been the Governor since 1555 . The Treaty of Cateau - Cambresis ended the war two years later . Feast of Saint Lawrence . Being of a grave religious bent , Philip was aware that 10 August is the Feast of St Lawrence , a Roman deacon who was roasted on a gridiron for his Christian beliefs . Hence , in commemoration of the great victory on St Lawrence ’ s Day , Philip sent orders to Spain that a great palace in the shape of a gridiron should be built in the Guadarrama Mountains northwest of Madrid . Known as El Escorial , it was finally completed in 1584 . English involvement . The year 1557 began disastrously for the Catholic Queen Mary and her husband Philip of Spain , who had brought England into his father ' s war against France , disregarding his marriage treaty by which England was meant to remain neutral even if Philip ' s other dominions were at war . The English army under the Earl of Pembroke did not arrive in time for the battle , but played a significant role in the capture of the city that followed . Pembroke was Mary ' s most effective commander at the battle of St Quentin , when he led the English contingent that included among the officers such former reformists as Lord Braye , Sir Peter Carew , Sir Nicholas Throckmorton and the surviving sons of the duke of Northumberland ; John Dudley , the son of Northumberland , had died not long after he left the Tower and his three surviving brothers , Ambrose , Robert , and Henry were pardoned for their recorded treasons in January , 1555 and so duly served the Queen and King Philip on the St Quentin expedition , where Henry Dudley was killed and his brothers won the restoration of their honour and titles . Impact . The greatest impact of this battle was not on France , England or Spain , but on Italy . Duke Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy , having won the victory , had also secured a place at the conference table when the terms of peace were deliberated , resulting in the Treaty of Cateau - Cambresis , 1558 . The duke was able to secure the independence of the Duchy of Savoy , which had been occupied by the French a generation earlier . As part of the peace terms , Emmanuel Philibert married Marguerite d ’ Angoulême , younger sister of King Henry II of France , in 1559 . The Duke of Savoy moved his capital across the Alps to Turin two years later , making Savoy an Italian state and refounding the dynasty of the House of Savoy , which would become the royal house of a united Italy in 1860 . Also , King Philip II of Spain , cousin of the Duke of Savoy , would marry Henry II ' s daughter Elizabeth of Valois , who first was promised to Philip ' s son Don Carlos . To celebrate the departure of his daughter Elisabeth to Spain , Henry II held a joust in July 1559 . During the tournament , he was mortally wounded by Gabriel , comte de Montgomery , seigneur de Lorges .