Anglo - French War ( 1627 – 29 ) The Anglo - French War of 1627 - 1629 was part of the Thirty Years ' War . It mainly involved actions at sea . The centre of the conflict surrounded the Siege of La Rochelle , in which the English crown supported the French Huguenots in their fight against the French royal forces of Louis XIII of France in 1627 - 1628 . La Rochelle had become the stronghold of the French Huguenots , under its own governance . It was the centre of Huguenot seapower , and the strongest centre of resistance against the central government . Background . The conflict followed the failure of the Anglo - French alliance of 1624 , in which England had tried to find an ally in France against the power of the Habsburg . French politics evolved otherwise however as Cardinal Richelieu came to power in 1624 . In 1625 , Richelieu used English warships to vanquish the Huguenots at the Recovery of Ré island ( 1625 ) , triggering outrage in England . In 1626 , France actually concluded a secret peace with Spain , and disputes arose around Henrietta Maria ' s household . Furthermore , France was building the power of its Navy , leading the English to be convinced that France must be opposed " for reasons of state " . In June 1626 , Walter Montagu was sent to France to contact dissident noblemen , and from March 1627 started to organized a French rebellion . The plan was to send an English fleet to encourage rebellion , as a new Huguenot revolt by Henri , Duke of Rohan and his brother Soubise was being triggered . Ile de Ré expedition . Charles I , who sent his favourite George Villiers , 1st Duke of Buckingham with a fleet of 80 ships . In June 1627 Buckingham organised a landing on the nearby island of Île de Ré with 6 , 000 men in order to help the Huguenots . Although a Protestant stronghold , Île de Ré had not directly joined the rebellion against the king . On Île de Ré , the English under Buckingham tried to take the fortified city of Saint - Martin - de - Ré in the 1625 Recovery of Ré island , but were repulsed after three months . Small French Royal boats managed to supply St Martin in spite of the English blockade . Buckingham ultimately ran out of money and support , and his army was weakened by diseases . After a last attack on Saint - Martin they were repulsed with heavy casualties , and left with their ships . La Rochelle expedition . England attempted to send two more fleets to relieve La Rochelle . The first one , led by William Feilding , Earl of Dengbigh , left on April 1628 , but returned without a fight to Portsmouth , as Dengbigh " said that he had no commission to hazard the king ' s ship in a fight and returned shamefully to Portsmouth " . A second fleet , organized by Buckingham just before his assassination , was dispatched under the Admiral of the Fleet , the Earl of Lindsey in August 1628 , consisting of 29 warships and 31 merchantmen . In September 1628 , the English fleet tried to relieve the city . After bombarding French positions and trying to force the sea wall in vain , the English fleet had to withdraw . Following this last disappointment , the city surrendered on October 28 , 1628 . Peace . Following these defeats , England would end its involvement with the Thirty Years ' War , by negotiating a peace treaty with France in 1629 . A peace treaty was also signed with Spain in 1630 , also following a failed conflict with the 1625 Cádiz Expedition . England disinvolved itself from European affairs , to the dismay of Protestant forces on the continent . In England , internal conflict continued between the Monarchy and the Parliament , disputes which would lead to the English Civil War s of the 1640s . France on the contrary continued to grow more powerful , its Navy becoming even larger as that of England ' s by 1630 .