1 | Pre-philately

Automatically generated translation

1638. (July 18). From the "French Camp at the Siege of Fuenterrabía" to Ghent (letter from the Count of Gramont, later Duke and Marshal of France, to the Jurors and Council of the City of Bagnères). The siege of Fuenterrabía ended with the French defeat attributed to the Virgin of Guadalupe. The townspeople vowed to celebrate the victory in her honor every year (known as the Alarde every September 8, a tradition that continues today, four centuries later). A MAGNIFICENT LETTER OF ENORMOUS HISTORICAL INTEREST, PROBABLY THE ONLY KNOWN LETTER FROM THIS PERIOD AND THE OLDEST RECORDED LETTER OF A FRENCH MILITARY INTERVENTION IN SPAIN.