Henry IV of France had given the…

Henry IV of France had given the Huguenots extensive rights in the Edict of Nantes.

La Rochelle has become the stronghold of the French Huguenots, under its own governance.

It is the center of Huguenot seapower, and the strongest center of resistance against the central government.

La Rochelle is, at this time, the second or third largest city in France with over thirty thousand inhabitants.

The assassination of Henry IV in 1610, and the advent of Louis XIII under the regency of Marie de' Medici, had marked a return to pro-Catholic politics and a weakening of the position of the Protestants.

The Duke Henri de Rohan and his brother Benjamin de Rohan, duc de Soubise, had started to organize Protestant resistance from that time, ultimately exploding into a Huguenot rebellion.

The forces of Louis XIII in 1621, t had besieged and captured Saint-Jean d'Angély, and a Blockade of La Rochelle had been attempted in 1621-1622, leading to the battle of Saint-Martin-de-Ré on October 27, 1622 between the naval forces of La Rochelle and a Royal fleet under Charles de Guise.

An uneasy peace had been concluded with the Treaty of Montpellier, but frustrations remain on both sides.

The Huguenots on January 17, 1625, led by Soubise, launch a second rebellion against King Louis XIII After publishing a manifesto, Soubise invades and occupies the island of Ré, seizing it with three hundred soldiers and one hundred sailors.