e Roman Catholics, was so obstinate, and the garrison capitulated on
such favorable terms, that the Protestants were rather elated than
discouraged. Marshal Damville had assailed it only in order to save his
credit, and the little town detained him nearly two months,--from the
eleventh of February to the ninth of April. Every device was employed to
retard his success. Streams of boiling oil were poured upon the heads of
the assailants, and red-hot hoops of iron were dexterously tossed over
their shoulders. In the end the garrison marched out with all the honors
of war.[1292] The Huguenots surprised Villeneuve, near the Rhone, by
effecting an entrance, much as they had entered Nismes in 1569, through
the grated opening by which the waters of a sewer issued from the
walls.[1293]

[Sidenote: Beginning of the siege of Sancerre.]

But it was Sancerre which, next to La Rochelle, occasioned the court the
greatest annoyance, both because of its central position[1294] and because
of its comparative proximity to Paris. Here the Protestants of Berry and
the adjacent provinces had found a welcome refuge. Citizens and refugees
refused to admit a royal garrison, and foiled the attempt to capture the
place by escalade. Treachery was at work, and, as usual, it was most rife
among the richer class. By their connivance the citadel or castle was
surprised by the troops sent by the governor of the province, M. de la
Chastre; but it was retaken on the same day.[1295] Notwithstanding this
warning, the people of Sancerre took none of the precautions which their
situation demanded, apparently unable to believe that, when such a city as
La Rochelle was in revolt, the king would undertake to subdue so small a
place as Sancerre. There were no stores of provisions, and the buildings
in proximity to the walls, from which an enemy could incommode the city,
had not been torn down, when, between the third and ninth of January,
1573, a force of five thousand foot and five hundred horse, under La
Chastre, besides many nobles and gentlemen of the vicinage, made its
appearance before the walls. The inhabitants now discovered their capital
mistakes, but it was too late to remedy them. Hunger began almost
immediately to make itself felt, while the places they had neglected to
destroy or preoccupy proved very convenient to the royalists for the next
two or three months, during which it was attempted to take Sancerre by
assault. Yet the direct attack proved a