the Constable of France, set ladders against the fort at 2:00am but the alarm was sounded by members of the garrison who he believed he had successfully bribed. 200 French were killed. The English suspected treachery as four guns blew up on their first firing and around seventy men were absent without leave. The womenfolk in the fort were said to have saved the day. Some laughed at Châtillon, saying he had made his scaling ladders too short, although the action was well-conceived as the fort was crucial to the defence of the town. Moreover, the action was said to be in breach of treaty. Edward VI recorded this night assault in his chronicle, with a failed attempt to burn the ships in the harbour. In the summer, Coligny bombarded the pier with a battery of 20,000 shot, and blockaded the mouth of the haven with artillery. The English overran this artillery position and the French set up another which was less commanding. An attempt to foul the harbour with a hulk laden with stones also failed to inconvenience the English garrison. English withdrawal Although by the Treaty of Camp, the English had agreed to evacuate Boulogne in 1554, the town was returned to France in 1550 under the Treaty of Boulogne which also concluded the war of Rough Wooing in Scotland. Simon Renard reported that the English captain accepted his order to surrender from the Privy Council with a sigh. Henry II of France formally entered the town on 16 May 1550. He stayed three days and visited the forts of the Boulemberg, Ambleteuse, the Tower of Ardres, the Great Fort and Fort Châtillon (also called Châtillon's garden). He was impressed with some of these recent fortification works and also with the English scheme for bringing freshwater to the town. Henry II determined to continue building the English star fort at Ambleteuse and the neighbouring work at Blackness. The French also admired the mole, which they called 'la Dunette,' and when completed Henry II compared it to a Roman work. The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Boulogne, destroyed or badly damaged by the English, was to be rebuilt, Henry II gave the church a silver statue of Our Lady, and other nobles subscribed money. In popular culture The 1544 Siege of Boulogne by Henry VIII was depicted in the 4th season of the television series The Tudors. Citations References Arnold,