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utter was a bloody death rattle. Mercier,
frightened out of his wits, let off his musket and
ran back as fast as he could to re-join his guard
and give the alarm. His companions took up the
cry, as did others, men awoke from their sleep
and realising what was happening, shouted,
rushed about, lit lanterns, and created much
confusion. All the Church bells of the city were
set tolling, and the news spread like wildfire
through the city: the Savoyards had attacked and
were on their walls!
The Battle
Brunaulieu decided to concentrate on the Porte de
la Neuve, to capture it and make it the main point
of entry for his troops. While he was focusing on
that, fierce skirmishes were taking place at
several points as Brunaulieu’s groups sought to
enter the city. Chaffardon led a Savoyard attack
against the Porte de la Monnaie and though the
defenders fought desperately, they were
overwhelmed. Several Genevese notables were
killed in this battle: Jaques Mercier who had given
the alarm, Poteau, Muzy, Gallatin, Baudière.
Their sacrifice was not in vain, because in the
see-saw of the fighting, the Savoyards were
pushed back to the Corraterie. A group of
invaders attacked the alley of Julien Piaget
between the Thellusson Tower and the Porte de
la Monnaie. Piaget’s servant, Abraham de
Baptista, barred the way with his sword in his
hand. But what could one swordsman, however
determined, do against a well armed invading
force? Abraham was killed; but he had delayed
the enemy for several valuable minutes.
While this fight was going on, Dame Piaget, the
wife of Julien, looked out on the fighting from her
window and calmly assessed the situation.
Calling out to the Genevese soldiers, she threw
down the key of her front door; they were thus
able to go through her house and take the
Savoyards from behind.
It was at this delicate moment in the history of
Geneva, when the fate of the city hung in the
balance, that the good Mère Royaume played her
memorable part. Catherine Cheynel was the wife
of Pierre Royaume, pewterer and master of the
Mint. Awakened by the noise of the fighting and
the shouts, she looked out of her window, near
the Porte de la Monnaie. Realising what was
happening, she grabbed the heavy pewter pot
simmering on her stove, full of vegetable soup
and, taking careful aim, dropped it on the head of
a Savoyard solider. The hot soup knocked him
out cold. Eh ben, she must have muttered to
herself, quand même, ça ne se fait comme ça, de
venir la nuit sans s’annoncer! (Really, one
doesn’t behave like this, to come at night without
any warning!)
This gave time for other defenders to rush down
the Rue de la Cité and press back the Savoyards.
The attackers were put to flight, and several hid in
an abandoned stable on the Corraterie. But the
Genevese found them and few if any escaped the
results of their wrath.
Another Savoyard group attack was directed
against the house of the pastry cook Aguiton,
between the Thellusson and the Tertasse. But
the Genevese were now fully roused and the
attack was repulsed.
The Savoyard troops who had gone up the
Tertasse and rejoiced at finding the gate
unguarded, quickly barricaded it. But the
Genevese attacked and this is where the old
syndic Canal was killed. It was a long and bloody
fight, but the Savoyards were finally driven down
again to the Place Neuve.
On the battlements, the Genevese were using a
device of their own design: a large wooden shield
on wheels giving protection to the soldiers who
manoeuvred it from behind. Never having been
used, the wheels had rusted and screeched
above the noise of the battle.
The Porte de la Neuve was the key point, and the
city’s fate depended on it. The Genevese guard
consisted of 13 men. Most of them fired their
muskets, and seeing the advancing horde,
withdrew up the slope to the Hotel de Ville.
Brunaulieu was left master of the Porte Neuve ;
the entrance to the city was open. Picot, the
Savoyard sapper, got busy with his petard,
intending to blow wide the gateway and allow the
Savoyard troops to gallop in.
But just as there had been a Mercier - Jacques
Mercier - on the ramparts by the Porte de la
Monnaie to frustrate the attackers’ knavish tricks,
so there was a Mercier - Isaac Mercier - at the
Porte Neuve, who had not fled up the ramp with
his colleagues. He kept his presence of mind and
coolly and calmly hauled himself up to the upper
platform of the gateway, too busy to watch his
fleeing comrades. The heavy iron portcullis that
guarded the entrance was normally kept up with
chains. Isaac Mercier let fall the portcullis; it
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