Assedio di Calais

L'assedio di Calais (The siege of Calais) is a melodramma lirico, or opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvatore Cammarano wrote the Italian libretto after Luigi Marchionni's play and, secondarily, Luigi Henry's ballet (1827), both based on Pierre Du Belloy's play Le siège de Calais (1765). The historical basis was the siege of Calais in 1346, toward the beginning of what would later be called the Hundred Years' War. It premiered on November 19, 1836 at the Teatro San Carlo, Naples.
Calais is under siege by the English army under Edward III. Six noblemen of Calais, including the mayor,volunteer their lives in exchange for lasting peace. The English Queen is so moved by their valour that she persuades her husband to end the siege and spill no more blood.