The Battle of Wattrelos at the Flemish (now French) town of

Wattrelos Wattrelos (; archaic ) is a commune in the Nord department in the Nord-Pas de Calais region of northern France. It is located on the border with Belgium, northeast of the city of Lille. The fifth-largest component of the Métropole Européenne de ...

on 27 December 1566 between a Calvinist rebel army (sometimes described as "

Geuzen Geuzen (; ; french: Les Gueux) was a name assumed by the confederacy of Calvinist Dutch nobles, who from 1566 opposed Spanish rule in the Netherlands. The most successful group of them operated at sea, and so were called Watergeuzen (; ; frenc ...

") and troops of the

Spanish Netherlands Spanish Netherlands (Spanish: Países Bajos Españoles; Dutch: Spaanse Nederlanden; French: Pays-Bas espagnols; German: Spanische Niederlande.) (historically in Spanish: ''Flandes'', the name "Flanders" was used as a ''pars pro toto'') was the Ha ...

government. It is sometimes considered as one of the first battles of the

Eighty Years' War The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) ( c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Refo ...

Battle

The rebel army was composed of about 200 men from the sayetterie centre of

Hondschoote Hondschoote (; from Dutch; ''Hondschote'' in the modern Dutch spelling) is a commune of the Nord ''département'', in northern France. Heraldry Geography Hondschoote borders Flanders, the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium. It lies 12 km fr ...

and its surroundings in West Flanders. They were

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

s, and their goal was to intervene in the Siege of Valenciennes, where their fellow Calvinists were beleaguered by governmental troops under

Philip of Noircarmes Philippe René Nivelon Louis de Sainte-Aldegonde, Lord of Noircarmes (c. 1530 – Utrecht, 5 March 1574) was a statesman and soldier from the Habsburg Netherlands in the service of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and Philip II of Spain. He gaine ...

. Maximilian Vilain, baron of Rassenghien and since 1 June 1566

stadtholder In the Low Countries, ''stadtholder'' ( nl, stadhouder ) was an office of steward, designated a medieval official and then a national leader. The ''stadtholder'' was the replacement of the duke or count of a province during the Burgundian and H ...

Walloon Flanders Walloon Flanders (Dutch: ''Waals Vlaanderen'', French: ''Flandre wallonne'') was a semi-independent part of the County of Flanders, composed of the Burgrave, burgraviates of Lille, Douai and Orchies. It is sometimes referred to as ''Lille–Douai ...

, learned that the rebels had arrived at

, about fifteen kilometres northeast of

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

. He sent 50 light cavalry and 150 infantry in response. On 27 December, these governmental forces surprised the rebels. The rebels fled into a parish church, which Rassenghien's forces set on fire, so that many rebels burnt to death. Two days later, on 29 December 1566, Noircarmes defeated another rebel force in the

Battle of Lannoy The Battle of Lannoy took place on 29 December 1566 between an army of Geuzen and a Spanish force. It was one of the first battles of the Dutch Revolt. Battle Two days after another Geuzen army, under Jan Denys, had been defeated at Wattrelos ...

, also north of Lille. In the night of 1 to 2 January 1567, Noircarmes' troops occupied

Tournai Tournai or Tournay ( ; ; nl, Doornik ; pcd, Tornai; wa, Tornè ; la, Tornacum) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It lies southwest of Brussels on the river Scheldt. Tournai is part of Euromet ...

and expelled the Calvinists there.

References

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wattrelos History of Flanders Eighty Years' War (1566–1609) Battles of the Eighty Years' War Battles involving Spain Battles involving the Spanish Netherlands Battles in Hauts-de-France 1566 in Europe Conflicts in 1566 1566 in the Habsburg Netherlands