Magdalena Moons (24 January 1541,

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

– 15 June 1613,

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

) was famous for her role during the Dutch war of liberation, when she saved the city of

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...

during its first siege by Spain in 1574. Moons was a Catholic, the daughter of the judge Pieter Moons. She promised the 30-year older Spanish commander,

Francisco de Valdez Francisco Valdez (1522? – 1580?) was a Spanish general during the Eighty Years War. He had command over the besieging forces of the Army of Flanders during the Siege of Leiden commencing in 1573 and led the failed attack on the city of Delft ...

(1511-1580), to marry him if he stopped

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

attacks on the starving city for a while, as her relatives were there, with the result that reinforcements were given time to arrive and the siege was broken. The story was famous in its time and often told by both sides during the war.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Moons, Magdalena 1541 births 1613 deaths Dutch people of the Eighty Years' War People from The Hague